Gamer reviews for Happy Mall Story: Shopping Sim
Be a Mall Magnate with Happy Mall Story
Everyone has dreams of making it big in the future. Some dream of building a large corporation, some yearn to put up a huge farm, and some dream of becoming a business mogul by constructing and managing the own shopping malls. Well, as to all gigantic dreams, there is a place and time where people have to start small somewhere…somehow. For those dreaming of becoming the next shopping mall magnate, Happy Mall Story may be a fun and interesting way to start living your dreams.
Developed by Happy Labs Pte. Ltd., Happy Mall Story is a shopping mall simulation game wherein you may design and manage various shops in your mall—may it be restaurants, boutiques, bookshops, etc. Happy Mall Story can be obtained for free on both Android and iOS platforms and offers in-app purchases that come in the form purchasing Diamonds. But the good thing is those diamonds aren’t really needed. There are also various ads popping often when you do certain things but none were really intrusive. There are also some ads to the top right that sit in a generally unused corner to avoid unintentional presses or taps by the player, so that is a good thing too—especially knowing that the game is free to download.
Happy Mall Story is a game where you are the owner of a mall and are tasked to manage and upgrade its facilities and shops. A lot of people will probably compare it to the much more renowned and complex mall simulation game; Mega Mall Story by Kairosoft. But then, Happy Mall Story has its own charm and advantages too.
Happy Mall Story caters to the usual mobile games crowd in that it has long wait times for construction and upgrading and can only upgrade or construct things two at a time (note: the number of workers can be upgraded by using or purchasing diamonds). Although these long wait times are not as atrocious as other mobile games that literally gimps you so you are pressured to pay up to continue enjoying the game--games like Clash of Clans is a prime example of this somewhat annoying business practice. The longest wait time for building a shop in Happy Mall Story that I have seen is around 15 hours. That 15 hour facility is also one of the last buildings you can build so that is probably the longest wait time you will have to endure. Not bad when compared to Clash of Clan's eight days wait-time in my opinion. The construction time in the game becomes much lighter when you can earn diamonds without paying in the form of tasks and random fever rewards.
Fever mode is like a shopping frenzy that gives you huge monetary gains and gives a random reward as soon as the “fever” ends—one of which could be diamonds. Looking forward, the scary thing I see that may be difficult are the prices of the other facilities since everything looks so expensive. But if the rate of earning money, in the beginning of the game, is to be sustained, then I guess it probably won't get as hectic or as bad.
As the mall owner and mall manager, you are also given the choice to invest on a new product for one of your facilities. Upon completion of the investment, a new type of customer is unlocked which would have more money most of the time and compared to other customers; customers have a limited budget and a shopper with a higher budget means more capacity to spend in your mall, and of course more earnings for you. Completing an investment also unlocks the items these customers request for purchase in the store for upgrading the facilities . All these things (Yes everything you build, upgrade or invest takes time) take some time though and it will take quite a while for the dream of your fancy mall to be fully realized. But, as stated above, it still won't take as long as the other games’ wait-time that currently plague the market.
The graphics are really cute and cartoony—they remind me of some children's cartoons I have seen before. Display and graphics comprises of 2D sprites and backgrounds covered in an attractive pastel color scheme, which is really pleasing to the eyes. The sound fits its cute theme perfectly and it doesn't really get old or distracting. Overall, the graphics in this game is of good quality in its visual and audible presentation.
Happy Mall Story is a good mall management or simulation game to keep you occupied or just waste some time on. Its charming graphics, art style, and sound, coupled with its fun gameplay, make it a welcome entry in this genre. If you do choose to spend money on it, it would greatly help you but the fact that the game doesn't pressure you into spending makes it an acceptable and enjoyable business model for a mobile game. I believe it is a good entry-level game for this particular type of game and if you are looking for a more complex game, you could try its older sibling.