Building simplicidade.org: notes, projects, and occasional rants

Harbor simulation games

In the casual games category, I have to pick the harbor simulation games, like Harbor Master or Harbor 3D, as my favorite genre.

They are the ones I always get back too, and their place on the iPhone is clearly assured.

Here are some tips to help you play them:

  • use the speed multiplier from the start. Always play at the top speed: you can grow your score quickly, and when you eventually get into trouble, you can slow down the pace a bit to solve the problem;
  • try to use the same path for ships of the same speed, like a train;
  • Harbor 3D lets you can anchor a ship by tapping it. Harbor Master doesn't. In the latter you can create a circle in front of the terminal and keep a bunch of ships there, doing laps. This is the same as the planes do while they wait to land on busy airports, they keep descending in circles.
  • Harbor 3D ports are very wide, so aim each ship to a different part of the port: you can get 2 or even 3 ships to dock at the same time;
  • unless a new ship is very near another when he shows up, wait until you see the indication of the next ship before moving it. When you direct a ship to his destination, your hand covers most of the screen, and you'll miss the notification. You would then need to quickly determine where he is. If you wait to see that before directing the new ship, you know were you must move too immediately after. You might even decide on a different port based on the side of the screen the next ship will arrive.

Any tips for me?