Whenever I breastfeed Rex I tend to spend the majority of the time on my iPhone. Either that or watching game shows on television. The time spent on my phone is either scrolling through social media or checking my emails but I have been known to play a few games. When Crater Craft came to my attention I was really looking forward to giving it a try. I usually play word games so this was new to me but, judging but the reviews I’d seen, it was a good ‘un.

About Crater Craft

Crater Craft is free to install and play. It’s a farming/village building game, similar to Hay Day or Farmville – both of which I have never played but I aware of how popular they are. 

Once you have downloaded the app, opening the game gives you a narrative explaining that a series of volcanic eruptions have disrupted a once prosperous planet. The planet’s residents are reaching out to nearby galaxies offering them a unique invitation. To become a Crater Craft Master.

The object of the game is to build a team of crafters to continue making increasingly amazing items. You grow quirky plants, sprinkling the nectar to help them increase in size. They are then harvested and their precious metals used to construct the items. These bring in inquisitive tourists who stay in the houses you have constructed on your crater. Using the crafters, you add to the rooms in the houses – including your own home – and the more you do this the bigger and better your own crater becomes. This helps you to climb up through the Craftmaster leagues.

How it works

GROW AND HARVEST
From Jelly Tulips to Candy Trees, your crater’s nectar-loving plants are truly out of this world!

Nectar is used to grow the plants and the nectar needed is harvested from the fully-grown plants. Crop rotation. This is collected by creatures called Bumbles and stored in a hive. Every so often, once the nectar is ready, you can collect it to add to your nectar bar. If you are ever running low then there is the option to go on a nectar hunt.

Using a scythe, you can chop the plants down when fully grown and store them in your Warehouse ready for use. Like all the buildings, you can upgrade your Warehouse by paying with nectar you have accrued in order to hold more supplies.

Once you have chopped the plants down, you spread nectar in order to have the plants grow once again.

RECRUIT CUTE CRAFTERS
They’re adorable little creatures with rare crafting skills… and they can’t wait to join you! You can expand and level up your workforce in various ways including via trading materials. More crafters mean more crafting options!

A HOME OF YOUR OWN
I have started to build my own home on the crater and am gradually furnishing it with some of the crafters masterpieces. The home is open for rating and, the higher people rate it the more I climb up the league table. This, of course, will increase over time as I add to the decor.

MEET AND COMPETE
I have already started to meet other players, visited their craters and traded with them. You can also take part in Craftmaster Leagues. I am all for friendly rather than competitive crafting! Each week there’s a competition that ranks the most popular rooms.  When you visit someone’s room, you can give it a star rating. The more stars your room gets, the higher up the ranking table you will go. 

DRESS TO IMPRESS
The more your increase your spending power, the better dressed you become. When you first start the game, you can dress your avatar with limited options. As I have unlocked more of the game, I have become better dressed! 

PLAY YOUR WAY
Want to run your own luxury guest hut resort? Be an artisan of rare materials? Or make your crater the biggest and best? On your crater, you’re in charge!

My thoughts

So far I have been playing this game during the evenings when I am feeding Rex. I really like it for a number of reasons. The fact that, after just a day, I have already reached level 6 speaks volumes to me. 

When I first started to use it, I found it easy to understand. I normally have to play it without the sound on or wearing earphones but not having any sound doesn’t make it any harder to play. 

I enjoyed creating my avatar and making decisions about which areas of my crater to upgrade. There is enough in the game to keep me interested but not so much that it is overwhelming. You can dip in and out of it whenever you please and, whilst at first, I found it a little addictive, I now find it more relaxing. When I sign back in, I don’t feel like I have missed out. In fact, the nectar increases as the Bumbles continue to collect for you so that is one less thing to do when you return.

It really is a fun and cute little game. It is inoffensive and not too strategic which makes it easy and a relaxing way to pass the time. I don’t have one area that is my favourite. The graphics are fantastic and it has depth, which makes it much more interesting for me. I like something that holds my attention.

I enjoy the fact that the developers have thought of the little things. For example, the plants are ready to harvest after a certain period of time or the crafts that are being made are along a similar vein. There is a little countdown timer telling you how much longer it is before they are ready – or, if you are impatient then you can pay with crystals to get them made sooner.

On your crater then is also a little wishing well where you can earn extras on a daily basis.

How you can play Crater Craft

As I stated earlier, Crater Craft is free to download and play. You can download your copy using this link – https://cratercraft.co/2BJc28c

You too can experience all the things I have mentioned above. But the great thing is that you can tailor it to the way you want to play it. Find out more in this video.

Each week there’s a competition that ranks the most popular rooms. When you visit someone’s room, you can give it a star rating. When you rate the room, you are awarded crystals on a sliding scale – this corresponds directly with another person’s rating. If you match the average then you score higher. Also, more likes your room gets, the higher up the rank you will go!

With this in mind, it would be great if you would come and search for my tag and like my room. You can find me as my player tag #346b887 and my user name Vics Varients. I am happy to reciprocate and hopefully, as a result, one of us could win the weekly competition! 

You can download Crater Craft on iOS and Google play here – https://cratercraft.co/2BJc28c. Find Crater Craft on their social media channels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

This is a collaborative post