Huddled in a lumpy hospital chair in the dead of night, watching the city lights outside our room wink at me from afar, I sometimes sit and think of all the people out there dreaming of all the things in life they want the most, money, vacations, expensive cars... and I try for a little bit to remember what that was like.
It's only been about a month since my husband's cancer diagnosis, but already I feel like it's changed me. I don't dream about the perfect life anymore... or rather, my perfect life has changed drastically and simply consists of one thing... good health. That's all I want right now for both of us.
I feel like I'm walking through a fog, watching as other people continue to go on with their lives, and I can't help but feel a little anger toward them. I know it's not rational. But it grates more than normal when people start freaking out over stupid things. Really? You're going to scream because someone spilled your coffee or didn't get your order right? Is it really worth going into a rage because someone cut you off on the highway?
In times like these, when I'm feeling a little low, I often find myself reaching for something familiar. I can't muster up the energy to start something new, like a new book or experience a new game. It just puts my senses on overload.
Instead, I want something familiar and comfortable to wrap myself up in. Like the worn out pages of my favorite novel, Anne of Green Gables, or the mindless pleasure of an oldie but goodie time management game that I can play quietly on my iPad while my husband drifts off in a drug infused sleep in the bed next to me.
When I went searching for something familiar, I was pleased to see the overzealous faces of the Timebuilders crew peaking out at me from the iTunes store. Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising 2 is now a free to play title on the iPad. It can't get more comforting than that.
Of course, warning bells went off in my head... would I truly be able to enjoy this game without having to shovel a constant stream of cash into it like other F2P titles? I was about to find out as I hit the download button and watched the bright and garish colors of iOS 8 click away. Seriously, what were they thinking?
Anyhow, as I launched Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising 2, I watched the familiar animated scene play across the screen and went right into the game, adapting quickly to tapping my little huts and ordering my workers and priests around the land collecting rent, clearing roads, and building huts.
Fans of the original Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising 2 for PC will be pleased to note that not much has changed in this iOS reincarnation. And, after playing for awhile, I was very pleased to see that a large amount of content hasn't fallen prey to the free to play price jacking you see in other titles.
You can honestly get away with playing Timebuilders Pyramid Rising 2 for free... well, if you're really good at time management games, which, thankfully, I am.
They do give you the option to purchase boosts and bonuses with your scarabs with real money, so if you're having some trouble getting gold times on the more challenging levels, you can load up on scarabs and boost away. The prices for these extra goodies are pretty reasonable and in line with what you would expect. It ranges from $1.99 all the way up to $99.99, if you have some strange desire to load up on 20,000 scarabs.
There's also a social aspect to the game where you can announce to all your Facebook friends (and hopefully not your boss) that you're playing a game... if that's your kind of thing. Personally, I can't stand this constant need to let everyone know what I'm doing at this moment in time, and I found the constant nudges a little annoying. Do people really care if I just finished building the Temple of Ra on a game in the middle of the night?
I know this is just a personal pet peeve, and some people truly enjoy posting their game achievements on their wall, so, for what it's worth, the social aspect in Timebuilders Pyramid Rising 2 is no more intrusive than any other game.
Fans will also be pleased to note that in addition to the comforting old levels we've all tackled on the PC, there are new and exciting levels to experience, with a lot more in development... a total of 60 new levels coming your way before the end of the year!
They are also going to release a new reward system in the next update that will shower scarabs on you for your loyalty if you open the game and play every day.
So, if you ever experienced that sense of abandonment and loss when the original Timebuilders: Pyramid Rising 2 game ended, you'll enjoy this new rendition of the game that could keep you knee deep in challenging time management levels all year long. It's nice to know that the developers are committed to continuing to dedicate resources to improving and expanding this well-loved best-selling time management game.
I for one know, I will enjoy its comforting glow full of happily working characters as I sit and wait for the long night to end.