What are all the ways you can play Sim Companies?
The selection of technologies used for Sim Companies was heavily influenced by the desire for the game being playable across many devices - and ideally, all of them executing the same underlying code, so the game both looks the same on any device and also to lower maintenance overhead. We do not want to be implementing every feature 3 times, we also do not want for some devices to have features others do not have.
The technologies used are those that most browsers can work with - this allows great compatibility, as most devices have a web browser.
Sim Companies is also using cutting edge caching techniques to allow instant page loads and partial offline functionality, called PWA (Progressive Web App)
PC OR LAPTOP
You can play the game on your browser. Sim Companies has a test suite that uses Chrome as a benchmark, but we strive to remain fully compatible with all major browsers: Firefox, Edge, and Safari. There are no known functionality limitations on the mentioned browsers.
ANDROID DEVICE
There are few choices on how to play on Android, you can either play using the browser. You can also install the android app from the Android Play Store. To adhere to the before-mentioned principles, the android app simply loads a browser inside the app and runs the Sim Companies website (this is often referred to as a WebView wrapper app). So there are no functional differences or advantages when using the app. You may ask, what’s even the purpose of having the app then? Users are used to looking for games in the Play Store. The sole purpose of the app is to have a presence in the store so you can find the game easily.
My favorite option to play on an android device is using the PWA (Progressive Web App). Sim Companies is PWA compatible, so when using it on the browser, you will be asked if you want to add it to the homepage. (Or you can do that manually from the browser menu). Once you do that and kick off the app from your phone’s home page you will get the exact app-like experience: no browser location bar, full functionality, without installing any app.
iOS DEVICE
This is very similar to the Android compatibility, except there is no app in the App Store yet. It’s being worked on at the time this article is being written.
You have the choice of running the game in a browser or go the PWA (Progressive Web App) way. Same as for android. You simply open the game in your browser and add the page to your home screen.
To put a PWA shortcut on your Home screen, do the following:
Tap the Share button in Safari for the PWA you’re using.
Tap the icon labelled Add to Home Screen.
Tap Add in the upper-right corner.
Now name your PWA, then tap Add in the upper-right corner.
Again this will give you a full app-like experience, no location bar, all features.
While I mentioned the iOS app is being worked on, it will not provide any new features. Its sole purpose would be to establish a presence in the App Store. It will be a small application simply opening a browser inside the app and loading Sim Companies. There will not be any added value.
ARMOR GAMES
Armor games loads sim companies inside an iframe, so it’s browser within the browser. Experiencing the game this way is suboptimal, the game screen is small for no reason. I suggest logging into your account using the direct way as soon as possible. (See the authentication section.) The main purpose of integrating with Armor Games was to be visible to Armor Games users.
AUTHENTIFICATION
I encourage everyone to put in an email in your account settings. In case you lose access to your company, you can only recover it if the email is setup.
You can log in using an email and password.
If you lose access and you did not set any password, you can go through the password reset flow, assuming your email was set.
You can use Facebook SSO (single sign-on) to auth to your company
Most emails sent from Sim Companies have links in them that sign you in.
Android Play Store app remembers your company and authenticates you in automatically.
SIM BOOST PURCHASES
Is there any difference in sim boosts purchase options? Yes, there has to be. While for websites there are no strict rules on how purchases can be facilitated, the Play Store and App Store has some strict rules - mainly forcing the payment to go through their store, this means Sim Companies loses control over few aspects of the billing including currency conversion rates. So the price offer may differ when doing purchases from the native app, or from the web/browser/PWA.
What are the payment options and fees Sim Companies has to pay?
Platform | Method | Fee |
---|---|---|
PC / Web browser | Card input / Paypal | ~ 2% |
Mobile device / Web browser | Card input / Paypal | ~ 2% |
Mobile device / PWA | Card input / Paypal | ~ 2% |
Android device / Play Store app | Google Pay | 30% |
iOS device / App Store app ** | Apple Pay | 30% |
Armor Games | Armor Games | 50% |
**not available yet