Editors’ Choice Mobile Game

Minions Paradise

Review by Angie Kibiloski

I love Minions!!!  My newest way of enjoying these adorable little yellow creatures is with the mobile game, Minions Paradise, from Illumination Entertainment and EA Games. You can find this free-to-play game on Google Play or the Apple App Store.  Minions love to make mischief, but their shenanigans aren’t always intentional.  Poor Phil, a particularly clumsy Minion, has managed to single-handedly sink the giant cruise ship that all of his many, many, Minion buddies were vacationing on.  Luckily, not far from the wreckage, Phil found a deserted tropical island, which he’s set out to turn into the perfect paradise for all his friends.  With a little luck, and some help from you, this island can become the coolest Minions Paradise in the world!

There are lots of things to do on your island, and many ways to improve it.  First off, you’ll need to build resource areas, so your Minions can gather useful items like coconuts, bamboo, and swamp gas.  You’ll use these items once you build some crafting stations, in which you can create awesome weaponry and super fun toys, like machetes and bazookas.  These crafted items can be traded in for Sand Dollars, one of the in-game currencies, by selling them to other Minions via the Order Board. Sand Dollars will be used to buy even more resource areas and crafting stations, as well as interesting island decorations and fun “Distractivities” for your banana loving buddies.  These “Distractivities” are exciting things for your Minions to do, like play volleyball or swing in a hammock, and will earn you Party Points.  Earn enough Party Points to throw a party for your friends, leveling up and unlocking new items and areas in the process.  It’s really quite a lot of fun to see all the Minions on your island stop what they’re doing and have a dance party.  The more you level up, the more Minions will swim ashore as well, which means more helpers to gather resources.  You’ll see some familiar Minions arrive on the island too, like Kevin, Bob, Stuart, and Bee-Do from the movies.  These famous Minions will have special quests for you to complete, which will sometimes unlock new areas of the island.  Some of these areas contain Mini-Games, like Fishing Frenzy and Water Slide Dive.  In addition to being a lot of fun, these games earn you Party Points, Sand Dollars, and pieces of a pretty nifty looking Totem Pole.  To get to these areas, however, you’ll need to gather special items with which to clear away the dense tropical vegetation, which you can collect by doing your regular resource gathering.  Everything that needs to be done in the game can be completed for free, with a little effort and enough time.  However, if you’re impatient for a task to be completed, or an area to be unlocked, you can always use real money to purchase in-game currency or items.

I’ve been having so much fun playing Minions Paradise, and I can’t see myself stopping any time soon.  I want to unlock and play all 5 Mini-Games, and see how many Minions I can welcome to my island.  There’s so much to unlock and do in this game, with more and more to discover as your level increase, that’s you’ll want to keep playing and playing.  One of the best things about this game though, is that you’re not required to live on your phone in order to play.  There are no time limits to quests, and your Minions don’t wither away if you aren’t there to tend to them every hour.  So, unlike other world-building games, you don’t need to feel chained to your device, but can casually drop in on your little buddies once a day, once a week, or as little or often as you like.  The Minions are so cute too, with various personalities, that you’ll enjoy simply watching them wander around, tend your resources, and play.  Oh, and try tapping on each Minion, multiple times, and enjoy the resulting adorableness.  Go download this free app now, grab a banana smoothie, and enjoy some tropical island fun with all of your new Minion buddies! http://www.minionsparadise.com/

Review date: November 2015