Township from Playrix is a city-building simulator that allows you to control and manage the development of a small town into a large metropolis. If you're thinking it sounds like another Sim City game, well, you're not wrong. But Township has a few advantages over Sim City, not the least of which is that it's free. You can also trade goods and services with friends who are managing their own towns.

Pros

• Township is free
• Setting up and managing raw material production lines is key to the game.
• There are a large number of town structures, factories, entertainment facilities, and homes that can be built.
• Home building is limited per level, which prevents you from growing your town out of control.
• Graphics are basic 2D but well done. They won't drag down your graphics card or Mac CPU, which means you can run Township while you're working on other tasks.

Cons

• Playing with friends is almost a requirement, because the ability to trade resources is a key component of the game. You can play alone, but it will take much longer to advance through the levels.
• No easy way to start over. Any mistakes you make in building your town or city will haunt you 'til the end.
• An Internet connection is required, because the town you create is stored on Playrix servers.

The simulation engine ties the success of your town, and its ability to grow, to basic economics, such as growing wheat, corn, and other crops so you can produce bread, food for farm animals, milk, eggs, etc.

Production is limited by both available cash and population. Growing your population requires building housing for the residents, as well as town facilities and services, to ensure the overall well-being of the population. Almost all things in Township are interconnected; good planning, time, and patience are required to achieve success.

Playing with friends can be done through Apple's Game Center service, or via Facebook, which also hosts Township games.

Among the best features of Township are the numerous choices you need to make, not only in building your city, but also in its day-to-day management. For example, you can grow various crops and sell them directly as cash crops. You'll make a minimum profit, but the crops won't take up limited warehouse space for long. Or, you can move them to various mills and factories, where they'll be used to create value-added goods. But since the factories take time to make goods, and have limited volume, your raw goods sit in your warehouse taking up space, which may limit your ability to store more profitable items. Everything is interconnected, and your choices directly impact how quickly your town grows, and how productive the residents are.

Township is free and is available in the Mac App Store.

See other software choices from Tom's Mac Software Picks.