Park Rush HD Review for iPad

Do you like games that push your abilities? Do you enjoy being tested in your time management skills? Have you played and enjoyed games like Sally Spa or Diner Dash and liked what you saw? Park Rush HD could be the iPad time management game that tickles your fancy, then. Developed by Taptomic, Park Rush HD is a game that puts you in the shoes of a valet driver at a super-busy spot. You encounter many different types of customers with different kinds of cars and different needs, but it’s up to you how you prioritize and keep everyone satisfied (and tipping you!) until the end of your shift. Do you have the fortitude to deal with the stuck-up and impatient customers at the valet?

Review

Like I mentioned earlier, Park Rush HD throws you into the world of a valet driver that always seems to be up to his or her neck in customers. As you pass each shift, the difficulty gets a little higher, as you encounter new types of customers and cars with different spacial requirements in your small parking lot.

Controlling your character through this game space is very easy and intuitive. If you want to get in a certain car, simply touch that car. If you want to check-in a certain customer, point your finger toward that customer, and your character will sprint to wherever you tell him or her.

There are a couple glaring issues that I have with the execution of this game. I typically very much enjoy this type of time management game, but a few points in Park Rush HD make it less enjoyable than others of the same genre. First of all, your character has many “extra” movements and paths that make it difficult of more time consuming than needed to assist a customer. Specifically, when you are attempting to pick up a car for a returned customer, when you select the car you want, the driver runs clear to the other side of the lot before going to the desired car, which results in a decent amount of wasted time. In a game where you are trying to help customers in the quickest way possible, this can be slightly annoying. Secondly, you have six spots available in your parking lot at the beginning of the game, but due to space constraints, you can really only use three of them if you want easy-out access for all of your customers’ cars. When lines of customers waiting to check-in are piling up, it gets to be a big bummer that only three spaces are available for parking. If you decide to fill up your lot, you can be in for a rubix cube-like puzzle to get your customers’ cars out of there. Remember: your customers don’t necessarily return in the same order that you checked them in.

Each level you pass, you get some upgrades to your facilities, some aesthetic and some functional. In one specific upgrade, you get a car lift for one parking spot, which in turn gives you the ability to park two cars in one spot. This sounds great until you overbook your lot and try to the lifted car back down for your impatient customer. Yikes!

It may sound like I have more gripes than praise, but this game is a lot of fun. With a couple of minor tweaks, Park Rush HD would be a mainstay for me. This game needs “pre-hitting” (when you can select your character’s path of action several steps ahead) and the character paths from car to car need to be tightened up a little bit. Qualms aside, I really enjoy this style of game and the challenge of managing a crazy rush of tasks.

Tips

1. Don’t overfill your lot! If you do this, you’ll have a dandy of a time getting the necessary cars out before your customers freak out on you.

2. Check in three, check out three. Stick to one task at a time. Clear out three customers from your check-in line, and then focus on getting the check-out line cleared. If you keep your head in one place, you’ll be able to maximize your time and, more importantly, your tips.

Recommendation

If you like time management style games, then you will probably really enjoy Park Rush HD for the Apple iPad. At $2.99, this game is priced very competitively against other iPad games, and provides lots of replay value and entertainment.

Photos

Note: A promotional code was provided by the creator for use in this article.

Please post your comments, tips, and your own reviews below in the comments area!