The Crater Craft App Review #AD

When a distant planet signals for help, your exciting new life begins. You’ve been made Craftmaster of your own crater – and the friendly locals need your creativity and management skills to rebuild their world! Grow quirky plants and harvest their precious materials. Build your team of Crafters to make ever-more amazing items and bring in curious tourists. The more you craft, the bigger and better your crater becomes! How high will you climb in the Craftmaster Leagues?

I am on my phone all the time. I will admit to being quite addicted to it and I struggle not to pick it up as soon as I’ve put it down.

I mostly look at social media and check emails though, and I know it’s not good for me and it certainly doesn’t make me feel good. So much so that I’ve recently got rid of the Facebook app and only check it online occasionally. It’s actually really helped, but sometimes (often) when I pick up my phone and checked WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter and emails for the 50th time I feel like I’ve run of things to do, especially when I’ve turned up early for the school run (yes it really does happen) and sit in my car for ten minutes until my child is set free and so I circle round from app to app wasting time and driving myself slightly more insane. It’s just a habit to check social media again but it also drives me a little insane.

So when I was asked to try out the Crater Craft game available as an app I thought it could actually be really good to have something to give me a break from social media when I have a bit of spare time. Anything that can encourage me to switch off for a bit can only be a good thing.

Crater Craft is a farming/village building game, similar to Farmville or Hay Day. I have never actually played either of those so I was intrigued to find out whether it would be my kind of thing or not.

It’s free to download on both the app store for Apple and Google Play and it doesn’t take long to get started. You can quickly change your character’s hair and their clothes (only slightly at this point until you have earned more currency) and get started.

The game guides you through it all at first and tells you how to do things, such as grow more plants and harvest them so even though it all looks overwhelming at first, it only takes a few minutes to get more used to it.

As I’m not used to this kind of game, it did take me a little while to realise that it’s about building your crater up and making it more attractive to tourists. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I think I became a bit too focused on growing and harvesting plants for a while, and not thinking about what I could do with them to build my crater up or using my own head to think about making things to sell, rather than just what I was asked to make. But I got the hang of it pretty quickly and find it really enjoyable managing it all myself.

It’s all about growing and harvesting plants to make raw materials be able to craft with, and therefore create items that you can use to furnish your own home, as well as huts for guests to stay in, and you earn rewards for having them stay. You can also make items to sell in your market and to other players as well.

It’s a very fun and slightly addictive little game with cute and quirky little characters and I’ve become quite competitive with it quite quickly. There is a competitive element to the game that you can engage in with other players. Other Craftmasters can rate your decorative efforts in your home and you can also visit other players craters yourself, make trades with them and take part in leagues. I have just got to that part at level 5 and it’s cool to be able to look how you are doing compared to others. I didn’t think I was bothered about that part of the game but once I got going I really want to have the best crater!

I do like how you have to use your mind a bit to work out what you need to make something else, and then sometimes a bit of patience is also required to wait whilst things are being built! Anything that helps me practice patience is definitely a good thing! I wasn’t expecting to get that from a game on my phone! It’s not at all stressful though, it is quite calming and a nice (non-social media) way to pass some time. I like to dip into it whilst I’m waiting for my tea to brew, for a couple of minutes guilt-free play!

My favourite part is when I’ve completed something – so for example finishing furnishing a hut so I can have a new guest to stay! It feels satisfying and is just a bit of easy fun to take your mind off everything for a little while. I think it would be good for older kids as well as adults as it gets them to use their mind but is nice and simple and building up your crater feels like a nice achievement!

It’s a great free app to have on your phone and I’d love for you to download it too and play along so we can compare craters for a bit of guilt-free fun! You can get it for free here.

Our lives are so busy especially as parents, so I think it’s so important to try and find little ways of getting a little time out – even if that’s hiding in the loo with a game on your phone for a few minutes!

I haven’t played anything like this before and I’ve really been enjoying it. The game looks really cool and a bit different, and I love the little characters. I really like how it guides you along a little bit but you still have to use your head and make your own decisions and it can keep you entertained for a long time. I can imagine playing it for a while on a long car journey or flight too. Ava has seen me playing it a couple of times and keeps trying to steal it off me, but she’s not getting her hands on it and ruining my crop! I’ve honestly played it a lot more than I thought I would, and it’s so nice to be having more of a break from social media without having to force myself to.

I hope you’ll join me in some lighthearted fun and see who can build the best crater! Download it here. My player tag is #846a73e so add me as a friend and let’s compare our craters!!

This is a collaborative post with the Crater Craft app, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.