When my boys were younger, they used to play a game with their toy cars, which involved lining them all up in a single file line and parking them there.  I never really knew what the point of the game was, though my sister-in-law dubbed it traffic, which seemed appropriate.  It was an odd reflection on their world that traffic was the game they chose to play with their cars.  Now, several years later, we found a stunningly similar game for the iPad.  as it turns out, the boys still love playing traffic, even in its digital form.  Yield has now become a family favorite, so let’s go ahead and take a closer look.

The basic premise of this one is really pretty simple, and yet very original.  Each level consists of a crossing between a road and a highway.  Traffic courses up and down (down and up) the highway while the cars travelling on the country road must sit and bide their time to cross.  You control the cars on the country road, telling them when it is safe to cross, or when they must stop and wait their turn.

A counter on top tracks how many cars have safely crossed the street, and how many are left to complete the level.  don’t take too long though, because each level also comes complete with a timer.  Run out of time and your game comes to a sudden close.  Once you have completed a level, though, it will be unlocked in the level selector, allowing you to restart from the beginning of each completed level.  You can also choose to pay an extra $0.99 in order to unlock all of the levels at once. 

As you proceed through the game, the levels get progressively more difficult, adding such challenges as divided highways, train crossings, and cars travelling at variable speeds.  In other words, the higher you go, the more critical role timing will play in the game. 

When you do crash, hit the uh-oh button to continue watching the scene through the safety of a traffic camera above the intersection.  This was a fun feature, though I wish there had been a way to rewind the tape and watch the accident, especially if various angles could be built into the replay.

The graphics and gameplay were simple, but effective.  It felt like a distant cousin to the line drawing games which I have always enjoyed, adopting a similar bird’s eye view and control system..but without the actual lines.  I did think the intersection control, which simply displayed the word stop when the cars were to stop could have been better.  Something as simple as a stop sign or policeman directing the traffic would have worked well here.  Still, I really enjoy these games which are simple in design, but feature a progressively challenging gameplay.  and my kids still enjoy the game of traffic.

Yield is available from the iTunes App Store for $0.99.  Upgrading to unlock all maps will cost an additional $0.99.  There is also a free version available for iPhone and iPod Touch.

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