Clockwise from top left: Dream Heights, Tiny Tower, Sim Tower and Corporation Inc

An ugly spat has erupted following the announcement of Zynga published tower building sim Dream Heights. As reported by Touch Arcade, indie developer Niblebit has issued an open letter implying that the game is little more than a clone of its popular iOS release Tiny Tower. Niblebit’s Ian Marsh has also suggested that Zynga attempted to purchase his studio before pressing ahead with Dream Heights.

Shortly thereafter, Nimblebit itself was on the receiving end of some unflattering comparisons. Kotaku published a second letter, this time authored by a party identified only as ‘drumcowski’. It claimed that Tiny Tower was likely inspired by Corporation Inc, a flash title published by Armour Games. (This notion was quickly rejected by Marsh). The mysterious drumcowski also suggested that all three games were descendents of EA’s PC classic Sim Tower.

What do you think? Was this the natural evolution of a subgenre, or does Nimblebit have legitimate grounds for complaint?

Image credits: games.com, Kotaku, Moby Games