Collecting is easily one of the most addictive hobbies someone can have. Granted it’s not for everyone, but Backstage is banking on finding enough pack rats for their most recent Facebook game, Vinyl City. Don’t let the “city” part fool you, as buildings and contracts have nothing to do with this app; rather, it is almost exclusively about the collection of classic music albums of the past and present.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen music incorporated into a game. In February, for instance, Conduit Labs released its pet caring game, Music Pets, which still holds over 800,000 monthly active users. To that end, Vinyl City is certainly in the right ballpark for some success. But with a handful of questionable usability choices, Vinyl City feels like it may run into trouble.

Even the classification of “game” feels loosely applied for Vinyl City. Players are initially greeted by a robot avatar that walks you through the basics, though it’s nothing terribly difficult. Every hour, users may pull a lever on the Vinyl-Matic 3000. This machine then spits out a box of random albums that the player can then sort through.

Think of it like collecting cards. For each box you open, there are set number of albums that you may or may not own. If you already own an album, you can toss the extra to earn part of its value in coins, or keep it towards a collection. Once you own an album, you can then visit your collection and listen to a sample of it via Amazon. Of course, if you like it, you can conveniently buy the Mp3 from the same place.

Thus far, there seems to be a respectable number of records to collect, with more unlocking as you level up. Unfortunately, earning experience is not quite as easy as in other social games. You don’t get any for picking up an album, but only be either finishing an entire set (i.e. all the possible Nirvana songs in the game), using the Vinyl-Matic to spit out a box, or collecting a set of memorabilia.

This is actually another aspect of Vinyl City’s collection mechanic. In addition to just music, players can collect any number of interesting music items like guitars and guitar picks, rocker sock puppets, and the very odd “Metal Lunch Items” (think Ozzy and the bat). They are a bit pricey, but if you have friends playing with you, it’s not too bad.

Having friends to play with is logical for this type of game. After all, part of collection is trading. Vinyl City has made it somewhat indirect; whenever you toss out an album, a friend can come pick it up (once per day). As an added bonus, when they do take out your trash, you receive the rest of the album’s coin value.

Buddies playing with you also have an added benefit in dealing with the occasional locked box that pops out of the Vinyl-Matic. As a matter of fact, this is probably the single most game-like feature in Vinyl City, as the box is actually a mini-game puzzle of sorts that tests just how much you know about music. The catch, however, is that the player can only unlock one of two locks, and the second must be unlocked by a friend. Should you successfully open both, the locked box will contain various rare albums and memorabilia.

Beyond just friends, players can also unlock the “Marketplace.” From here, you can actually use your in-game coins to purchase items — both albums and memorabilia — from other players. Unfortunately, this aspect of the game comes with the rather odd choice of forcing players to earn a set amount of experience until they can even access the area. This feature makes little logical sense, especially as it’s the entry point to using the game’s virtual currency. Moreover, when you consider how slowly one gains experience, it seems likely that many users will quit before they even unlock the market.

This wouldn’t be as much of an issue, except for the fact that Vinyl City is actually pretty boring. Nothing has a point other than collection. In the case of Music Pets, you were at least trying to decorate a virtual space and keep you own digital pet happy, but all of that is lost here. Collection is great for longevity, but there is nothing that really grabs hold of the user in the first place. Granted, this is all the same as literal, physical collection — there’s no real game in that, either — but at least that’s tangible and often worth real money. Collecting the virtual counterparts of real items just doesn’t feel as appealing.

In the end, Vinyl City is going to be pretty hit or miss with most people; it looks good, plays smoothly, and has some good social implementations, but they all just feel like parts with no unifying factor of fun. As it stands, the game has been growing steadily the past three or so days, and now closes in on the 3,000 MAU mark. However, its an app that’s going to need an extra push to reach the level of its predecessors.