A little over a year ago, I played my first Build-a-lot game and I absolutely loved it. In May of this year, I played the sequel and it was still extremely awesome. Recently, the second sequel, Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe debuted. And it is just as amazing as its predecessors. This time around, you are sent into Europe to help fix up a couple of communities in different countries. I don't know if I can remember all of the countries but I know you go to England, Italy and I think Portugal. The fun gameplay is still the same. There are a couple of new building types and upgrades for you. I do have to admit that some of the levels are very difficult but the game is so fun that it's more of a challenge to get past those levels as opposed to being frustrating. Even if you find yourself getting frustrated, if you walk away from the game for a little while, you can come back knowing that you'll figure out the puzzle eventually. I love these games!
Game review: Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year
Last year, I really loved playing Build-A-Lot so I had really high expectations for the sequel. Luckily, the game not only met my expectations but exceeded them! The gameplay is pretty much the same from the first game. You are given a variety of tasks and you need to get the materials and workers to complete them within the time limit. This time around, there are new buildings for you such as a playground. These buildings will effect the buildings around them. For example, if you build a playground between two houses, those houses will each get an extra "happiness" rating. However, if you build a factory near the houses, they will receive negative "happiness" points. This actually makes the game a bit more fun because now you have to figure out how to rearrange your development to make everyone as happy as possible.
This will probably be my favorite game of the entire year.
Game Review: Build-a-lot
Last night, I decided to break out of my video game rut. I've been playing way too many time management and hidden object games. So I downloaded Build-a-lot from Big Fish Games. The description reads: Become a real estate mogul and take over the housing market as you construct, upgrade and sell houses for huge profits! You can flip houses for quick cash or sit back and watch the rental income pile up. Travel to scenic towns and perform special tasks for the local mayors. Buy blue prints of new buildings to build bigger and better neighborhoods! Can you build an ice rink for the Olympics? A new cinema for the local movie star? Find out in the new strategy game, Build-a-lot!
I usually suck at strategy games but what the heck. It won't kill me to play an hour demo. The game actually turned out to be quite fun! I played through the first three towns. Well, I shouldn't really count the first town since that is the tutorial. In each town, you are given a list of goals to accomplish. They vary from things like 'Build 3 Colonial Houses' to 'Build A Library' to 'Hire 5 Workers.' While each of these sounds like really easy goals, you quickly find that you have to do some financial juggling in order to accomplish them. You start out with three workers, one housing blueprint and you need to purchase materials. To accomplish the 'Build A Library' goal, you need to juggle your finances enough to buy the library blueprint, hire two more workers and purchase 1500 units of building materials. In order to get the finances going, you need to build enough houses to generate enough rental income to buy everything you need. And, of course, there is a timer. If you accomplish all your goals fast enough, you get a blue ribbon for that section.
I know that I haven't really made the game sound as fun as it is. It plays a lot like a time management game but it's more than that. I found it to be a really enjoyable game and I just might purchase the full version so I can play some more.