5/5: The only flaw in this game it that some of the people are slightly asymmetrical.
DEVELOPER(S): RELEASE: 2008
Premise: You make your way to billions of dollars through Europe's housing market, building, buying, selling, and restoring various properties. Along the way you'll have to do things like increase the appeal of a neighbourhood, build a few public services (fire stations) here and there, and even construct a few landmarks before you hit your deadline.
Gameplay: Though just reading the premise above gives the impression, this game truly is for everyone. That includes your young ones. The first levels are almost insanely easy (but not in an irritating way), and the learning curve isn't too steep or too "flat" at all.
Each level has a goal or two: get this amount of money in cash, construct this, demolish this, pretty this up, et cetera. You start off with a number of workers, a blueprint or two, materials, a few lots and/or properties, and of course, money.
Regardless of your goal, you will always have to construct a house or two. There are different kinds of houses, ranging from cottages to whole dormitories, and with each property you gain income from the rent. This income can be raised by increasing the neighbourhood's appeal, painting the house, and upgrading the house. Neighbourhood appeal is dependent on the number of houses painted (one painted house equals five appeal points), the state of the houses (houses that are run-down or on fire lower the appeal), and other various properties in the neighbourhood (while worker workshops give you discounts on hiring workers, they lower the appeal of the neighbourhood).
Both painting and upgrading your house costs time, workers, and materials. Painting is cheaper and faster, but it doesn't increase rent much. Upgrading is more expensive and slower, but it raises rent drastically. If either renovation is planned in an untimely manner you may not finish by the end of the month and therefore not get any rent.
Aside from keeping your properties, you can also sell them. Offers depend on the housing market; if you're selling an empty lot and everyone else is selling an empty lot, don't expect to get exactly what you want. But, if you own a monopoly on everything in the neighbourhood, you'll be sure to get exactly what you want. This works both ways, too—low-balling isn't a good idea if the property you're bidding for is the only one on sale. At the end of the level the values of all your property and your cash for that level are added to your lifetime income.
The game is long, but not tedious or tiring. While the goals can be grouped according to "build something," "earn this," "selling and buying properties," and et cetera, what you'll have to do to reach those goals will always keep you on your toes. There are many countries and levels to play, and even if you could get through the whole game without having to restart a level once, this game would still take quite a while to finish. Especially if you're the obsessive type that likes getting S-grade accomplishments, since you'll have to complete the level before a certain amount of time (indicated by a notch on the deadline bar) if you want to get that coveted blue ribbon.
Graphics: A while ago I stopped believing that all "casual" games were crud-PC-friendly, thanks to Youda Farmer. Now Build-a-Lot 3 has convinced me that "casual" games are steadily, but certainly becoming more graphically impressive and are shirking the relatively modest visuals I'm used to.
Neighbourhood are varied even inside countries. There are suburbs, quiet lakeside towns, gloomy peatlands, and snowy mountain resort villages. There are no jaggies, the icons representing commuting workers don't seem out of place, the weather effects are pleasant, and whether or not you're a fan of photorealism you have to admit the portraits in the game are pretty damn good.
Sound: Though the game has a limited number of tracks, that doesn't stop them from being enjoyable to hear. Looks like somewhat was messing with Pro Tools and gave birth to some real music, huh? Though some of us can easily pick out games that have better music, something of this mark is really extraordinary in the whole "casual gaming" enterprise. Calm Spanish music caresses your eardrums in Spain, and so on. The SFX are also quite high-quality, too. Nothing to hate about the music except perhaps a few more tracks, and maybe longer ones, too. Honestly, just hearing the music makes me think like this is going to be an expensive game, but it's not.
Overall: I've never really played anything like this before. It's fun, it keeps you on your toes at all times, it's family-friendly, it has great graphics, great visuals, it isn't a short game... Whether you consider yourself a "casual" gamer or not, or even a gamer at all, you just absolutely must play this game. Time management has never been so fun...
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