I have to admit, I really wanted to like Virtual Villagers: A New Home. To take a "god game" down to its most basic elements and make it simple for all to play intrigued me. Alas, that simplicity is what let me down and made it play dangerously near frustrating.
The idea of the game is to help a group of people who move to a new island as they develop into a viable little village. You help them by giving them hints god-game style - you pick them up and move them around the map and plopping them on things they might find useful. If you are lucky they won't wander off oblivious to their plight. As the village progresses, you can invest "tech" points in various fields of endeavor like science, medicine and even mating.
To be fair, you are warned that the villagers are stubborn at times...
And therein lays the rub. The people on this island act so stupidly they are barely able to feed themselves. They take lots of coaxing to do the most simple of tasks. In order to extend the life of your village you have to get them to mate; but most of the time they aren't interested. I may have gotten unlucky, but the men in my games seem completely uninterested.
I found playing the game a bit like watching those celebrity reality shows where they are stuck in the boonies or on an island in order to help their career. Ok that is a bit mean to the AI; the villagers in this game are a tiny bit brighter than that.
On that theme; the running while you are not playing element to the game; makes it more interesting. Rather than watching them potter about you can ponder how your villagers are doing while you get on with life. You never know what the little sods will get up to; it's always a bit of a surprise.
The game has a cutesy feel to it with bright graphics. It runs pretty well and does not crash. The controls are fairly simple to grasp and there are several levels of play.
Ultimately the game's AI was a letdown and I find myself frequently frustrated. I played it until they were all dead several times and felt myself wondering "is that it?" This game would be rather fun for all; if the AI were bit more with it.
The designers meant well, that is for sure, but I just don't think they managed to achieve a game I would feel comfortable to recommend. There is a lot of potential here for a cut-down "god-game"; however as we all know even the gods have limited patience.
For other views on this title please see:
Alladania's Review AA0's Review
Marty Dodge is a 37 year old American expat living and working in London in the UK. He is a writer, author, novelist, blogger, computer games consultant (his full time work) and the lyricist/frontman for Growing Old Disgracefully (www.disgracefulmusic.com). He has been writing mythos stories for many years and has written an Idiots Guide to the Mythos.
