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	Business Games

Last update: 11-08-2004	Submitted by Joel



I have gone through real-time business games in the past few months. Some are simple and easy to master while others are complicated but fun to play with. Here are three of the best ones that caught my attention: Plant Tycoon, Fish Tycoon, and Tots'n'Togs. Plant Tycoon LDW Software $19.95 Plant Tycoon is a real-time plant growing simulation. The objective is to find four Magic Plants to bring fame and fortune to your Nursery. Since the game can be set to real time, the gameplay can mimic real life horticulture. Just take a look at the process: preparing and watering soil, planting seed, pollinating, harvesting, and selling. As your plants and money grow, you can then add enhancements. These enhancements help your plants to survive or attract more people into your nursery. The more plants you can produce, the more you can sell, the more people can visit your nursery. Simple but not quite. Primary attention must be given to the pollination sequence. Though the seed manager is a handy tool, there's nothing more useful than a pencil and paper log to chart your discoveries. If you want some added detail, draw the seeds and the pollinating sequence. Hand drawn charts can sometimes spell the difference between success and failure. (If I had more time, I think I'll do screenshots of the game and use my favorite drawing program to make graphical pollination charts.) This game is definitely not for the impatient. Rushing the game would lead to untimely plant deaths. Putting in more attention would reap rewards. Fish Tycoon LDW Software $19.95 Following the success of Plant Tycoon for LDW Software, Fish Tycoon again taps your business acumen to help the land of Isola find its seven Magic Fish. Like Plant Tycoon, Fish Tycoon can also be played in real time. You begin the game with starter eggs that hatch into fish (after about 10 minutes). Fish grow in time but you would also need to do regular feeding. Once the fish are ready, you can then use the isolation tank to breed the fish. New species can be discovered through breeding so have that paper and pencil (or spreadsheet, or graphical chart) ready to plot your progress. The Supply Shop provides items to enhance your aquarium and breeding results. You can get food, medicine, chemicals, accessories, and research technologies from the Shop. The Selling Tank is displayed in the Fish Shop. Just remember that fish are not automatically sold. You have to be there... think of it as personally selling fish you've worked hard to breed and take care of. Want to trade fish with your friends? Then go no further than the Transporter Room where any fish can be beamed to and from other handhelds. Tots'n'Togs Handyent $19.95 Tots'n'Togs is the newest business to set up shop. You have inherited a clothing business and it's your job to make sure your business survives. There are two game modes: Legacy (quick start, random location, basic set of shop equipment and supplies) and Venture (from scratch, choice of location). There are many different things to consider for your store. Upgrading range from choosing clothes racks, to security cameras, to wall paintings. Marketing allows you to monitor fashion trends, customer, and competitor behavior. Promotion lets you determine the amount of discounts, mannequins, flyers, paper ads, and TV spots. Staff and Services gives you access to cleaning, repair, anti-moth services and apprentice, janitor, and basic staff members. The Warehouse is the biggest area boasting of about 100 pieces of clothing and accessories. Graphics and sound are fantastic. Seeing the game in full 320 x 480 high resolution is already worth it but the gameplay further makes this game shine. As I'm writing this, version 1.01 has been released. ""We gave a proper weigh to your invaluable remarks and suggestions to finally deliver this fully stable build. Includes marketing wars balancing, prevention of jams, vital fixes for registration system, corrections for typos, other minor bugfixes and improvements. Now with a manual in PDF." Plant Tycoon, Fish Tycoon, and Tots'n'Togs offer something different for the real-time business genre gamer. All three are excellent choices but I suggest going for one theme that interests you. That way, you can fully appreciate the details found in each game. The complexity, time frame, and graphics are perfectly blended to let the business gamer immerse into unique challenges. Buying these games uses some business sense too. If you haven't bought any of the three yet, watch out for price cuts and promo codes that are sometimes offered by different sites. (Tots'n'Togs, for example, is currently at $17.95 - 10% off! Use "TNT10OFF" promo code on Handango.) There have also been lengthy discussions here at 1src. Check them out to learn in-depth tips and tricks! Spoilers are mentioned in the discussions so be warned. Forum discussion links: Plant Tycoon Fish Tycoon Tots'n'Togs Thanks to Carla and Alexey for the support!