by genkicoll Sat Dec 31, 2011 10:08 pm
Review from June 7, 2010
Artist Colony -- Based on 1 hour demo
This is another game that I had no interest in trying, but I gave
it a whirl, anyway. I was hoping to be surprised, but I find the game
so-so.
In this game you are re-building a defunct artist's compound where
people can train in painting, music, sculpting, dance, photography, etc.
The goal of the game is to restore all of the studios, clear all the
debris, rebuild anything that needs it and above all, create
masterpieces for guests to purchase.
Before you can train, you have to clear debris, then rebuild the
studio(s). When people get tired, they need to rest on a bench or
sleep. When they get hungry, they'll eat at the kitchen. The problem
is that when they get uninspired, they get depressed, and when they're
depressed, they won't do anything at all.
This game would be a lot more fun if it wasn't so hard to inspire
our little artists, but alas, it's very difficult. Sources of
inspiration will show up now and then, such as beautiful flowers, or you
can (barely) manage to raise the level by having them view something
pretty like a pond or flower garden. Sometimes they will think about
someone of the opposite sex, and if you put the people together,
sometimes they will fall in love. And sometimes not. The person with
the original thoughts tends to get depressed at this point, but putting
them near the person they're thinking about might help.
Your artists move pretty slowly, which helps to keep track of them
all, but it's rather annoyingly slow when you only have two people to
manage.
My impression: Too slow, too hard to keep people inspired, and hence, not as fun as it could have been.
December, 2011 comment:
I plan to give this game another try at some point. Challenger's has offered up some tips and tricks to keep the artists inspired, which was my main concern when I originally tried it.
