Virtual Villagers Review

You pick them up and move them around the village, directing them to different areas and teaching them new skills. In some ways, it's a simpler and more straight-forward version of games like Black and White, The Sims, and Roller Coaster Tycoon. You completely control the little villagers' fates in Virtual Villagers, a fantastic simulation game that comes highly recommended.

Virtual Villagers Review

When you get started, the little island-goers have no idea what they are doing. In this way, you must teach them how to farm, how to build, how to research, and even how to breed. Yes, how to breed. Essentially, the way you do these things is you literally pick up an inhabitant and plop him or her in the area associated with task.

For example, if you grab "Joe", we'll say, and place him near the berry bushes, he may start to learn how to forage and gather food. That said, most of the villagers are pretty dense, so you'll need to be somewhat persistent, but the rewards are well worth it. You must ensure that every aspect of their life is taken care of, balancing their skills, and exploiting their inherent strengths. But wait there's more.

Building an Entire Civilization

Not only do you watch as your little village grows (they do breed, after all, producing more villagers, expanding your population) and as those little guys and gals learn new abilities, but there are several puzzles to decipher and solve as well.

There are 16 puzzles in total, each more challenging than the last. You may need to send a young child exploring among unchartered territory to find something yet un-found, or who knows what else. This added layer makes the game more intriguing and more captivating. Motivation comes from all fronts, and that is easily one of Virtual Villagers greatest strengths.

Virtual Villagers Have Skills!

This title operates in real time. What this means is that even when you are not playing, the villagers are busy working away at collecting food and building new structures. In this way, you may need to check in on a daily basis or so to see how they are doing. Who knows, something fantastically unexpected may have happened and it's up to you to clean up the mess. Or maybe they've vastly improved their skills and are getting bored with collecting the same old crops.

You can sit down for a short 10-15 session every day or two, knowing that you are working on a greater goal of establishing a self-sufficient society, right from the ground up. A great sense of accomplishment can be enjoyed.

Casual and Strategic

Virtual Villagers is perhaps one of the most complex "casual" games on the market, yet it is simple enough for you to just pick up and play. There isn't so much of a need to frantically attack arcade challenges, as the idea in this game is to think about the long run. The villagers' immediate needs -- food, shelter, and so on -- need to be met, but you also have to ensure their longevity and sustainability.

Somewhere between casual and strategic falls this game. And man alive, is it fun.