Gazillionaire III [Game Download]

2010/05/19

Gazillionaire III [Game Download]

Gazillionaire III [Game Download] Review

Sometimes you just want to get back to simple gaming pleasures. I'm having a blast with Dragon Age and looking forward to Heavy Rain and Alpha Protocol. But sometimes while playing today's games I miss that one ingredient that you don't really find too much in today's games: Imagination. I'm talking about the Imagination in your mind. The games of today basically fill in everything and all we players have to do is follow along.

Not so with Gazillionaire. In a nut shell, this is a spreadsheet game with prettied up Excel like graphics, very crude animations and horrible horrible sound effects that should probably be tuned off. Oh and there is no violence whatsoever in this game. So, if this game cannot possible appeal to you, then you should simply move on and not make the purchase. I saved you some money and good for you. But if I have not deterred you then this 7 bucks may be one of the funnest games you will ever buy.

Okay so I stripped down the game but what is it really? Basically you play a planetary trader who starts off the game with a ship purchased with borrowed funds. And off course its basic econ after that, buy low and sell high, repay debts. You compete with 6 other computer opponents but the game can accommodate up to 6 human players via hot seat (all on the same computer taking turns).

What makes this game fun is it has so many components involved in running your fledgling empire. You have crew payroll, advertising, taxes, fuel and insurance to take into account while on your trading missions. Additionally each planet has its own specialties that have to be taken into account. For example one planet specializes in engine upgrades, one specializes in gambling, one specializes in trade unions. The game plays with seven planets but there are 10 planets in the game inventory. One nice bit is that the game allows you to pick the ones you like.

Of course if that's all there was then the game would just be a matter of slowly building you empire until you reach the end game (who gets the first mil, who gets the first 10 mil etc). But random events happen in this game all the time. You could be taking a juicy cargo load full of profits to the next planet when your ship gets hijacked, or the cargo ends up being contaminated or some mucky muck makes you divert to another planet or you stupidly forgot to fill the tank, run out of gas mid trip and you have get emergency fuel that will wipe out all your profits.

The game also has a monopoly component in that every once in a while planetary facilities will go on sale and if you are the successful bidder your will get a fee every time someone lands on your planet. The game also has the player dealing with banks and stock markets. BTW, if you forget to upgrade your ship, soon the other players will be beating you to the planets with the inexpensive goods and there won't be much to make as far as profits on you next run.

Still, with the wide variety of things to consider when trying to become that Gazillionaire, the game has a simple elegance and once you become familiar with the game's mechanics, game play becomes quite addicting. The tutorial does an excellent job of easing you into the game world. With the price and the ease of downloading the game now, you can't go wrong.