Customer Reviews

PC Virtual Villagers

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

With all due respect I have to tell you that it is best to ignore the negative reviews. It would appear that one reviewer in particular did not actually play the game to understand how it works, so I'll tell you. It is alot more than having your villagers research, farm, & breed. There are puzzles to be solved. For instance, I'll give away one of the easiest puzzles, you have to clear the well so the villagers can drink water & water their crops. To learn how to better farm, to gain better knowledge in construction, gain spirituality, etc... you have to use tech points to be able to purchase more knowledge in each area. The more knowledge you have the more your villagers will eventually be able to do & the more puzzles they can solve. You get tech points by various things your villagers do, be it researching at the table, learning about the plants on the island, or learning how to heal eachother, etc... The more tech points earned the more knowledge you can buy. Yes, this game is real time, but you can double that time. You also don't have to worry about going away for long periods of time only to have your villagers die. There is an option you can check to pause the game indefinitely until you return. If you wish to cheat & play the game in a day you could do so by changing the time on your computer, open your game, & changing it back again after you re-open the game. You can advance as much as you like by doing this, but be aware that skipping ahead more than an hour or 2 can really wreack havoc on your villagers. This is a sims type of game, though, so the majority of people playing this I would think would be the type who enjoy more laid back games that take a while to unfold. It's definitely not for the impatient. Even using the cheat to skip your clock ahead can still take quite a few hours for you to actually finish the game. It's not a bang bang shoot em up kind of game, it's just there for you to relax & enjoy, and think just a little. :) There's alot more to the game than the negative reviews on here would have you believe.

I got this game for my birthday and was so excited to get it. I put it on my computer and have not stopped playing since. I have continued to check on my villagers and watched the population of my little village grow. I also have some friends that have played it and have become addicted as well. It is not a game to sit down and play for hours though. Get it started and then let it go and just remember to check on your villagers.

I like playing this game because it requires patience and interaction. It is a little slow, especially if one is used to the fast paced action of some sim games. I like that I can start it up and check on it every couple of hours while I get other things done.

I picked this game up on a whim--it looked cute. It is sort of cute. It's also just about the most boring game I've ever played. The premise is that a group of villagers land on an island and you need to teach them to survive. The trouble is, there are only four things you can teach them to do: research, build, gather food, and heal.

The game has a series of technologies to research, and puzzles to solve. The problem lies in the time it takes to do anything. Every game year is an hour (though you can set it to double time). That means when a mother needs to care for a baby for its first two years, its two hours. And there's really not anything to do once you teach your villagers what to do but watch them. Playing the game literally takes days--not game days, real life days. The time ticks by whether you are playing or not, whether your computer is on or not. And the scope of the game is so limited, even if you are willing to check on your virtual village each day, the achievements are so minimal, it's not worth bothering with.

The first time I played, I just left the game running about four hours, and they still hadn't managed to build a hut, or do enough research to gain a single technology. So I left them over night. By morning they had exhausted their food supply and were all dead of starvation and I had to start over.

You may wonder, why bother starting over? I wonder the same thing, I suppose it was a misguided faith that surely there was more to the game. There isn't.

If you want a game where you build towns, try Sim City or Caesar. If you like simulated life, you can't go wrong with Sims 2. If you're looking for something less complex, Tropico is a pretty decent island-themed simulation game (as is Tropico II: Pirates Cove). For a more family-oriented game (Sims and Tropico have some mild adult themes), try School Tycoon. It's not as sophisticated as the high end games, but for the price it's a decent value.

I bought this game for my daugther and she said that it had an interesting story and a cool gameplay.

I bought this game last summer after I lost 3 kittens to feline leukemia and was looking for something to divert me from the grief. This game actually fit the bill perfectly! It was easygoing, bright and colorful, kept my attention but was not taxing. I really just wanted something to zone out in front of. However, it can be very slow to play and I found that establishing about 3 games at once that I switched between kept me interested. I even had them all on 2X speed and still did not get overwhelmed. Once you figure out the challenges, the only reason to play is to make it the hardest game and see if you can keep all the villagers alive to solve the challenges. But it is a beautiful game to look at and I wanted more to look at, so I am pleased more games have come out in the series!

Virtual Villagers is a great deal of fun. The premise is that you've washed up on the island of Isola and you need to create a viable settlement. Starting with just a few villagers, you can create a thriving village of nearly 100. Along the way, you have to solve certain problems: how to feed yourself, educating yourself enough to make new technologies, and building new shelters. Food is frequently the most pressing issue. Around the beach you'll find some curious objects and spaces, which along the way, with some ingenuity, you'll discover their purpose and utility. The player controls the villagers' lives. It's your job to make sure the villagers are fed and happy, that they reproduce, and that they work at necessary tasks. The game runs in real time, which means that your village keeps functioning even if you're not at the computer. Therefore, it's extremely important to make sure your villagers are well-trained. There are definitely some slow points in this game. There are times when your villagers simply have to work to reach the next level, and that takes some time. This is not a game that you can sit and play for 8 hours straight, as it runs in real time. That said, I've found watching the village grow and trying to solve the various puzzles that are necessary to progress to be a great deal of fun. I enjoyed this game enough that I bought the two sequels as soon as they were released.

this is one of my favorite pc games.it is very addictive.after you try it you will want to buy virtual villagers 2 and 3 too.it takes some time to beat.but it is a great game to own.i would highly recommend it.

I read the other reviews before puchasing this game. I actually found it to be quite entertaining. As stated by others this game is not full of thrills and high energy, however, it is fun for those of us who aren't interested in violence and guns, etc.

And it isn't as easy as it might appear on the surface. The puzzles can be quite challenging to figure out and there were quite unexpected solutions.

You can pause it if you are going to be away for a while, or you have the choice to select a "time" speed. Turning off the computer will still allow these villagers to go about their business. It is often a suprise when you turn it back on to see what is new.

You can't just start up the game and let it do it's own thing. The Villagers need to be trained in their tasks. It is your choice as to what they learn.

All in all, I have played this for quite a while, and found it to be quite relaxing.

In this game you will spend most of your playing time assigning jobs to villagers and having them breed. It is a slow game and best for spending a few minutes here and there watching over your growing village. And you can have up to 5 different games going at a time. You need to use the tech points the scientist villagers earn to buy skill upgrades so your village will thrive. (The final farming upgrade is very important to keeping your food supply up.) There are also 'puzzles' that you solve as your village advances and you help them explore. And occasionally an event will pop up and you will have to choose how your villager reacts and the result can either be very good or even deadly.

I found this game to be very fun. I let my game run all day checking it every couple hours.