Plant Tycoon

by ACTIVISION

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B0012V3SD2
• Item Weight: 15.4 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: January 15, 2008
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #6,479 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)

  #30 in

  Video Games > Mac Games > Strategy

Product Description

Product Description

The genetically enhanced gardening sim!Product InformationIn Plant Tycoon you nurture plants and experiment with increasingly rare and valuable species. The object is to breed and cross breed plants until you find the 6 Magic Plants of Isola and solve the genetic puzzle. You start with a couple of dollars a handful of seeds some soil and water. Grow plants organize and harvest seeds monitor your plants' health age and maturity and protect your plants from dehydration and infestations. Sell some of your creations to fund your research buy better supplies to use in your Nursery and purchase ornaments to customize your virtual garden.Product Features True real-time game: new surprises every time you turn the game on. Over 500 different species of plants to discover. A wide variety of collectible insects to retrieve. Dozens of different kinds of seeds to experiment with. Simulation Game: virtual plants in a persistent world. Collect seeds Hundreds of upgrades Windows Requirements Windows Me 2000 XP Vista 700 MHz or faster processor 256 MB of RAM 40 MB available Hard Disk space CD-ROM driveMacintosh Requirements OS X 10.3.9 or later Intel or 500 MHz PowerPC G4 processor 256 MB of RAM (768 MB for iBook or G4 iMac) 32 MB of VRAM 40 MB available Hard Disk space CD-ROM drive 

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Plant Tycoon, January 31, 2008

By	Julie Ritter (Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Plant Tycoon (Video Game)

I like this game. I can play it while cleaning the house and if one of my kids need me i dont have to pause it to see what they need. I think this game is great for parents to just play if you like seeing what you can make by mixing the plants. I think some of the plants look beautiful...wish I had them in my garden. Over all it can get a little boring if you play it too much but it is still fun.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very Disappointing, January 8, 2010

By	J. Reinoehl - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Plant Tycoon (Video Game)

This is one of the most disappointing games I have played. The story line and concept are excellent. You collect seeds and develop new flowering plants by cross-breeding the ones you have. You sell your plants in the nursery to raise money to upgrade your tools. You can collect the bugs in your greenhouse for cash. The object is to create the six magic plants from Isola.
So, why is it disappointing? It claims to grow plants in "real time." On the "fast" speed setting it takes fifty-one real minutes to grow a plant from seed to sellable mature plant. If you breed the plant (also only possible after an hour), it takes additional time for the seeds to develop. You have a total of fifteen plant spaces, so once you have potted them all (which takes about two minutes), you just wait and watch so they do not get bugs, develop dead leaves, or run out of water (my plants never came close to running out of water and only about 1 in 15 develop bugs - pruning is required a little more frequently, but only takes about one of the fifty-one minutes to do. You can collect bugs, but they appear infrequently. If you have plants to sell, you can go to the nursery during the growing process and watch customers come in. It can take up to thirty minutes to sell a plant, and you must remain in the nursery screen the whole time or you lose your customers and must wait for more. If you set your prices too high, you cannot change them in this screen. While the customer actions are remarkably like what one would expect in a real nursery, they sometimes gape at plant stands with no plants on them. They also do nothing entertaining enough to keep your attention for the hours you will need to spend watching them.
When you leave the game, you need to "pause" it because it keeps track of your plants while you are gone. This aspect would work well if the "slow" speed would take eight to ten hours for a plant to develop, you could set it on slow and shut down your computer. When you came back, you would find your plants ready (you may have a bug infestation though). However, the "slow" speed is not slow enough - it takes only four hours for a plant to develop.
Also disappointing is the fact the game does not really keep track of your crosses. When you place a seed in your seed bank, you can see the parent plants (as long as you crossed the seed and did not buy it). When you plant that seed, this information is lost, and you must wait the fifty-one minutes to discover what kind of plant you made. The fifteen pots only have about five different designs, so good luck remembering which seeds you crossed to get that plant. More discouraging is that if you rearrange the plants in your nursery, they will also change their positions in your greenhouse.
I would love to play this game more, but I cannot justify spending the eight hours it takes to get into it each day. I can think of three good reasons to get this game. If you are doing something else, like housework, schoolwork, or surfing the web, and need an occasional distraction while a page loads or the dryer finishes, this game will work, but you will need to keep checking your plants. If you have nothing to do and want a way to waste three or four months of your life, this is perfect. Or, if you have children that you want out of the way who are easily amused, you can set them in front of this, and it will take care of them. However, do not think they are getting educated about how to "really" take care of plants.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Garden of Fun, April 26, 2009

By	dream factory (Triangulum, M33) - See all my reviews

Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Plant Tycoon (Video Game)

Following is a review by Isabella (6 years old), one of the younger members of dream factory:

"You can make a big nusery with flowers. "You can make a seed collection. And have as many tools and products for the nursery. And try to discover the 6 magic plants. You catch and collect bugs and insects, either for jars or money. You can sell the flowers to the customers. Their are 100 products to chose from, and 500 different plants."

Parent: Yes this is a recommended PC game due to it teaching youngsters at many levels. Plant care/nurturing from seed - seedling - plant. Defence against insects. Nursery arrangement and customer service. Not a simple game by any means. Taking much lateral thinking during play and operation.