Venture Africa is a Hoot. Also a Roar and a Neigh.
Yes, Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa is a "tycoon" game--but quite different from others of the genre. The objective isn't to build a business, but a balanced ecosystem. For example, one level's objective is to have some number of lions in play--but to get that many, you have to build up your zebra population so there's enough prey to support your lions. And to support that many zebra, you need to plant enough bushes to sustain them.
Yet it also isn't a hard-core simulation in the style of Sim Life (and thank goodness); it's a simple, straightforward game with pleasantly animated African wildlife, and a tutorial system that anyone who can read (and this is a good game for kids) will find good and sufficient. Contrariwise, it's a tougher game to win, even on "Easy" setting, than most casual games (many of which can be won by a monkey clicking randomly).
What do you do in the game? Plant things to support your herbivores; place breeding pairs of animals, and hope there's enough food and water to support them. Summon rainclouds to fill dry waterholes, to establish a new environment to sustain your populations. To do these things, you need "jewels" (a game conceit--if the term offends you, call 'em "ecopoints"), which you gain by hitting intermediary objectives--some number of animals of different types. So as with a traditional tycoon, it's a "builder" game, where your initial deployments produce resources to let you expand further, but here, you're building up your animal populations, rather than literal buildings.
Good, clean fun--and perhaps even a bit of educational value.
The developer says:
Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africa is a fast-paced sim game set in the African Serengeti. Players build a unique ecosystem by buying and breeding animals and by balancing the food and water needs of each diverse species.Each level requires that the player create a thriving ecosystem with a different set of animals. For instance, the player might be asked to create an ecosystem with 50 zebra and 15 lions. If the player can achieve this goal before time runs out, she wins the level!
The complete version of Wildlife Tycoon: Venture Africaincludes 11 animals, 25 campaign maps, 3 levels of difficulty, a story mode and a challenge mode.
Players can also earn Combo Jewels to bring rain to the desert or turn a dry mudflat into a teeming oasis. Players earn these by creating smaller populations of other animals within her main ecosystem. Smart players create balanced ecosystems so that they can earn multiple combo jewels simultaneously!
Take control over a zebra and feed it to a pack of lions, lead a great wildebeest migration across crocodile-filled rivers, or circle above a starving elephant as a devious vulture.
Features
- 11 different types of Animals
- 25 different campaign maps
- 3 levels of difficulty
- Story and Challenge game play modes
Reviews
"I think that the game is very fun, and worth the price. My favorite part is the Zebra's call. He sounds exactly like zebras do in the real world. I downloaded the trial of this game not expecting much, but got a real gem. I have the full version now. It is a game I see myself playing regularly. "
- GamersInfo.net
Awards
Grand Prize Finalist, Independent Games Festival 2006
Grand Prize Finalist, Slamdance Guerilla Gamemaker Competition 2006
Most Innovative Runner Up, Best Overall Runner Up, Indie Games Con 2005