Shot at 2007-06-28



Shot at 2007-06-29



In the very crowded field of computer simulation games, it’s hard for
any one game to be very different from any other. Every interesting
profession has been covered, from theme parks to hospitals to fast
food. Circus Empire is a simulation based on running a successful
circus business, with the emphasis on creating circus shows. While
Circus Empire doesn’t offer anything really new to the simulation
genre, it does present a good economic simulation with the fun exercise
of putting on a circus act, complete with clowns. It’s easy to pick up
and play, and kids will enjoy it.



We previewed Circus Empire before the final release. This final
release appears to be the same as the preview version, and so this
review is mostly a revisit of the information in the preview.



When beginning the game, players can choose to either play a
campaign mode or a sandbox mode. The campaign starts with a tutorial
mode, which is narrated by a friendly dog. This tutorial is one of the
better ones I’ve seen and it does an excellent job of leading players
through the game mechanics. Kids should be able to easily learn the
game mechanics playing the tutorial. Once the tutorial is finished,
it’s off to harder and more complex tasks.





The main goal of Circus Empire is to build entertaining shows that
the audience will love. Each day, players will assign new tasks to
their performers and other employees. These tasks center mainly on
learning new tricks. Once new tricks are mastered, the performers can
use them in their acts onstage. If the acts are performed correctly,
the audience will enjoy them and the show will get good ratings.
Success in turn advances the game in terms of items and tricks that can
be added to the menus.



The game is played in two distinct visual modes. Players can view
the game map from an overhead view, or can choose to have the manager
walk around. This up-close mode was actually pretty strange in that the
character would walk sideways if the camera wasn’t turned in the same
direction. The menus that pop up for certain areas won’t be accessible
unless the camera has the character pointed straight toward the
building. Also, the movement was awkward because the keyboard is used
for walking and the mouse is used to turn the camera viewpoint. For the
purpose of managing the circus, we found the overhead view to work the
best.





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