"Create-A-Mall" Review (PC)

Pros:

• Couldn't be easier to learn

Cons:

• Impossible to lose
• Limited variety of stores
• Too short

The Bottom Line: "Create-A-Mall" is more of a puzzle than a business game. I found it impossible to lose. Spend as needed, wait til the money builds up, and spend some more. Not the game if you are looking for a challenge.

• Build malls in 6 cities.
• Decide which stores are built.
• Hire men to construct new stores and make upgrades.
• Buy resources to build new stores, entertainment, and upgrades.
• Meet objectives given by mall owner, such as, meeting a certain popularity rating and building a certain number of stores of a specific type.
• Earn credits toward buying items for your character to wear.
• Save money to buy new store plans.

I was encouraged in the beginning. The tutorial walked me through picking and building a store. I needed men to hire and resources (think: lumber). A bit later in the tutorial, plans needed to be bought for a new type of store.

Later missions gave me a list of requirements, leaving little to the imagination. Sometimes it was meeting a popularity level or daily income limit. Many times a type of store and number of upgrades was required. Nothing impossible.

A bonus is given for meeting the time limit. Nothing bad happens if you don't. You keep on chugging along until you win. Some time limits were hard, most were right in line. "Create-A-Mall" is a puzzle of picking the right order to building and upgrading.

That's pretty much all there is to "Create-A-Mall." There's no budget to manage. No daily expenses to worry about outweighing the income. The books always give you a profit. Save yourself the trouble. Skip playing "Create-A-Mall." Even the demo.