Virtual Villagers
Virtual Villagers is a downloadable real-time simulation game for Windows (for Mac version, see below) developed by Last Day of Work, the creators of Fish Tycoon and a number of other casual sim games. Take charge of a village of crash survivors and help them carve out a living on a jungle island. Teach them to farm, help them research scientific advancements and expand their population. It's a remarkably addictive game that's easy to play but impossible to stay away from!
You begin with a small handful of untrained villagers. Teach them to perform various tasks such as farming, building, researching, breeding and healing. An extremely helpful tutorial guides you through the game's basics, but everything operates on a simple drag-and-drop mechanic. Want to train a scientist? Drop a villager on the research table. Need to pick berries for food? Drag someone over the berry bush. Villagers may not take to a task immediately, so sometimes you'll have to be persistent.
Once you get everything started, it's time to leave your people alone. Virtual Villagers plays out in real-time so even when the game isn't running the villagers are working hard. Each time you play you'll see the fruits of their labor and can give them new directions or just check up on their progress. You can also adjust the speed to anticipate any gaps in your playing time or to get things moving a little more quickly. Virtual Villagers is just as much about waiting as it is playing.
The strategy in Virtual Villagers comes from how many villagers you assign to each task and how you choose to upgrade your abilities. You accumulate Tech points by getting people to do scientific research. Use these points to upgrade your population's building skills, farming abilities, etc. With each new level opens more possibilities of exploration and survival. The trick is managing which abilities get upgraded first and how you use those new skills to better your village.
Your main goal is to build a thriving population, but there are also various mysteries to solve along the way. Some are fairly obvious, such as the large boulder sitting on the north end of the village, but others you must seek to discover. In all there are 16 puzzles waiting to be unearthed. As you accumulate tech points and upgrade your abilities you can explore each new mystery and see what surprises await you.
Analysis: I've had a blast playing Virtual Villagers. It's a great blend of casual gaming and strategy, which, honestly, is a tough balance to strike. Throughout the day I wonder what my villagers are up to. Are they still farming like I taught them? Any new babies in town? It's always great to come home and check up on my new family. It's great to see the little surprises, such as random events or the occasional new discovery.
Each time I fired up Virtual Villagers I only played it for ten or fifteen minutes. Really, that's all that's required. It's no different than playing a game of Solitaire just to pass the time, only now I actually accomplish something in the long run. Enticing players to return is one of the toughest jobs a casual game designer has, and Virtual Villagers does it extremely well.
- Like Virtual Villagers? Check out our review of the follow-up Virtual Villagers 2: The Lost Children.
- Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City is now available! Read our review.
- Also be sure to check out Westward, a similar casual simulation game set in the wild old west.
If the game suffers from any drawbacks it's that sometimes there just isn't much to do, especially later in the game. In the beginning you must coddle your village and make sure everyone is working hard to keep the population alive. But as you gain villagers and start farming, it's safe to leave your people alone for days at a time. The occasional random event must be dealt with, but otherwise everything runs smoothly. Of course, if the game required your constant attention it wouldn't be casual, would it?
Virtual Villagers is a great simulation game that doesn't require a lot of time but gives you the satisfaction of an intricate game. You'll have a lot of fun managing your population, teaching them new abilities and exploring the island. You'll know how addicted you are when you wake up in the morning and your first thought is "I wonder how my village is doing?"
Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version.
Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Order the full version
Virtual Villagers is available to download from these affiliates:
Cheers to Urizzato and Brieya for suggesting this one! =)
[Jay adds: We are beginning a relationship with a new sponsor that will allow us to make a commission from the games that are purchased through some of our reviews. You are, of course, not obligated to purchase anything. If you are interested in trying the demo or if you later decide to purchase the game, please consider using the links above to do so. This will help us to continue improving the site and to keep advertising to a minimum. We will indicate where we are making a commission so you can make an informed decision about it, and we will continue to review only games that we recommend to play.]
Walkthrough Guide
A Complete Walkthrough for all 16 puzzles
Posted by: Niicol3 | February 25, 2007 3:08 PM
Virtual Villagers - A New Home - Walkthrough
Screens:
Village Item Locations:
Berry Bush - Large green bush covered with 1930 red and yellow berries surrounded by large circle of grass in upper center of village.
Clearing - Rectangular light patch of dirt in Northeast corner of village
Well - Southeast of Berry Bush
Giant Rock - Southeast of Lagoon
Double Hut - Southeast of Giant Rock
Hut - East of Double Hut
Research Bench - South of Double Hut
Small Hut - Southeast of Research Bench
New Hut - Board leaning on stilts with rock next to it located between Hut and Double Hut
Food Bin - South of Hut
Field - West of Small Hut
Debris - On beach South of Field
Pile Of Strangely Straight Rocks - Southeast of Food Bin
Patch Of Strange Dead Flowers - East of Hut
Fruitless Plant - Orange plant Northwest of Berry Bush
Healing Herbs - 4
Green Strange Plant directly below Lagoon
Medical Cactus above and to the right of the Berry Bush, left of Clearing
Strange Lily at bottom right corner of Clearing
Rare Rose below Patch of Dead Flowers
Buried Treasure - Directly West of Pile of Strangely Straight Rocks and directly South of Food Bin
Walkthrough
Go to the Menu Screen.
Go to Options and set Game Speed to Paused, set Difficulty to Easy, then click Done.
Go to Start Over until you have 7 Villagers that are 4 women, 2 men, a child, and the Builder is a man.
Place the Builder on the Well.
Place the other man (Farmer) on the Berry Bush.
Place 3 women (Scientists) on the Research Bench.
Place the youngest woman (Doctor/Parent) on the Green Strange Plant.
Go to Menu.
Go to Options, set Game Speed to 2x Speed, click Done.
When any milestone is reached or a good event happens, all the villagers will go to celebrate, so when the Builder is done clearing the well all the villagers will leave their tasks and go to the well to celebrate, and you must replace them to their tasks.
Place the 3 Scientists back on the Research Bench.
Place the Builder on the New Hut site, you can not make a baby until the New Hut is complete.
When the Doctor finishes studying Green Strange Plant, place her on the Healing Cactus, Strange Lily, and Rare Rose until all the plants have been understood. Any order will work.
When all medical plants have been studied there will be another celebration and you will have to replace your workers to their tasks.
Place the Farmer back on the Berry Bush.
Place the Builder back on the New Hut.
Place all 3 women Scientists and the Doctor/Parent on the Research Bench.
Keep the Scientists researching until you can buy the next level of Construction.
When the Builder has completed the New Hut, place him on the debris on the beach.
Once the New Hut is complete you will need to begin breeding in order to have a population to carry on when your original 7 villagers die. The villager that you drop on another villager is the one who receives the breeding points and becomes a breeder. A breeder initiates breeding with all members of the opposite sex.
When the Builder completes clearing the debris from the beach, and you have bought Level 2 Construction:
When the Lagoon is cleared:
When one of your Scientists reaches the title Master Scientist:
When your first villager dies:
When you have purchased Level 3 Farming:
When you have purchased Level 3 Spirituality:
When you have purchased Level 3 Science:
When you have purchased Level 3 in 6 Tech areas:
When you have purchased Level 3 Fertility:
Notes on the Golden Child:
The Golden Child never gets sick or dies.
You can not kill him, no matter how much you may want to…
He never ages, he never grows up, he never changes appearance from a toddler.
You can not force him to perform his tasks, he does them all on his own.
Shortly after birth, he will move the boulder and you can place a villager into the cave to see a teaser for the next chapter.
The Golden Child is said to create the Garden as well as move the Boulder, but by the time there is enough tech points to buy level 3 Fertility, my villagers have already watered the Garden into bloom, so I myself have not witnessed the Golden Child creating the Garden.
To date I have been unable to get him to do the Butterflies or the Strange Fruitless Plant, in fact, it seems that the entire game there is a flock of Butterflies on the screen, and as soon as the Golden Child appears, the butterflies vanish…..
The Golden Child also makes berries on the Berry Bush, restores the crops in the Field, and makes food in the Food Bin.
He also make parties which cause all villagers to leave work and join him in dancing.
And he can walk on water. Imagine that. ;)
Other Notes:
Occasionally you will see a Mushroom pop up, place a child on the mushroom and he will pick it up and take it to the Food Bin.
Brown Mushrooms are 8 food, Orange Mushrooms are 45 food.
Fish are 9 food, Crabs are 55 food.
Children can not swim.
Maximum number of villagers appears to be 90, although some screen shots seem to show over 300 villagers. If this is actually possible, I wish I knew how to do it.
Occasionally you will find items washed up on the beach. Among these there may be:
Brass Compass - Letting researchers have it improves skill somehow.
Black pearl - Sharing makes your villagers happy.
Badly weathered crate - Rusty tools, adds 1000tech points, makes some villagers ill
Crate with 1, 2, or 3 babies in it - Adds to Population.
Crate with juicy steaks - Adds 1500 food.
Crate of golden ripe bananas - Adds 1000 food
Crate with well preserved tools - Adds 1000 Tech Points.
Crate of rats - Causes injury and disease.
Crate of diapers…..
Vial of blue liquid - Causes illness or lowers skill.
Vial of red liquid - Alters appearance.
Vial of watery fizzy liquid - Lowers skill.
Other Events:
Isola Day Celebration - Dancing and feasts!
Big Wave - Puts debris on beach that must be cleared by builder.
Honeybees - Pollinate Berry Bush and make it thrive.
Humid weather molds food - Removing moldy pieces saves some food, makes some villagers sick.
Measles Epidemic - Makes children sick.
Monkey eating mushroom - Trying the mushroom allows adults to pick mushrooms?
Monkey hiding large cache of bananas - Adds 600 food.
Monkey ransacks research table - Lose 9000 tech points.
Monkey stealing food - Allowing it to steal food results in better healing.
Moth in cocoon - Helping moth kills it.
Plague of Locusts - Eats all your crops.
Ripe Red Berries - Eating them kills villager instantly. Oops…
Shipwreck - Blocks beach access, again, and debris must be cleared from beach by a Builder, again.
Stranded whale - Harvesting the whale adds 1000 food.
South Wind - Withers berries, scorches crops and damages food in Food Bin.
Troubled Child - Allowing child to try work increases child’s skill
Typhoon - Destroys all food in the Food Bin.
Authors Note:
This walkthrough was created by restarting my game each time I realized I had made a mistake, or had a question which could only be answered by restarting the game and following specific parameters.
I am not certain if trying the mushroom allows your adult villagers to pick the mushrooms, as I didn’t think of trying it until after I had deleted that game, but the text for it strongly suggested that this was the case. If it happens to me again I will be sure to update the walkthrough.
[Edit: Thanks Cathy for the extensive walkthrough! Spoiler tags have been added to make it take up a bit less space :) -Harukio]
Posted by: Cathy | July 22, 2007 3:17 PM