HopSoft has done it again with another addition to the very successful Build-A-Lot series (the original Build-A-Lot, Build-A-Lot 2 Town Of The Year, and Build-A-Lot 3 Passport To Europe) with their latest Build-A-Lot 4 Power Source!
Every Build-a-lot game begins with the same simple game play concept; develop a neighborhood containing homes, shops, services and maintenance related buildings. To successfully develop your neighborhood, you will need to meet the levels criteria(s) including things like completing all tasks under a time limit, reaching specific money goals, or building a certain number of houses or shops inside the neighborhood. While all the Build-A-Lot games have these things in common with their game play, the new twist to Build-a-Lot 4 Power Source is working with the neighborhoods power / electricity needs along with building up the neighborhood.
This game is packed with hours of entertaining game play! There are 6 different house types including A-Frames, Craftsmans and the expensive Apartments, each with their own income levels and resource requirements to build. If you need even more income, you can also build Bakeries, Cinemas, Grocery Stores and Boutiques which can provide great income sources. There are also several extra buildings that can be built to increase the happiness of your neighborhood such as Public Pools, Tennis Courts, and Amphitheaters. Build-A-Lot Power Source also requires you to solve your power / electricity needs by building Wind Farms, Solar Towers and even Nuclear Reactors! If that wasn’t enough, all the houses in the game can also be upgraded energy savers, which can drastically lower the amount of power a house consumes from your power sources. Finally, there are several buildings that can be constructed like the Workshop, the Tech Center, a Recycle Center and even a Business Center which allows more game strategies that you take advantage of during the building of your neighborhoods.
In Build-a-Lot 4 you must track the neighborhoods available energy before you go off and build anything. If you’re too low on power, you’ll need to either upgrade existing houses with energy saver upgrades or add a new power source. Sometimes you can be caught off guard and black out your neighborhood, and when that occurs, you’re not able to collect any income. It’s important to resolve blackout issues as soon as you can to get your funds flowing again!
Overall, I think Build-A-Lot 4 Power Source is very solid game and was a great play. I liked the building and time management aspects of the game, plus really enjoyed the challenge of the higher levels. One downfall of the game was I would have really liked to see a graphics upgrade made to the game. While the graphics are not bad, they really have not changed much since the original game was released.
If you’re ready for a fast paced and entertaining time management / real estate themed game, Build-A-Lot 4 Power Source is for you!