First I have to say that I LOVED this game when I started it. I cannot wait for the next version. I was completely amused by such a simple, but great idea. As I went through the game I was surprised by how different my reactions were to some of the puzzles and events. I will list my likes and dislikes along with suggestions about future versions.
HATED IT: GOLDEN CHILD Didn't like the idea of a finale to the game, especially this finale. The major charm of this game is the progression that the villagers are making. The idea that a 'golden child' will come and save them from the realities of life was a pretty big letdown. I think the farmers should have somehow discovered the benefits of the butterflies to help them pollinate and the magic bush for some issue for the elders (arthritis medicine?). (boulder comments under TREASURE CHEST) My villagers were doing fine before the GC came.
TECH POINT LIMITATIONSThe resolution of the tech levels was too low. More phases of the techs and more numbers of the techs would be more interesting. After all of the tech levels are achieved, there is not much challenge to the game. There is no reason for the researchers to go on. Everyone then farms, breeds, or relaxes.
IDOL Total waste of time. Builders could have chiseled through the back of the cave to reach a clearing with an orchard, wild chickens, cows, etc.
TREASURE CHEST This could have been such a great opportunity for the villagers to be able to increase ?something? ...maybe more sophisticated tools (simple machines) in order to allow 2-3 Master Builders (or an Engineer <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />)to move the boulder. Path clearing tools that the builders could use to clear paths through the woods. Maybe there could be more than one path. I liked the suggestion someone made that the builders would need to clear the path to other island areas. Farm tools, special jewelry that could give special abilities when worn that could be passed down when a villager dies, fishing net that when discovered, allows the farmers learn how to make fishing nets in order to get for more fish per attempt, special scrolls/books that allow the researchers to discover specific abilities, many, many, other ideas.
GARDEN The garden itself was pretty cute. The doctors could have found more sophisticated medicines in there(fertility,birth control,special life healing or life extending potions for very special characters, the children could pick flowers ((maybe a child with special healing abilities could discover a new flower and take it to a Master Doctor)), farmers could learn more advanced farming skills ((maybe a child with special farming skills could discover a new plant to be harvested and planted in the garden area that would hold more food value and take it to a Master Farmer)), villagers discover the benefits of the 'nitrogen' that the children are delivering to the garden and use it moderately as a fertilizer for the garden(s), etc.
NURSING MOTHERS Someone else has already commented negatively on the idea of a nursing mother without the help of the father. Elders could take care of the child after 6 months. The mother could exit her activities for 5 minutes of normal game time to nurse, then resume researching, farming, building, etc. Nursing mothers should minimally be able to heal (nursing vs nursing <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ), investigate the garden, (more later). Maybe nursing mothers could have some special skills that cannot be used or performed by anyone else, which could increase the number of times a female has given birth.
THE CAVE The villagers could discover all types of medicines, tools, farm implements, and ART (increasing spirituality) which after some time allow the villagers to move on to another part of the island. This is what I expected and was VERY disappointed when things went the way they did.
WATERING CROPS The length of time the garden took to regrow should have been connected to the amount of watering of crops that was done. I do acknowledge that the level of the farmer was connected to watering crops before fishing was capable, but watering crops with the lagoon water may have helped things along. This could have been one of the puzzles.
SCHOOL This idea was great. My kids did run to the school 1 time. Unfortunately, I didn't notice that this really did anything, and it could have been expanded so much. Master elders could teach the specially skilled children, who could then perform some tasks (exp. the apprentice farmers could collect mushrooms or berries on their own (age 8 or older)!, apprentice builders could collect firewood, apprentice healers could collect medicinal plants from the edge of the woods (sometimes they could collect the wrong ones), apprentice researchers could investigate ?something? (investigate if the apprentice farmers collected good or bad plants), a group of apprentice children could discover ?something? as one or more of the puzzles).
ELDERS This could have been explored so much more (or even a little more). They could teach the younger or less experienced, baby sit, fall asleep in the middle of working, cook, play games with the children, complain, watch children, explore, produce artwork, basket weave, collect chicken eggs along with the children, rest, visit the garden (as the children do!), go indoors more (without producing offspring). It seems kind of creepy to me that a 70 year old can give birth. I had more than 1 die before completing nursing.
MAGIC FRUIT As I previously commented, this could be something that a Master Farmer discovers how to do. All villagers should not live longer, just the ones who eat from the bush, although I noticed no difference in the lengths of the lives of my villagers. A Master Farmer, with some special ability, should have been able to lead the butterflies.
EVENTS Very few events are really very meaningful. I had a monkey rearrange my research table and I gained 9000 tech points, which was not much use to me, as it happened after I had fully researched every tech. A case of diapers, although amusing, was not really helpful. The events don't seem to be tied to anything.
TICKLED BY:The entire game concept, in general. I would like this game even when it were not 'virtual'. I especially liked watching and guiding the villagers to perform the daily tasks, meeting milestones, and solving the puzzles. The activities that amused me most were watching the villagers foraging for berries, farming vegetables, nature calling, catching crabs <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />, spontaneous breeding, spontaneous healing, heads dunking under water when fishing, dancing, arguing, complaining, healing, villagers shaking heads, kids spinning in circles, the little guys who liked running. My 15 year old found out very quickly how frustrating it is to constantly try to get someone to do something and find him wandering around, bored, 2 minutes later.
SUGGESTIONS:My biggest suggestion is to expand this game considerably. I really liked the suggestion that someone had of putting a map of the entire island in the treasure chest. A portion of the island on the map might also be good, with another map of a portion of the island in the cave on the wall (or maybe there could be an encrypted in some primitive symbol language, where the solution tells the player to guide a villager to somehow discover a path to the next island location, the map in the bottle could be a clue to the encryption). Another map of a portion of the island could be found by a villager in a jar while fishing and then this could continue when the villagers get to another part of the island. I'm not sure I like the idea of corrupting my villagers with currency (even shells or shiny stones should be adornment), warfare, or free trade with other civilizations. I would like to see more interaction between the different technical groups. Perhaps a researcher and a builder would need to collaborate to build a bridge, a water wheel, or a dam. Researchers and doctors could work together to create new medicines or researchers and farmers could create new farming methods such as irrigation canals. Builders and farmers could build canoes to reach other island beaches or catch bigger fish using nets. These scenarios could all be puzzles.
I would also like to see the children take a more active part in the village life. They could participate in simple tasks, such as gathering berries, mending nets, collecting shells, gathering firewood, etc. I could go on and on. Get rid of the golden child and have more villagers that have been born with some special skills (likes and dislikes) that can influence the direction of the game.
BEHAVIORS: All I have to say about behaviors is that there are a lot of them that could create scenarios that would need to be handled by the player. If someone is complaining, what can the player do to help the villager to resolve his issue? If someone is arguing, what is the cause? What can the player do to resolve this? Did I miss something? Did the guy not like his job? If a villager is not allowed to eat, drink well water, relax, or exercise for some time, he could get weak and need to be sent to the healing hut. Also, walking in the magical garden or swimming in the lagoon could refresh the villager. Children's behavior could be more productive. The big catch with children, is that an adult villager would need to get the child back on task when he becomes distracted. Elders would be perfect for that. Some elders might also need this guidance. Singing, tending campfires, cooking, occasionally finding rare fish or foraged foods, children skinning knees, crying, being consoled, being afraid of something they see in the trees, following elders or other adults around, throwing sand or rocks, playing games, making sand castles(huts), finding things in the sand, finding things in the trees, finding paths in the trees, getting lost and needing to be found, finding a dog and bringing it back to the village, etc. Nursing mothers could play with the children, cook, heal, tell stories, do laundry, tend to the very elderly, pick flowers, honor the dead, make jewelry, weave baskets, or repair fishing nets. Teenagers could surf, swim, sulk, try to mate (but never succeed) and then be scolded by an elder, teach younger children, babysit, do laundry, be attached to a Master for specialization, catch that darn monkey and put him in a cage (or have him show them more paths), explore the island and come back and tell the elders or Masters of the discovery (who then consult the found 'map' and decide to go out to further explore with a builder).
when i bought this I was hooked, but now I am at the end, and I can't get any of the villagers interested in the cave..(darn), since now it is wide open because of the golden child(although there were eyes peering out of the cave 
). One of the villagers disappeared one day in the jungle...i figured maybe something was going to happen 
. I wish there could be more...I like the interactions between villagers...is there going to be updates...or another version eventually soon?
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