HappyVille: Quest for Utopia Review

HappyVille: Quest for Utopia Review

Review by Hillary

If you've ever wanted to run your own town, here's your chance! Happyville: Quest for Utopia offers a unique twist on the typical task management/people sim game that will have you doing everything in your mayoral power to attract citizens, give them jobs, and keep them happy enough to stay so that you can earn enough in taxes to build the town up even further. With no time limits, this game is as laid back as a task-management game can be while still providing hours of town-ruling entertainment.

Relaxed Gameplay, No time Limits

The gameplay is very relaxed. There are no time limits to accomplish your goals in, and very little penalties for failing to complete something in a timely manner. Your citizens will become unhappy and eventually leave, but you can attract more people to your town as you complete your projects.

When Sadness Just Won't Do

Despite the relaxed atmosphere of the land of no time limits, the game is incredibly realistic and detailed. Each citizen has a name, and they all wander around the town going to work or school, so you can click on each citizen to see their needs. All of your constituents need homes to live in, a food supply and jobs to go to. You must build farms, housing lots, and empty business lots where there is a demand.

Sometimes, for some reason or another, people will become sad. It is your responsibility as mayor to make them happy again, in order to attract more people to your town. You can do this by putting in decorations, such as parks, trees, or fountains. All of this is done with cute, cartoonish graphics that are very engaging and a lot of fun to look at while playing.

Tax Your Peeps to Make Them Happy, Just Like the Real World :)

All of this costs money of course, which you earn through taxes. The more employed people in the town, the more taxes you make. The game is so involved that it allows you to raise and lower taxes based on your needs. Low taxes make people happy and encourage migration to your town, but obviously do not make you much money. High taxes make a lot of money, but the citizens do not put up with paying them for long. It is part of the balancing act you must play as mayor to determine how high you need taxes to be at the moment and the happiness level of your citizens.

There is a variety of goals for you to accomplish including building certain civic buildings, like hospitals and police stations, and attracting enough people to your town that it “levels up.” Once you get 10 people to live in your town it is a Hamlet, 20 people make it a Village and so on.

A Fair Amount of Strategy Involved

The deeply involved nature of this game is what hastens its downfall. It limits the game's already small audience because there is a lot of strategy to where you place your buildings (citizens will complain if they are next to a farm, decreasing their happiness), and raising and lowering taxes. It's also pretty difficult to keep up with the desires of your citizens, especially when it seems like you are doing everything you should be to keep them happy. For instance, someone will be sad because they are homeless when there are 3 empty housing lots right next to them. Another citizen will be upset because they need a job, but scrolling over the businesses shows several job openings in town.

Complicated Interface

The interfacing is also very complicated. You can click on the Stats button to see what is going on in your town. It tells you how many people are homeless, unemployed, or sad, how many civic buildings you have erected, how high the taxes are and what your cut is after the costs of running the civic buildings are subtracted; the list goes on and on. There is just way too much too look at in one little window, and it doesn't tell you how to fix any of those things. It also won't tell you if you don't have enough funds to build something, or if you have created more jobs. You have to constantly check the Stats screen or click through all the citizens to see if you have employed anyone or made them happier.

Conclusion - A Good Choice If You Are Looking For Depth

In general, Happyville is an entertaining, relaxed kind of people sim game. The lack of time limits or difficult goals make it a great play for when you need something a little slower, or when you just want to rule the world. The deeply involved nature of the game can be overwhelming, and keeping up with the demands of the citizens can be difficult. These faults don't overshadow the great elements of the game, however, making Happyville a fun game for most players.