The buildings are alive! But can you keep them that way?
An exciting new city-management/puzzle game about buildings and the city they inhabit. You must grow your city to a bustling metropolitan centre with an array of shops, offices, entertainment facilities and amenities, to help your buildings thrive; or risk them being demolished forever.
Buildings Have Feelings Too is a strange yet rewarding building sim that is more puzzle-orientated than it is simulation. The premise is that the buildings all can speak and have personalities, while you’ll need to revitalise them to stop them from becoming obsolete in the ever-growing city. Finding the right balance of which buildings work best together is like trying to do a jigsaw in some ways, but its rewarding if you can get that combination right.
Having said that, finding the right solution may consist of moving your entire city around which can be very frustrating and the save system is unforgiving as you can’t replay individual areas, but you’ll need to go through the entire game or start a new save game and play up until what area you messed up on for those trophy requirements.
It’s also not entirely clear what it is you have to do in the game, so it kind of throws you in the deep end and expects you to work it out and while I admire that approach in some games, it doesn’t work here and since there’s a lot of menus and options to get through, some extra help would have been beneficial. The visuals are charming though and seeing these buildings being life-like is amusing. The dialogue is witty and well written, which is the game’s saving grace against its clunky controls and unforgiving nature at times.
The Verdict
Buildings Have Feelings Too is a decent idea and one that works well with its witty nature and charming visuals, but clunky controls, unclear objectives and at times brutal difficulty lets the overall product down. It’s a nice puzzle game, but those looking for an actual city simulation won’t find it here.