The Sims Carnival SnapCity

It is indeed rare when a game comes along that starts out with head scratching and quickly rolls into a frantic grab for the manual. Not because the game is complex, but because it is confusing. Welcome to The Sims Carnival SnapCity, a PC title that takes its cue from games like Blokus, Tetris, and SimCity all the while challenging you with a timer urging you to record the best score possible.

This is a game that should be easy to understand (and sort of is once you get into it), but the tutorial is a tad disjointed as to not make much sense when things begin to go wrong. Why? Ok, the tutorial starts off by explaining the squared mapboard which is the City Zone. That is where you will use three colored block types (yellow for industrial, green for residential and blue for commercial) with which to craft your city. But lest you think you get to ‘snap’ the pieces in and create the city with a vibrancy that you totally would like, think again. The blocks, coming in various forms from single tile to two and three tiles in a row to three tiles in a 90-degree joint and so, fall from the sky with random colors. You have to determine where to place them, and then using the Alt key to rotate, you pick a spot on the zone and quickly move your cursor over it to align the blocks as you see fit.

Interesting things happen when you do it right. Communities will grown, houses that might have occupied one of the zone squares may expand to become high-income residential units that take up four squares.

As the city grows, which is a rapid bit of growth, you will start running out of room. The blocks, meantime, keep falling and start laying waste to construction, leaving rubble heaps. Buildings can suffer from disasters – such as fire – and that may leave your zones with more rubble. They can also decay over time and need to be removed. Meanwhile, the blocks keep falling from the sky. There are no finite number that you must think quickly and place. And don’t expect much help from the in-game tutorial. Oh, wait, there is that special zone that you created that, by filling in, allows you to put in a special structure. Some of the choices include a park, a police station or even an elementary school. Each will affect the zone you are working on whether it is to help stave off natural disasters (fighting them involves holding down the left mouse button, but also clawing away at your city treasury …

Ok, stop! Start again … 

SnapCity is a puzzle game with blocks falling from the sky. You have to place them to connect city zones. Doing so builds a meter that will eventually give you a special zone. The special zones can be either colored or wildcard. The object is to fill up the zones while managing the other falling blocks. Once the special zones are filled you have completed the level. The object is to manage the city while filling in the special zones and do it in the best time possible.

The game has 25 levels with various configurations possible. Because the game drops random pieces, you can end up with a scenario in which no two cities created look the same.

In addition to the story mode, there is also an open-ended creativity mode that will allow you to build the city the way you want it, but the challenge is not the same as the slightly more challenging story mode.

While the sound is negligible, the graphics are serviceable, with bright colors, but minimal animations. Some of the disasters are fine, but this is not a game that will set any new standards for graphics.

SnapCity seems to borrow liberally from various sources; it does manage to come up with a concept that works … once you get the gist of it. But this is not a title that will get players too worked up over.

Gameplay: 6.5
Once you understand what the game is asking you to do, it is a decent title, but lacks a sense of urgency. The controls are fundamental.

Graphics: 6.5
Cartoonish and bright, but nothing to get too excited about.  

Sound: 5.5
Some music and a few backdrop noises, but it’s all pretty minimalistic.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 6.5
SnapCity borrows from several stock games and really does not have much of an identity of its own.

Overall: 6.5
The game defies description in that it is part Tetris puzzler, part Blokus, part SimCity and part … well, let’s just say there are so many other elements floating in through this game that if fails to stand out as innovative. The game, once you understand it, is not that complex and really luck of the draw determines which blocks will fall and whether they will fit into your city scheme or not. While blocks do fall, and you have several other elements to tend to, there is no sense of urgency in this game. It also does not have a lot to do with the Sims franchise other than the name on the box.