Can You Build in Time

While Build in Time may not be the most creative name, it sure is honest. This product will have your eyes and your mouse hand working overtime as you attempt to build and paints houses as fast as you possibly can.

The year is 1950 and you're a young high school student. While visiting the career fair and looking at all the nifty jobs, you're approached by someone who works for the biggest construction company on the East Coast and he has you take a test to see how you would do in the business.

It turns out that you know your stuff and you perform well enough on the test to qualify for free construction management training. It's a stressful job, but hey, free is free!

Let's Build Houses, Daddy-O

Each stage in Build in Time will take you to an empty section of land. Customers will call up wanting houses and it's your job to build them to fit their needs. If I had to compare the gameplay here to something, I would say that it most closesly resembles something along the lines of Diner Dash, but even that is a stretch. The game mechanics here are unique and the scale of it is bigger than anything you've likely encountered.

At the beginning, you have four types of houses and four colors of paint to choose from. Customers will tell you what house and what color they want, so you just have to make sure you get it right. After you build a house, simply drag the customer onto it to complete the sale. The faster you build it, the more money you'll be paid for it. If you take too long and the customer begins to lose patience, you can give them free appliances to make them happy.

Some levels will have special scenarios depicted in the top right corner. These scenarios are optional; you don't have to complete them, but if you do, you'll get extra money. The first scenario I came across involved a cowgirl that wanted to live next to the river. All I did was save that spot for her and I got extra cash!

Multitasking is Coolio

Possibly the most important skill here is multitasking. You'll have different crews for different jobs, so you'll want to make sure they're both working at once. You can also click on a house rapidly as it's being built or painted to make it go faster. This type of interaction adds a whole new dynamic to this kind of gameplay. You're no longer just sitting back and bossing people around, you're helping them.

Let's Go To The Hop

Possibly the best thing about Build in Time, aside from the great gameplay and vibrant visuals, is the hilarious fifties lingo. Now, that was a little before my time, so the exposure I've had is older movies, but I still recognize quite a bit of sayings. It makes the game a lot of fun and for some older folks it will bring a nice sense of nostalgia.

Build in Time is great on multiple levels and gets a hearty recommendation from me.