A Nostalgic Feeling

I remember when I was a little kid, my mother would always pick up supermarket tabloids or, as she called them, "gossip papers." I would always flip through them, but I was too young to really read them, nor did I care what they were about. But I would always find myself at the end of the magazine, looking at the "spot the differences" puzzle.

While Little Shop of Treasures may employ more of an "I Spy" type of gameplay system, once you get down to it, it feels just like "spot the differences" because you're scanning cluttered pictures, trying to pick out minute little details. Well, it's similar enough at least to give me a nice feel of nostalgia, and on top of that, I have a lot of fun in the process!

Entrepreneurship

Well, you're finally living your dream of opening up your very own import shop! You picked out a nice little town and bought yourself a wonderful building. However, it's pretty run-down. You need to fix it up, but the cost of the building itself left you flat broke. Looks like you'll have to find some way to bring in extra cash!

You start off having a huge garage sale. And when I say "huge," I mean it! Your garage is absolutely overflowing with various objects, and as people ask for certain things, you'll have to hunt them down as fast as you can! It's a neat system to see in a game like this. Normally, you would just be given a list of things to find, but here, each time you find an object, you're given a new one. It certainly keeps you on your toes, and makes sure that you have to re-scour the level each time a new object pops-up.

Another thing that this game does well is the hint system. Most games of this sort employ some sort of hint system, where you simply click on the "hint" button and the object that you're looking for will stand-out and make itself known. I always found it kind of funny, because it's less of a hint and more of just a freebie. In Little Shop of Treasures, however, clicking hint will simply show you what the object you're looking for looks like. This helps a lot, obviously, but doesn't just give it away. It still requires a little searching on your part.

Odd Jobs

Aside from holding your garage sale, you'll also help out at a local diner, magic shop, and various other businesses around town. The idea is the same for each of them: when a customer asks for a certain item, you need to find it!

As you rake in more cash, you'll periodically get to make some improvements on your building. It's neat being able to watch it come to life!

I Spy A Winner

Fans of this sort of "search and find" gameplay will totally love Little Shop of Treasures. It has everything that makes the genre great, as well as a few new things that make the experience that much better.