Game du Jour: Week of October 13

The following games will be discounted next week on Flyonoid

Tue. October 14th: 50% off on Snowy: Fish Frenzy

Wed. October 15th: 50% off on Sprill

Thu. October 16th: 50% off on Tank-o-Box

Fri. October 17th: 50% off on Snowy: The Bear’s Adventures

Sat. October 18th: 50% off on Time Breaker

Sun. October 19th: 50% off on Sky Bubbles Deluxe

PC Game Review: Cinema Tycoon 2: Movie Mania

The movie business has changed a lot since I was a wee one. Movie theaters showed two or four movies at a time, not 16 to 24 that you see today. In Cinema Tycoon 2: Movie Mania, Mr. Pickwick hires you to turn his run down movie theaters into mega-plexes. Of course, rivals nip at your heels by upgrading whenever they can.

Every stage contains several goals to meet before saving the next theater. Most goals require earning so much money and implementing one thing such as two ticket windows or installing 16 screens. Players start a new theater with $5000, a couple of screens, and not much else.

Whether you’ve played tycoon-style business management games or not, the tutorial will familiarize you with everything you need to know. The reports contain more information than you need, so don’t let them overwhelm you.

You’ll need to stock up on food and drinks, select movies to show, price tickets and food, select upgrades in hopes to attract more theater goers, and run promotions. You can’t do it all as you only have so much money available. Plus, you’ll need to prioritize. Do you need to upgrade the sound system or do you need to change movies?

After you set up everything for the day, run your day. You can watch the ticket booth, concession stand, and movie theater all at once or view them one at a time. It’s not required to watch the day go by as the excellent reports will give you all the details you need. Cinema Tycoon 2 has a 2x Speed option where you can watch the action two times faster or simply push a button to end the day.

You might want to watch it a couple of times as it’s fun seeing what the game puts on the movie screen. It also has movie posters in the ticket booth window reflecting the current selection. The concession stand also contains the latest items you have in stock as well as the video arcade (once you make enough money to buy and grow the arcade).

“Hot” and “Cold” appear in the list of movie genres to help you decide what to play and not play. Sometimes, you won’t get a hint and will have to decide for yourself based on what you know about the current locale. Movie titles will make you smile with a lampoon of real movie titles such as “Hair Gel,” an obvious copy of “Hairspray.”

Reports come complete with arrows showing up, down, or no change from the previous day’s showing. You can also view line graphs or look at the data in table format. The dashboard gives you a quick overview of the day’s news and the previous day’s sales. Sometimes, a window pops up with commentary from a resident or colleague giving hints on what you might want to do.

Kids can learn a lot about running a business from Cinema Tycoon 2. It contains profit and loss reports, balance sheets, and loan options. Short on cash? Borrow up to $3000 from the bank or $5000 from a loan shark with much higher interest rates. Sometimes, you need to resort to both.

I think the game moves along too easy until I reach Level 8 where I keep filing Chapter 11. But I eventually conquer the level and go on to finish the game. Hence, it would make a great game for a family to play together or let the kids try it on their own.

Cinema Tycoon 2 deserves to have “Blockbuster” slapped on its game posters as it captivates, entertains, and educates all in one.

Download Cinema Tycoon 2 from your favorite site:

• Big Fish Games



• Reflexive Arcade