One would think that a game centered around parties would be a bit more exciting, but PartyMania, from developer SparkyBee, is not. In concept, the Facebook app is interesting, letting you travel around a virtual world setting up parties. But in practice it feels more like a bunch of parts that only barely fit together. Along with that, the business simulation title is a bit lax in the game mechanics department, hosting a slew of concepts that have already been done to death.
One would think that a game centered around parties would be a bit more exciting, but PartyMania, from developer SparkyBee, is not. In concept, the Facebook app is interesting, letting you travel around a virtual world setting up parties. But in practice it feels more like a bunch of parts that only barely fit together. Along with that, the business simulation title is a bit lax in the game mechanics department, hosting a slew of concepts that have already been done to death.
So you take on the role of a party guru and your sole job is to set up parties all over the world. From the pool to Paris, the idea is to create as good a time for your guests as possible while trying to turn a profit. All the pieces are here to make that happen too — music, food, drinks, and entertainment — but sadly, the implementation of such is weak.
In order to make a successful business venture, you must concern yourself with a handful of things, such as the level of “Fun” in a party and its number of guests. Increasing these is simple enough and done by placing various items around the game space. This includes dance floors, food stalls, and vending machines with each one increasing both stats. For each attraction placed, coin will be passively earned and must be collected periodically.
It’s all fairly standard to business sim apps, and in keeping with that standard, most of the structures placed can be upgraded for greater effectiveness. Along with this, food and drink vendors require players to consciously stock them with supplies as they slowly deplete. As the number of guests in a party increases, this rate increases dramatically, and should items not be replenished, visitors tend to throw a fit and eventually leave the party all together.
If this all sounds a bit drab, that’s because it is. There is really not much more to PartyMania than this. The only other notable extras are some “goals that you must complete to finisha party zone and some simplistic mini games, such as one where you have match snack requests with meandering guests.
Social mechanics are basic too. On the upside, other PartyMania players will have their avatars randomly visit your party, but other than this, the only other interaction possible is visiting their virtual space and sending the occasional gift. There is also a guest book at each space that can be signed with a personalized message.
Simple though the app may be, it is worth noting that simplicity is not a bad thing. The problem that truly stands out is that all of these snacks, dance spots, and so on just do not fit together. Visually, the game feels more like players just randomly plop down objects in order to make money, with not real way to make a cohesive aesthetic. Even with some of the more advanced items placed in a space, it all just looks abrasive to the eye. The environments these are placed in don’t help either, as they are generally flat and cause for odd looking happenings (such as avatars walking across a pool). There isn’t even a way to truly customize your avatar (there are just preset characters). Since other visitors visit each other’s spaces randomly as non-player characters, this leaves them filled with the same repetitive character art.
Overall, PartyMania is a disappointment. Though the goals of the game are clear and it has potential, it just doesn’t do anything to truly stand out. Moreover, as a decorative, business sim-based game, it just doesn’t have much of an appealing presentation style. Nothing really seems to fit together all that well, and ends up looking like a cluttered collection of vendors and entertainment. If that alone were fixed PartyMania would be infinitely more appealing.
