If you’ve ever been in the mood for an addictive retro-tinged management game, then Kairosoft have been there for you through thick and thin – managing game studios, grand prix teams, spas, malls and more. In a similar vein, we’re now setting sail for the high seas to manage and develop our own cruise ship in World Cruise Story. It’s more of the Kairosoft formula that we all love, albeit a bit simplified from earlier outings.
If you’ve ever been in the mood for an addictive retro-tinged management game, then Kairosoft have been there for you through thick and thin – managing game studios, grand prix teams, spas, malls and more. In a similar vein, we’re now setting sail for the high seas to manage and develop our own cruise ship in World Cruise Story. It’s more of the Kairosoft formula that we all love, albeit a bit simplified from earlier outings.
If you’ve played Kairosoft games in the past, then just know going in that this game is just like the other development ones that have come before; Hot Springs Story, Pocket Academy, and Oh! Edo Towns. If you like them you’ll like this. If you’ve never played a Kairosoft game, read on and find why you should be!
These games are sort of like the SimCity or Tycoon series’, where you’re put in the charge of the development and management of something (in this case a cruise ship), and then do your best to steer it towards success. You don’t take direct control over characters onscreen or anything like that. You’ll build cabins and amenities, pick countries to stop at, etc to entice people to sail with you.
So you’ll spend a large chunk of the game either in menus deciding where to spend money, or scrolling around the ship deciding on where to place items and what-not. The rest of the time you’ll be watching the game move about on its own, seeing how the choices you’ve made work out. It may sound boring if you’ve never played one of these games, but it’s totally and completely addicting. I’ve drained more than a few phone batteries to the breaking point because I just couldn’t stop playing.
Success begets more success, and unlocks new opportunities and stuff to build. Bigger and better things come your way in the shape of investment ideas and expansion. This will all probably sound super familiar, and it is. It’s not necessarily a bad thing mind you, with gameplay this addictive it’s hard to expect too much to change. But after playing close to ten of these games now, it does start to feel a little too familiar.
There are some differences here that do put some interesting twists on the proceedings. In other games you build towns and then just wait for people to show up and move in. Here, since it’s a moving ship, you pick up people in ports and they come spend time on the ship then leave. So if you’re not prepared to house people when in port, then you miss out.
It’s a unique way to deal with customers, since they”ll board, ride for a bit, then leave. So pre-preparation is key here. You’ve got to be ready when the people want to board.
But other than that, it’s all eerily similar to Kairosoft’s previous efforts. The lasting impression to take away from this is two-fold, depending on whether or not you’ve played their previous games. If you’re new to the party, welcome! and know that World Cruise Story is quite the addictive little time waster. To fans of the Kairosoft catalog, dive in if you want more of the same. But if you were hoping for some variation on a familiar foundation… you may be a bit disappointed. It’s the game you love, just in a new locale.
