The idea behind Spb AirIslands is unique in the PDA world in that it brings together 4 games in one which all go hand in hand to help you achieve your goal. This idea attracted me to the game but strangely is far from the most enjoyable part of it. The three arcade games included are Arkaball II, Bubbles and Xonix II which all retail for US$9.95 each so the price of US$19.95 for AirIslands looks like good value for money and indeed it is.
For a long time now I have been searching for a game which is immersive, not overly difficult but with a touch of strategy that even I can be bothered to use my mind for. AirIslands is the first to really drag me in and it’s embarrassing how much time I have spent playing it over the past week.
You start off on an empty island and have to build a community using houses, sheds, windmills, water towers and trees. The more you build the higher the population will get. The higher the population gets the quicker the economy grows and the more money you earn. BUT the downside is that pollution increases and thus you need to build trees to keep it in check. There is only a certain amount of space available and so you have to spend some time balancing your economy, happiness of the population and pollution to enable you to progress.
On each island the main goal is to repair the Gravitator and once completed you can move on to the next island and then the next and so on… Earning enough money to repair it is far from the whole story though because pollution increases at each stage of repair and so more trees are needed but you may not have enough space and so you have to destroy some houses which will reduce your population and AAAAAARGH! There have been so many times whilst building my first island that I was scratching my head searching for an answer to the problems I was facing and this is what makes AirIslands so good- few games make me want to think and waste time just playing a game but this one surely does.
At any stage you can play Bubbles to earn some water, Arkaball to earn bricks and Xonix to earn wood. I liked Xonix but am not a huge fan of the other two- they play well and it is a strange feeling knowing that you are playing a game for more of a reason than to just get a high score. All in all the four games work well together and as time goes by I am sure I will appreciate them more.
For under US$20 AirIslands is a steal and it will have you crouched over your PDA for many an hour- highly recommended.
Available from Spb Software.
