Aztec Tribe: New Land Review

Let's see… should I do my final paper on the Victorian era or should I take a well-deserved break from homework and see what game I want to play today… hmmmm well that's not a choice at all! Viva la procrastination! I just can't do it anymore… too much work in these last final days before summer break. All work and no play make Morgan a cranky girl! Besides, the paper is practically done. I just need to put in a few more points, add a conclusion and then I'm all done! So, on to the more important stuff… I've been hearing a lot about these Aztec games, and I hadn't played one yet, so I decided to give the new one a try! It's called Aztec Tribe: New Land. Not really knowing what to expect since I never played the first one, I went into this one a little hesitant. You all know I love the time management games, but this one seemed a little different than what I was use to so I wasn't sure if I was going to like it or not. Anyhow, the basic story is that your tribe once lived in this land, but storms came and flooded the area and then a volcano came and wiped out what was left. Now years have passed and your people want to return to this land so they send a few people to investigate and try to see if you can live there. That's where you begin the game with just a worker or two and a garden to farm. I was a little confused at first, but after a bit I figured out the gameplay, I have to say it was pretty unique and lots of fun. You basically are the boss, and you tell all your workers what to do… what's not to like about that! You click on an area like a garden to send your worker and then click the green plus sign to add him to that area. Food is a big important step in the beginning of any level so I usually started with that first. Also there are turkeys or some kind of birds walking around and if you give them a few whacks with your mouse you can add them to your food supply. I found that one of the hardest resources to gather was wood at the saw mill. Once you upgrade a building though, you can add more workers and increase the amount that's harvested each time. So I focused on upgrading those first. One thing to note is that you have to click on the food or wood to harvest it. Later on in the game you can assign a worker as a porter to gather it up for you, but the faster you click it up the faster it gets added to your end goals. As the levels progressed, it got pretty difficult to keep up with the amount of workers you had and all the different things you were supposed to do, so don't forget to keep checking your goals in the top left corner or you could lose focus like I did and just start building whatever you feel like. Overall this game was pretty fun to play, although I might have enjoyed smacking those birds on the head a bit too much. Is it summer vacation yet? I'm tired of writing papers! Why can't there be a class on gaming! I'd be excellent at that! Oh well, I guess it's back to the books for now… wish me luck!