Rockers, in the coming week we will be wrapping up our PAX East 2022 coverage. Almost a month has passed since the event and we have shared with you a good majority of the demos we played during the event. If you missed any PAX East 2022 coverage, head to our PAX East 2022 section to view any articles you might have missed. My last PAX East preview is for a game that is by far not a game to sleep on. When you think of simulation games what do you think of? Does City Block Builder by Tentworks Interactive seem like a simulation game?
When we first heard of City Block Builder, we noticed inspiration from L.A. Noire, The Sims, and Roller Coaster Tycoon. Instead of playing only a 15-minute demo, the developers increased the time to fit the full 30-minute appointment. For a team of two, City Block Builder feels very polished! For the PAX East 2022 demo, we had the opportunity to design a restaurant. During the first five minutes of the demo, we went through the game’s item menu. Once we looked through the available items, we decided to build the foundation walls of a restaurant. We easily overestimated the size we would need for certain rooms while underestimating others.
Sorry guests, only three people per four-person table! Also please wait for the bathroom, there are only a few stalls available. If you have ever played Roller Coaster Tycoon, you can probably remember the game telling you that you need additional staff in some way. In this demo, we had way too many staff members, but sadly we could not click and drag people away. Maybe next time we will lock the unhappy people into a special room.
Building Design
The game’s building mechanic was relatively easy to figure out. Building walls felt easier to design than the landscaping in Roller Coaster Tycoon or Railroad Tycoon. The 1950s Los Angeles aesthetic allows players to have a slight look at how LA was during the 1950s. Placing objects within the buildings did feel a bit awkward at first; predominantly due to the space required for each object. So, whenever designing any future businesses in this game, it is important to know the spacing required for each item when building.
When designing each room, each category had a variety of items to choose between. Obviously, the demo only shows us a small portion of what will be available, but based on the selection, there should be a good variety to choose from. We did notice that guests would often refuse to sit down in some of the seats that were placed; this made placing those seats pointless and to an extent and more of an obstacle. The game’s rotation between menus feels a bit tedious and could use some polishing, but overall it was still easy enough to figure out after some time. City Block Builder’s challenges in the demo were relatively easy to complete. Hopefully, when the full game is released, the difficulty will feel similar to other challenge levels from other simulation games.
Overall, City Block Builder was an enjoyable experience and a great way to end PAX East 2022. Yes, the game did take a little bit of time to get used to, but its easy-to-use wall building made the process quicker. The object’s spacing could use some work, but we believe that once the game is ready for launch it could be a gem. We had fun playing this game and talking with the Tentworks Interactive team. Hopefully, this isn’t the last time we hear about City Block Builder.
