This game made me sick to my stomache, there was way to much motion/ movement. I played it for a very short time then just deleted it and it was a very boring game. All you do is click the mouse, not enough interaction in the game to keep it interesting.

This is worlds best game ever!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!!! But It is coming blue screen so I have to delete it :(

This is a great alternative to monopoly, but I would have liked to use my mountains of money for trades, instead of having to bankrupt them :)

This monopoly clone is a waste. Thumbs way down. Not worth downloading. Choppy playing, annoying repetitive muzak, and only allows 1 trade at a time- at the set rate, you can't even make monry through trade- it is always a losing preposition.

Kinda fun to play and not a real monopoly clone...

I like this better than sea bounty...

Although the trading could be better...

But worth the download...

Thanks gaotd :)

My Computer runs Vista and this program works fine on it.

I found the gameplay to be monotonous. Graphics are okay, but it's just not a very entertaining game. The worst of all the Alawar offerings which have been predominantly outstanding as freebies.

Nothing I would pay money for. It just wasn't as fun as I had hoped. I might have thought about it if it was a real close Monopoly clone, but this isn't. Oh well.

I had a small problem when I first loaded it, but I put on the compatibility to an earlier version of windows (I run Vista so I usually take it back to the XP service pack 2). It runs fine and is very enjoyable.

I do agree about the motion sickness, but if you glance away when it's spinning - it helps to stop that. :)

Thanks you GameGiveawayoftheday! I visit your site everyday to see what's new and I'm always surprised at what I find. My husband says I should just use my computer for games the way that I keep adding one a day from your site. Thank you again! And keep them coming!

Addendum to my first post #12

I re-installed this earlier today because I discovered, that if you want to install it anywhere other than the default position (that is C:\Program Files\City Magnate; you need to type in the name of the game when you browse for a place to install it, otherwise all the files for the game will be installed directly whichever folder you chose it to be installed in. You don’t usually have to bother with this when installing these games; for example, I installed this particular game to the following path G:\arcade games\board games\, expecting the city magnate to be completed by the installer as it usually is. Unfortunately I was wrong, and it made a mess of the board games folder, although the game still worked.

I played this with my wife and children this evening and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It definitely isn't a boring game if you play with human players; although I do realise that generally an arcade game is meant to be played solitary though sometimes it can be great fun playing in a group.

I didn't particularly enjoy playing this on my own against the computer though, as it become monotonous after a short while.

With respect to playing this as a game out of a box instead of as a computer game, it really depends what you are playing and who you are playing against. I gave my children the choice of a board game (Scooby Doo) or a family computer game and they chose the computer game. Two advantages of playing via the computer are that it's easier to set the game up, and there's no tidying the pieces away at the end, lol. Also, you can progress through the game quicker due to the computers calculations etc.

I'm revising my score on this one and coming into line with Arian and giving it an 8 out of 10 instead of my previous good seven, because we really enjoyed playing it together and will certainly be playing it again soon as a family. I think this one will be worth buying; however I’ll wait till I lose it to a format (can’t find the reg key for this one anyway) and then, if the kids still like it I’ll buy it.

Rock on Alawar.

Maybe you could update the game with newer graphics and add the ability to play online as well? Also have a global high score much like Gutterball 2 that resets every day, so you don't get impossibly high scores building up over time. I'd also suggest adding a selection of suitable music instead of the music that the game runs at the moment because it gets a little annoying after awhile. The sound effects are ogg files, so anyone can replace the sounds with better ones if you have a converter, and/or the time to search the web for suitable sounds. I couldn’t find the music file though, so I presume it’s programmed into the main executable. You should also add more sound effects, such as gunfire or the sound of a mafia like voice asking for money when you land on the Mafia square, the roach racing could have the scurrying of roaches, which is definitely a distinctive sound. (I had to dissect them at university when I did an entomology module in my final year), they still raise the hairs on the nape of my neck just thinking about having to capture one from the tank they were kept in. 'shudder' :( and something like the signature tune to emergency ward 10, (or a more contemporary medical program such as scrubs, although there may be royalties involved on the recent music), when you land on the hospital square, or at least the sound of an ambulance siren. There’s loads of potential there to add more of an atmosphere to the game. I’d also improve the mini games, that is make them a little more challenging. Add a better slot machine that could be turned on so that instead of going back to the main game right away, you could spend some time either gambling your money away from the game totals, or switching it to an individual game that doesn’t affect your game total. The same could be done with the casino, although I can’t see how you could improve on the roach race, lol.

Some people did complain of feeling sick after watching the board turn round frequently. I must admit it did cause some strain on my eyes as well. What about creating a 2D button, so that it can be seen as a traditional top down game as well as the 3D game that’s already available? Also, create some different board styles like in Sea Bounty. There were four different boards, all with different track lengths. Which in my opinion added a lot to the game play of that game? The above are only suggestions and in no way imply criticisms of the game. I do think it’s a little overpriced at nearly $20 though.

This game never ends. I have try to lose but it will not let me. The first game I losed but the second keeps going and going and going with no end it sight. This game is way to long.

Hi,

I love this game! Playing for few rounds I am pretty addictive. Though is like a 'clone' from Monopoly, but the little spin and other little lucky draw to win or lose revenue are neat. The graphics and music are great. Definitely in my 'collection'. Thanks Alawar for your wonderful giveaway. :)

have played this before, and jumped at the chance to get it from here; however, there's a slight glitch. While playing it and still connected to the web, my email announcement popped up, and after that there were black lines over the dollar scores. So, I exited and restarted, but now there are static blocks over the numbers for the store icons (to show how many of each kind of store each player owns). Will investigate and see if reloading it without internet connection helps; or it might need to be reinstalled.

This is actually a rather fun game. I like it better than Sea Bounty that was offered earlier. It runs perfectly fine on my Gateway GM5442 Vista Home Premium / Intle Core 2 Duo system with a Nvidia 8600 GTS overclocked video card.

can not play all it does is flash on my screen on a XP Pro 1.4ghz,700 meg RAM, 64 meg video card, directX 9c

Very little time today so unfortunately I cannot review, I was not going to download it due to rushing about so much but I was just about to press the Back button when I spied the incorporated Cockroach Racing!!!!!!!

It's downloading as we speak!!!!!!! ;-)

Warning--do NOT load this on Vista.

Sometimes even the programs that don't mention Vista still work well. This one just goes black, the music starts playing and it acts like it's trying to load. But it just flashes back from a black screen to the desktop and various screen resolutions. But even when and if you get a menu, it won't play OR exit, it just goes black and starts flashing again. Had to Ctrl-Alt-Del and reboot to get it to stop.

I'm an adult non-gamer and this game was fun enough, but it left me motion sick. That spinning wheel is for the birds!

Thank you Game Giveaway Team for the nice "FREE" Game. I nor the rest of my family are experiencing any of the above named problems. Thanks again, and Thank You to White Rabbit for a very informed explanation of the game!!
Jack Hammer and Family

I thought that I may like this game for the grandkids but it keeps crashing my computer.

Gave it a try, agree with all the negative comments, gone from my drive!

The view refuses to show who owns the lots that are not in your immediate location, and snaps back when you release the right mouse button when you pan around to see.

Annoying popups saying (each time) you don't have enough money to buy the lot in question, requiring you to click them away. It could just as easily just have turned your current balance red.

The trading is unintuitive. I'd expect to be able to trade with whoever has the lot I've currently selected. But no, I need to find something that I want to get rid of instead. What if I want to pay with money instead of a lot, or trade multiple lots?

Annoying, extremely repetitive music.

Really poor monopoly. This is not usual Alawar quality. Thumbs down, way down.

This is a repeat from the 13th November last year when the giveaway project was still in it’s infancy, I haven’t bothered creating a link because not many people commented; however, I’m sure there will be lots more comments today. This is a board style strategy game on the lines of Monopoly with a 3D look to it. The graphic is plain and simple, although it looks a little dated, it’s not bad.

Check out what others who downloaded the demo, or bought the game had to say about this game (I checked the Alawar comments first but apart from one that said a good game and another that said it doesn’t work with AMD, which I presume was referring to the type of cpu, there was no other comments. It does work with my AMD cpu by the way, lol.


http://www.reflexive.com/CityMagnate.html?PAGE=game_review



System requirements are basic with only a Pentium 300MHz processor required, 64 Mb memory and at least some basic 3D emulation. You require DX8 or above to run the game.

Installation is a breeze, with the usual activation module and a separate set up file. Activate the game first before installing it to ensure that it is registered; otherwise you will end up with the 60 minute trial version.


The help menu takes you to an HTML document kept in the games folder and explains the basics of the game. You will notice that there are mini games included within the main game, for example a cockroach race, darts and a slot machine. All rely upon you placing a bet, some have fixed amounts to bet, whereas others you can bet as much as you like. Within the options menu you can turn on or off the in game tips, but until you’ve got the hang of it I wouldn’t advise it. I’ve taking screen captures of a lot of the in game windows. The game is fully mouse controlled, but unfortunately there is no windowed mode. As with monopoly, there are negative as well as positive squares; for example if you land on the hospital you miss a turn. Landing on the mafia square can be costly, especially if you have lots of cash as you have to pay %10 of whatever money you have. There are chance type squares where you either win or lose, but with he mini games you can choose to lose as much or as little as you wish, or even not play them at all.

You can play with between 2 to 4 players and these can be a mix of human and/or computer players. The game play was pretty predictable with only me playing against 2 to 3 computer players, and I was able to control the game to a certain extent by not exchanging any of my properties, but that just made the game drag on and on. After exchanging a couple of properties I finally owned a full set, but never got as far as upgrading as the time was against me, so as yet I have no information as to how to upgrade.

I personally think this game would be much better played with three more human players and not computers as then the game outcomes would be less predictable. Strategy is definitely required to win, especially if you had a bad start to the game. Of course with any dice rolling board game, there is also a lot of luck involved. I liked the mini games, as they broke up the monotony of going round and round the board almost automatically, with only a click of the mouse.

See the screen captures below; unfortunately I neglected to put them into a separate album, so you’ll see more images once you’ve scrolled down a little. I took just over 40 images, mainly of window pop ups with instructions etc.




All on one page:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/?start=all


As a slideshow:

http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/?action=view&slideshow=true


If you play this as a family I reckon it’s worth a good 7 out of 10, but if you are going to play it solitary against the computer opponents I’d say it only just scrapes a 6. I’ll be keeping this one for a while to see if my family is interested in the game.

Thank you Alawar and the Game giveaway team.

Boring game. I was looking forward to this as it actually IS a board game unlike the Halloween game (which I thought that was). But its really dull. Plus, it only plays in full screen. For casual games, I like the option to play them in a window - so I can do other stuff too while playing. Also, it resizes my desktop. That and being only playable in fullscreen = bah.

This one didn't appeal to me because if I want to play a board game and roll dice, I'll play a board game where I get to roll the dice. :)

Thanks anyway.

-- Retro

Well - the game concept is fine, and Alawar games are usually good quality. But in this case, the constant 3D rotation of the board left me feeling sick and eye strained within 10 minutes. Uninstalled :(

It looks nice, but it keeps crashing, on my computer :(
I've tried to reboot, and reinstall, but nothing helps :/ The first time, i roll the dice, it crashes, and tells me something like: "Application Error" :/

What a cool game. It is like Monopoly. I did not read any instructions and just started playing.

Easy to learn and fun to play.

Luckily it has a "save game" mode and I was able to log off. I had to force myself to stop playing because it is getting on 2:00 am here in San Francisco. Time for bed.

Good job on this game.

Not bad at all but I do have the original in a box in the clauset and on a disk un the cabinet. I think I will down load this one and see if it does purk op the interest some.

Semi-enjoyable Monopoly clone. I had to say I enjoy Sea Bounty better if I'm going to play a Monopoly-like game where you buy "stores" instead of streets and railroads.

The plus to the game was that there is a bit of gambling with roulette, and "roach" races - but not enough good odds to satisfy.

It was slow, and seems to be just really repetitive. Even Monopoly isn't this boring!

Anyway, thanks for the free game anyway, but I highly recommend Sea Bounty over this!

I like it. Graphics are smooth.

I like the Alawar games. This is a monopoly clone. I like it, because it has some attractive options. So in a scale from 0-10 I give the program 8 points.

And there is something different amont you makers out there. At lesst different from match and out they go. This one may be worth thinking abut. I will wait to see for a hour or two.,

Suddenly they're fixed! Obviously just waiting for someone to point out the obvious.

Disappearing comments. Oh no! Censorship!