Tinytopia is a puzzle game where you learn to combine low levels structures into high level structures, and thus, fulfill some arbitrary building requirements for each level. As befitting of a puzzle, the buildings are actually toy-like, and you don't see the citizens, just the cars moving about their own businesses, with occasional exceptions like a citizen down requiring an ambulance. The "fun" is figuring out how to combine structures into bigger ones, as new structures are introduced. And let's just say, your budget will drastically improve as you start to combine structures. So the budget should not be seen as much of a limiting factor. Later, you'll run into some physics based puzzles, like can you keep the city "balanced" on a balance beam by building on both sides equally? If you got really really bored you can always throw in some disasters like some wind-up dinosaurs to wreck havoc in your metropolis, or send in some UFOs to abduct entire buildings... and more. Graphics are not great, but then these are meant to be toys, not actual items,and for that block-y feel they are perfect. For the extremely low price while on sale (as low as $2.00 USD), it's worth every penny, and more.
Star Trek: Starfleet Command (SFC) (not to be confused with a more recent Star Trek Fleet Command licensed Star Trek MMO) is a single player PC adaptation of the long-running "Starfleet Battles" tabletop boardgame serving as the battle engine, with a strategic "shell" written around it that serves as the setting for the various campaigns, as well as randomly generated missions that became known as the "Omniverse" engine. It is extremely ambitious and complicated (and buggy), that was loved by grognards, but panned by regular gamers who found the game incredibly hard to learn, the interface confusing and had way too many tiny buttons on screen. Those of you who had played SFB needs no introduction. For the rest of you, the game is 2D (all the actions happen on a single plane, just like in the TV series or movies) but presented in 3D (default view is from behind 3rd person) during battle. EVERY ship system is implemented here, from probes to transporters, from shuttles to high-energy turns, it's all here. It had to be adapted slightly due to the "real-time" nature of the PC implementation instead of turn-based combat like the boardgame, but otherwise the game rules are nearly identical to the boardgame version, and understanding of the boardgame WILL help you understand the PC game. Each of the major races in the game (Federation, Klingon, Romulan, etc.) gets their own campaign, where you, as a young Academy cadet, gets training, then command a small frigate and win battles against pirates and enemies (which will change), and gain prestige, which can be used to add equipment to your ship, upgrade your ship (to larger/better ships), until you command a 3-ship squadron cruising the spaceways. You can even pick the starting date, which affects equipment and ship models available. However, this game, originally released in 2000, requires several fan patches to run on modern hi-res screens, and some scenarios are impossible to win now. It's a great game anyway.
Orbit.Industries (OI from now on) is a gorgeous space station builder and a business simulator where you need to build up the station with advanced modules, keeping every module supplied with the right needs (manpower, environmentals, energy, etc.), while research even more advanced modules, while keeping yourself financially solvent by undertaking outside contracts (some of which may require 1 or more of those advanced modules) since nobody works for free. While the presentation is gorgeous (the station can be viewed in full 3D based on Unreal Engine 4), the end result is oddly frustrating as the game allow you to build modules BEFORE you can use them while you have to keep paying upkeep on them (and upkeep is what drives you into bankruptcy in the long run). For example, loading bay (LOB) is one of the early advanced structures that requires... plasma, a new resource that's only generated by an LPI (low pressure ionizer). Without LPI LOB doesn't do anything. Yet the game will let you build the LOB, THEN charge you upkeep for however long it takes to research LPI (low pressure ionizer), probably 200 "ticks", instead of restricting LOB to be non-buildable until LPI had been researched and/or at least one built. If there's only one or two resources like this the game would be bearable, but there are MULTIPLE advanced modules that behave this way. Liquid gas requires tank farm (needed by docking bay), biomatter requires bio-reactor (needed by surveillance), storage requires cargo bay (needed by Loading Bay)... the list goes on. The module to produce these resources may take up to 400 ticks to research, which you don't find out UNTIL you build the module! There's a good game in there, but this design decision made the game hard to play, IMHO.
SWAT 4 Gold, which includes the original and the expansion, was basically the best Police FPS bar none. You are cops, and your job is **NOT** to kill everybody in the house. Ideally, you are to intimidate bad guys into surrendering, and secure them, but Tazer is an option (if you brought them). Mirror under doors to have an idea what's behind the door, gas or flashbang a room, order your two elements separately with context sensitive menu with execute codes, defuse bombs, rescue hostages, SWAT life is not easy. Enemies are NOT nice, and they sometimes will shoot through doors if they sense you're on the other side, and they don't give warning unlike you. Remember, you are cops, not anti-terrorist operatives with a license to kill. The maps are varied, and buildings have multiple levels, and some of the locations are HUGE. And what's even more interesting, the enemies are randomized. While you are to expect X perps, sometimes, the game adds an extra one or two perps, and they wander around with their own tasks. Wait in a room, patrol, and so on. They even have their own morale and decide whether to surrender or not! So no two games are EVER the same, even in Single Player! The animations are a little stiff as this is, after all, a decade old, and there is no internet multiplayer. But as a police tactical shooter, this game had YET to be equaled.
