Build in Time™ by Reflexive is now available

[Skinflint]

Travel through time and build some digital fun with Build in Time™

Reflexive Entertainment is proud to announce its 17th game Build in Time, coming this June on PC, and July on Mac.

Lake Forest, CA – June 3, 2008 – Reflexive Entertainment (www.reflexive-inc.com) is proud to announce its next casual game: Build in Time™. Scheduled for release this June on PC and July on Mac, Build in Time will take players to the 1950’s and back again as they build homes for customers and help a kid follow his dreams, upgrade his business and grow his family over 60 years of his life.

While managing time is of the essence in this fast-paced building game, it’s the additional touches that truly bring it to life. From the colorful characters, strategic shopping experiences and the nostalgic bits of humorous history, Build in Time has been crafted to inspire and entertain. With optional goals that change story lines and earn awards, there are even more reasons to do your best.

"I really wanted to make a game that I found exciting," said Build in Time Producer James C. Smith. "We created Build in Time as a way to bring together some of the best game elements from other games that we all enjoyed. With interesting things to construct and upgrade in the neighborhoods, like observatories and putting greens, the skills the players develop as the game progresses really makes them feel like ‘I did it!’ We did plenty of brainstorming before building a design that we felt was awesome, and we’ve been improving it ever since.”

Spanning 6 decades of American history, Build in Time features decade-appropriate music and customers spread over 65 challenging levels. Build in Time will provide an enjoyable gaming experience for everyone in the family when it is released for the PC in late June and the Mac in late July. More information can be found at the Build in Time website: http://www.BuildinTime.com.

Preview copies and exclusive screenshots are now available and can be obtained by contacting Ion Hardie (ion@reflexive.net)

Screenshots: (click to enlarge)

http://www.buildintime.com/announce/small-australian.jpg (http://www.buildintime.com/screen05.htm) http://www.buildintime.com/announce/small-star-explosion.jpg (http://www.buildintime.com/screen01.htm) http://www.buildintime.com/announce/small-60s.jpg (http://www.buildintime.com/screen07.htm)


About Reflexive Entertainment:
Founded in 1997, with one goal in mind, to make great games, Reflexive Entertainment's passionate focus on game design has led to the creation of many top-selling and award-winning games including the Ricochet and the Big Kahuna franchises (with over 40 million total downloads) and the 2006 Downloadable Game of the Year, Wik: Fable of Souls. In addition to developing games, Reflexive has created one of the largest casual game distribution networks in existence with more than 500 affiliates distributing a huge catalog of over 1000 games to a rapidly growing audience that downloads millions of games each week.

[bignobody]

Based on the name I thought it was some sort of developer tool or service - software builds on demand or something :D

[Grey Alien]

Sounds like a build-a-lot clone, but that's cool! I look forward to seeing it soon. Good luck with it.

[simonh]

Yeah, not sure about the name. It does sounds like a developer tool of some sort.

[Sakura Games]

A better name would be "Build a lot in time" :D

[James C. Smith]

We tried to design a time management game that is less like Build-a-lot and more like Dinner Dash or Cake Mania. There is no resource management, no renting or buying and selling of houses, and lots of serving of customers. It is actually almost a direct clone of the Cake Mania play mechanic. But I have to admit that the end result looks like Build-a-lot and even people who play it still compare it to Build-a-lot more than anything else. Of course it has many core game play twists that were not found in Cake mania or Build-a-lot and it also has a nice meta game and rewards structure.

I am not ashamed to admit that the game barrows design ideas heavily from Cake Mania and Build-a-lot but I get a little defensive when you throw around the word “clone”.

[Grey Alien]

Sounds cool and like you've picked some good games to base it on. I don't mean to sound funny about the word "clone" as I've made clones (good ones) myself :) There's nothing wrong with borrowing good ideas and adding your own touch.

[James C. Smith]

Build in Time for Windows is now available from www.BuildInTime.com

Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. This is a "soft launch" with the big promotion starting in a few days.

The Mac version is being tested now and will launch in a few days.

[Jack Norton]

Cool, going to try directly the mac version though when it's available.

[HDL]

I haven't finished the demo but it looked interesting enough. There did seem to be enough twists to make it its own game.

There were two main issues I had with Build in Time, the first was the mad clicking in order to speed things up. I don't like clicking quickly and repetitively, it hurts my finger and I am utterly convinced that by doing it often enough I am going to break my mouse. Now I'm not sure if that's true or not but I do worry and my finger gets sore and tired whilst I do. In short it is the exact opposite of fun to me and detracts heavily from the game. I'd much rather see a mechanic that just allows holding the mouse button down over the building to speed things up. That'd have the same effect, having the mouse in one place, but without the hurting of my finger and the mouse.

The second was the shop screen. Since I had to open up windows to see the price of everything it felt an extra step and somewhat clunky. Every time I got to the shop screen I had to click on each thing I could buy, one at a time to open up the big window and see if I could afford it. I quickly got somewhat frustrated with this and it meant valuable time when I wasn't actually playing the game. A mouse-over text or the price underneath would have sped this up a bit and made it easier. Or even having items I couldn't afford to buy greyed out or with some other indication.

I gave up once it told me I was to try to match-3s. It seemed too complicated. I was all "what's this funny new mechanic? I thought this was meant to be a clone! Why's it making me think?" ;) Since it's not a time limited demo though (is it? there was no mention of time left) there's a good chance I'll go back and play again and try to get to grips with the whole three types of things lined up.

Good luck for the game.

[James C. Smith]

1) You don't NEED to do the speed up click thing very often or even at all. It is possible to beat every level without doing it. You don't lose much of an edge by not click assisting. It mostly just gives you something to do when you are waiting. As you get further and further into the game you get less and less time to do it anyway.

2) The more you use the buy screen the more it will start to make sense and you will get more efficient at using it. The things you can afford have bright "upgrade" stickers on them. The thing you can't afford have greyed out sticker.

3) Which game did you think it was a clone of?


4) There is no time limit. Replay the first 12 levels as much as you like.

[cliffski]

Why is it specifically described as the 'American' past? That seems like an intentional limiting of the market?
Is it to do with different architectual styles?

[James C. Smith]

It is not just the architectural styles that place the game in 1950’s America. It is the clothing & hair styles, music styles, home prices, and even the price of milk and that TV shows were popular. The game documents many aspects of American pop-culture from 1950 through 2009.

I don’t see why having an “American Past” theme should limit the market that munch. It is not intended to only appeal to Americans just because it is about America. There are plenty of games made about Paris, Rome, Las Vegas, Australia and Atlantis. What’s wrong with having one about 1950’s America? Besides, focusing this game on one region makes it easier to differentiate the sequel. :-)

[cliffski]

Nothing wrong with it, although I wouldn't have mentioned it marketing wise. The Sims is clearly based on the US (wooden housing etc), but they never really mention it.
Just something that I noticed anyway, being a moaning brit :D

[Olivier]

There are plenty of games made about Paris, Roam, Las Vegas, Australia and Atlantis.Roam? :D -short message addundum-