| | |  | Strategy | Home » » » » Plant Tycoon | | | | | | | Description: | | Plant Tycoon is a gardening sim game where you nurture plants and experiment with increasingly rare and valuable species. The object is to breed and cross breed plants until you find the 6 Magic Plants of Isola and solve the genetic puzzle. You start with a couple of dollars, a handful of seeds, some soil and water. Grow plants, organize and harvest seeds, monitor your plants' health, age and maturity and protect your plants from dehydration and infestations. Sell some of your creations to fund your research, buy better supplies to use in your Nursery and purchase ornaments to customize your virtual garden. | | | Product Details: | | | Product Weight:
| 0.25 pounds | | Package Length:
| 7.7 inches | | Package Width:
| 5.3 inches | | Package Height:
| 1.3 inches | | Package Weight:
| 0.05 pounds | | Release Date:
| January 15, 2008 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 12 reviews |
| | | Game Information: | | | Platform:
| Mac / Windows XP | | Media:
| CD-ROM | | Item Quantity:
| 1 |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 Very DisappointingJan 08, 2010
By J. Reinoehl
This is one of the most disappointing games I have played. The story line and concept are excellent. You collect seeds and develop new flowering plants by cross-breeding the ones you have. You sell your plants in the nursery to raise money to upgrade your tools. You can collect the bugs in your greenhouse for cash. The object is to create the six magic plants from Isola.
So, why is it disappointing? It claims to grow plants in "real time." On the "fast" speed setting it takes fifty-one real minutes to grow a plant from seed to sellable mature plant. If you breed the plant (also only possible after an hour), it takes additional time for the seeds to develop. You have a total of fifteen plant spaces, so once you have potted them all (which takes about two minutes), you just wait and watch so they do not get bugs, develop dead leaves, or run out of water (my plants never came close to running out of water and only about 1 in 15 develop bugs - pruning is required a little more frequently, but only takes about one of the fifty-one minutes to do. You can collect bugs, but they appear infrequently. If you have plants to sell, you can go to the nursery during the growing process and watch customers come in. It can take up to thirty minutes to sell a plant, and you must remain in the nursery screen the whole time or you lose your customers and must wait for more. If you set your prices too high, you cannot change them in this screen. While the customer actions are remarkably like what one would expect in a real nursery, they sometimes gape at plant stands with no plants on them. They also do nothing entertaining enough to keep your attention for the hours you will need to spend watching them.
When you leave the game, you need to "pause" it because it keeps track of your plants while you are gone. This aspect would work well if the "slow" speed would take eight to ten hours for a plant to develop, you could set it on slow and shut down your computer. When you came back, you would find your plants ready (you may have a bug infestation though). However, the "slow" speed is not slow enough - it takes only four hours for a plant to develop.
Also disappointing is the fact the game does not really keep track of your crosses. When you place a seed in your seed bank, you can see the parent plants (as long as you crossed the seed and did not buy it). When you plant that seed, this information is lost, and you must wait the fifty-one minutes to discover what kind of plant you made. The fifteen pots only have about five different designs, so good luck remembering which seeds you crossed to get that plant. More discouraging is that if you rearrange the plants in your nursery, they will also change their positions in your greenhouse.
I would love to play this game more, but I cannot justify spending the eight hours it takes to get into it each day. I can think of three good reasons to get this game. If you are doing something else, like housework, schoolwork, or surfing the web, and need an occasional distraction while a page loads or the dryer finishes, this game will work, but you will need to keep checking your plants. If you have nothing to do and want a way to waste three or four months of your life, this is perfect. Or, if you have children that you want out of the way who are easily amused, you can set them in front of this, and it will take care of them. However, do not think they are getting educated about how to "really" take care of plants.
10 of 11 found the following review helpful:
Plant TycoonJan 31, 2008
By Julie Ritter
I like this game. I can play it while cleaning the house and if one of my kids need me i dont have to pause it to see what they need. I think this game is great for parents to just play if you like seeing what you can make by mixing the plants. I think some of the plants look beautiful...wish I had them in my garden. Over all it can get a little boring if you play it too much but it is still fun.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Fun, but no real geneticsDec 19, 2010
By A. Rose
This is a cute game to have running in the background. It's certainly not the type of game you sit down to play through from start to finish in one night, but if you can work checking on your plants into your schedule and have a knack for keeping records and working out puzzles it will provide some fun, satisfaction and surprises for a long, long time. There are moments of frustration if a plant dies or doesn't sell - just trash it and move on.
One thing that this game does NOT do, however, is teach genetics. I've seen that claim on some sites describing it, along with the claim that it simulates "real" plants. It does not. The principles of "genetics" behind the game are actually what Mendel disproved 150 years ago with his experiments. You can verify very quickly that this game violates Mendel's laws. The botanist in me wants to cringe, too. The plants combine some characteristics that you would not find on any known plants, e.g. ferns do not flower or set seeds as they do in the game.
If you accept that it is a fantasy game where the "crosses" are based on simple math rather than simulated genes and most of the plants are fantasy creations, it's kinda fun to set up crosses to get the plants you want. Once you've figured out the mechanism, it becomes very predictable. But in case you were hoping for a real genetics simulation you'll be disappointed.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Plant TycoonApr 27, 2008
By V. A. Becker
I enjoy this game very much but mostly due to a program I downloaded from the developers forums website that does a great job of tracking all that you do in the game and that program provides an unlimited seed tray as well. If it weren't for that program I don't think I would enjoy this game as much or even play it out to the end because there is just too much to keep track of and it's easy to get bogged down in paperwork with it. Then it just becomes work and not fun, for me anyway, some would probably enjoy getting into all that detail. The plants are very pretty to look at and it's a great little game for when you just feel like sitting and watching them grow without having to think about it much. I rated the game 4 stars but honestly it's because of that program I downloaded. If I didn't have that I would probably have rated it 2 stars because it doesn't help you in any way to keep track of what you've done and the seed trays in the game aren't nearly sufficient enough.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Garden of FunApr 26, 2009
By dream factory
Following is a review by Isabella (6 years old), one of the younger members of dream factory:
"You can make a big nusery with flowers. "You can make a seed collection. And have as many tools and products for the nursery. And try to discover the 6 magic plants. You catch and collect bugs and insects, either for jars or money. You can sell the flowers to the customers. Their are 100 products to chose from, and 500 different plants."
Parent: Yes this is a recommended PC game due to it teaching youngsters at many levels. Plant care/nurturing from seed - seedling - plant. Defence against insects. Nursery arrangement and customer service. Not a simple game by any means. Taking much lateral thinking during play and operation.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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