By Bixyl Shuftan
I've been continuing to play various games, not just on the computer, but also my smartphone. One that's got my attention a little more than others is Homescapes.
The game starts off with Austin the butler going to his parents' house for vacation. He hasn't been there in a while, and to his surprise finds the place is a mess, in a state of disrepair and clutter. His aging parents simply aren't able to keep it up like they used to. Much worse from Austin's point of view, they plan to sell it. So he resolves to start fixing things up, starting with the living room where they relax and watch TV, as well as greet guests.
You get various tasks to do before you can progress in the story and building of the house. You can keep track of how many you have. Doing things from replacing items, fixing things, making phone calls, etc. costs action You get them by completing puzzle games.
Early on the puzzles are simple. You knock out so many pieces of the same color by lining them up in three in a row or so, in squares of four, or an L shape three wide and long.
But as time goes on, the puzzles get more complex and harder. Fortunately you also get some tricks up your sleeve. Knocking out four in a row will get you a rocket piece that blasts everything in a row either up to down or left to right. Knocking out a square of four gets you a paper airplane which when touched or moved will fly to something that needs taken care of and remove it. An L will get you a bomb which blows up things within a few spaces. Knocking out five in a row will get you a disco ball which will either zap every color piece you move it on, or make duplicates of a power item next to it that you move it over and fire them off, which can make for a spectacular fireworks show.
Different combinations of power pieces will produce different results. Some can help you quite a bit as the puzzles increase in difficulty. After a while, successfully solving puzzles will get you the "Cat's Gift," three items to help you out. But losing one will cause you to lose them and need to start winning to get them back.
And after solving a puzzle, Austin will give you his congratulations. Harder puzzles will give more rewards. This included one star, coins, and energy points for side adventures (more on those later). When you've gathered enough coins, you can use them to buy five more turns if you run out of them in trying to solve a puzzle.
As time goes on, the progress you make will add up and the house will slowly transform, looking less and less run down and more of a better place to live in.
Besides fixing up the house, there's the side adventures in which Austin and his friends and family wind up in. At the time this article is being done, the current one is a pirate adventure.
Easter had Austin's friend Katherine teaming up with the Easter Bunny to
clear the butler's name after he was framed for stealing the Queen of
Hearts' jeweled egg.
In these side adventures, you spend energy points to progress. Along he way, you can get perks that can help you with the game puzzle, and if you complete the adventure you get a special decoration for the house.
Eventually, you finally finish fixing the living room and Austin's parents change their minds about selling the house. But it's a big house and there's many more rooms, and yard areas, to fix up. There's also a story to go along with each new area, for instance with fixing the kitchen comes Austin's mother entering a baking competition.
Homescapes can be played both on the PC and some smartphones.
This is a game that will take you a while to finish. And perhaps inspire some of you to finally get to that household project you've been procrastinating on.
Bixyl Shuftan
