Lord Mayor

[h1]What is Lord Mayor?[/h1] Lord Mayor developed by John McCann and published by Bottlenose Bits, LLC. is a casual city building puzzle game. The object of the game is to deliver upon the goals that are set at the beginning of each level. Although it appears to be designed simply the amount of strategy and understanding of each of the building types is significant. [h1]Gameplay[/h1] Gameplay consists of a playing grid-like playing board. Each level has its own grid. You can place one building in each vector. Each building type has a price in terms of monetary and resources required to build. Each round gives you a deadline to meet the requirements of each level. For example, the tutorial expects you to reach a population of 1000 with 5 happiness, 5 prosperity and 5 culture. Each building type has a different value. Failure occurs when either happiness, prosperity or culture hit rock bottom. [h1]The Value Proposition[/h1] There are more better developed games on Steam that attempt to do the same thing. However, at the price point you're looking at a rock solid title gameplay wise. Therefore, when you factor in the value proposition - cost when compared to entertainment - the game is fairly priced. In fact, I would argue that the game is a bargain if you are into the genre. [h1]A Recommendation[/h1] Such is the complexity of the different buildings and their individual values that I found it easier to play organizing a spreadsheet for the game. With a spreadsheet you will have a better idea of what buildings you need to build in order to accomplish each of the tasks that you are set at the beginning of each level. [h1]Absent Developer/Publisher[/h1] It's always a little disappointing when developer/publishers release a game onto Steam and disappear into the oblivion. As of writing there are a total of five discussion threads on the game's board. None of them have received any official response. Several of them require attention. Certainly this may only be a $2 game but that doesn't excuse you from caring for your community. Consequently, I am more than a little disappointed that the developers appear to be absent and may have deserted their game. [h1]Is it Steamified?[/h1] Lord Mayor is yet to be Steamified. It is a single-player game that lacks trading cards and Steam achievements. It also does not utilize the Steam leaderboard system. This is something that I would utilize in order to create a sense of competitiveness among the players. It'd be nice to be able to compare time played and in game days required to achieve the goals of each level. As a result I am disappointed the game is lacking in utilizing Steam to the best of its potential. [h1]Verdict[/h1] Although I am disappointed in the absentee developer/publisher and the lack of Steamification if you are a fan of the genre the you can't ask for much more at this price point. Therefore, I somewhat reluctantly recommend this product. If the developers were to respond to their customers and potential player base, achievements and trading cards were added and leaderboards considered I would certainly recommend Lord Mayor a lot more firmly. For similar reviews and our popular giveaways (including hardware) please consider visiting [url=http://www.steamified.com/]Steamified[/url]