A free game? From a high street bank? Apparently those cheerful money-lending types over at Barclays don't just give me free money at the back-end of my student account then (thanks guys), they also commission very playable office time-wasters such as 56 Sage Street.
This isn't your average stick-men playing 'cricket' against the backdrop of child's MS Paint drawing though, it's a proper full-on Sims meets Grand Theft Auto concept. With a bit of Oliver Twist and a healthy dose of sound advice thrown in for good measure.
The basic premise is as follows:
Two weeks ago a fresh-faced kid arrived in the city with £4 and a headful of dreams. What they found was a tough, uncompromising place and one night a wrong turntook them into trouble. The dream of making it looked like it was over. But someone had seen what had happened. His name is Mr C. the self-made, millionaire owner of the 56 Sage Street Empire. With only weeks to live, he’s searching for a successor. If our hero can prove their worth to him, their dream of making it might just become a reality.
Sounds corny, right? But in fairness, they've done a rather excellent job of molding the graphics to the progress from rags to riches of your earnest protagonist, meaning the city itself ends up being fairly fun to navigate around. You might start off on a dingy council estate approximating a grim corner of forgotten East London (which reminded me of this for some reason), but play your cards right and you'll soon end up in the more salubrious surroundings of the 'Art Gallery', or indeed the bank!
In the meantime, you'll be learning how to make friends and influence people, all in an attempt to con some old codger out of his empire, or something. Plus you'll be learning the occasional handy life lesson, like don't borrow money off dodgy street lenders. Oops. Which all makes for a rather excellent lunchtime diversion, or alternatively a means with which to fill another vacant student afternoon after finishing your 4 hours lectures for the week and before you start boozing.
Here's the trailer:
You can check the game out for yourself at http://www.56sagestreet.co.uk/. Just clear your schedule for a few hours.
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1 comment:
56 Sage Street
is a good game –the graphics and the challenges are excellent, and the games intended purpose (to teach young people to manage their money responsibly) is very unique for a high street bank, such as Barclays.
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