Moon base is a game that has many similarities to the game Sim City. It is a simulation that give you the task of building and expanding a moon base on (where else) the moon. The year is 2010 and you start on an empty lunar plain and NASA gives you the first initial sum of money and gives you more every virtual year. On the moon you can build power plants, habitation buildings, oxygen plants, science buildings and much more.
What you are trying to achieve in this game is to get more workers and attract tourists to your moon base. This can be done by building hotels on the moon. Also you have to get make money and boost your score. While doing this you have to try and eventually get your moon base to become a galactic city. Things that you have to look out for while building your moon base are the population levels, the supplies that you have and the support you get from earth. Also, because you are on the moon you have to manage and supply enough oxygen, heat, power, water (found in craters!) and shelter for all of your colonists. You have to connect the
 | | |
buildings up with pipes to supply the power and heat. You have to also explore the explore the moon's surface to find water as well. One interesting thing that you can do in this game, is to make more money you have to develop and ship product to Earth. On the moon you find elements such as helium and you can collect it. Then you look at the virtual stock market and sell the product when the price is high. You win the game when your moon base is a successful one.
Starting this game is a bit hard to get used to. It is very much in the same category as Sim City and does test your management skills. I really enjoyed the idea of making money by selling minerals and elements. The game is also set out like Sim City with the tool buttons on the side and the view of the moon base in the middle. However, the game soon does feel like your doing the same thing as doing well in your moon base does not reward you and there are not as many different choices to make on how you build your city.
Also the graphics of the game are pretty basic for a game made in 1991 and the grey background which is the moon gets a bit dull.
Overall, if you want a challenge of your management skills this is the game for you however if you like a simulator that has a vast amount of choice in what you do than this will be pretty basic for you.
