Build-A-Lot, the Time Management Game: Strategy Hints for Winning

Those who love to work puzzles and use strategy will love Build-a-Lot. Build-a-Lot is a time management game that requires you to build different sized houses, and make money by collecting rent or selling the houses. The game is both challenging and fun to play.

It is not difficult to earn a gold star on the first few levels of Build-A-Lot, but after that the game gets a lot tougher. You will need to plan your strategy well to beat each level.

You will have to spend a lot of time planning and strategizing to earn a gold star on every level, but these tips should help you at least pass each level in the maximum allotted time.

What Houses to Build First

When you start a level in Build-a-Lot, you should not build the most expensive house you can afford right then. Rather, try to build two smaller houses that will earn you the same amount of rent.

When houses are taxed or fall into disrepair, they stop earning rent until you either pay the tax or repair them. If you only have one house, you will not be able to earn any more money to pay these bills!

Additionally, if you build two smaller houses and one is taxed, the bill is much smaller than a larger house would be.

Building the Saw Mill

If you have special buildings, such as a saw mill or workshop, available in your level, you will need to plan which of these to build first.

If possible, you should build your sawmill before buying any new materials, as it will save you a lot of money.

Look at the materials available at the beginning of the level, and build your first houses from them, leaving enough to build a saw mill before restocking.

You should build the houses before the saw mill because they will allow you to earn money right away.

After the Saw Mill

When the sawmill is built, order your next materials. You may want to replay the beginning of the level a few times while you figure out whether the bank or workshop should be built next.

In the game, the bank allows you to prevent being taxed, while the workshop prevents damage.

Usually one of your houses will fall into disrepair or be taxed before you can finish these two buildings. If you cannot build both of them before these events happened, take note of which one costs you more resources, and build the building that will prevent that problem.

Upgrading and Collecting Rent

Usually upgrading a house takes slightly less time than collecting rent. Therefore, try to begin an upgrade as soon as rent has been collected. If a house is still being upgraded when the time comes to collect rent, you will earn nothing from that house.

Doing this will make sure your money supply keeps increasing. If you are completing several upgrades in a row and you don't pay attention to rent collection, you may miss out on 3 rounds of rent for that house!

You can read a review of Build-A-Lot in this article from Associated Content.