County Fair Game Review

"Step right up and try your luck" at running your very own carnival empire, complete with all the wild rides, great games and fattening food county fairs are famous for. Can you meet each fair's goals to move on the next town that offers even more challenging fun?

County Fair is an engaging tycoon game that puts you in charge of building and managing fairs across the country. You're the sole relative of an aging businessman in poor health, and he's counting on you to keep the roller coasters racing and the carousels twirling. At each location, you're given a little cash and a bare patch of land you must transform into a thriving county fair.

Your first order of business is to hire mechanics to erect the carnival rides and buy power so they'll run. Then it's a madcap dash to build attractions, place advertising, and hire sanitation workers, health workers and security personnel. The attractions are broken down into amusement rides in three sizes; dozens of game stands; a handful of shows in indoor and outdoor arenas; and lastly, a veritable smorgasbord of food stands.

Although each level requires you to build a few specific rides, beyond that you can choose whichever attractions you want, and place them anywhere they'll fit. This freedom to design the fair of your dreams (or recreate one from your childhood memories) adds a great deal to the game's appeal.

When I first started playing the County Fair game, I really loved it. Unfortunately, after several hours my enthusiasm waned. This is because every level is basically the same; sure, there are slightly harder goals, longer fairs and different rides to erect. But once you figure out the basic strategy for success at one level, the same strategy works for every successive level. And often, once your fair is up and running, all that's left to do is wait until you reach the money goal.

The graphics in County Fair are pretty cool. The carnival rides are vividly detailed and authentic -- the pirate ship sways back and forth, the coaster train zooms along the tracks, and the Titanic goes upside down and over just like its real-life counterpart. The food stands even have steam coming out of them to lend a realistic touch.

The County Fair soundtrack is a quirky mix of classic circus calliope music, like the tunes you hear while riding a theme park carousel. The music does an admirable job of creating a fun carnival atmosphere; however, the laughing and other sounds embedded in the soundtrack are a bit odd. There are lots of other sound effects that add realism to the game, such as when a ride breaks down.

Although quite charming and cute, the County Fair game doesn't really push the envelope when it comes to creativity. Many similar computer games already exist, such as Roller Coaster and Theme Park. Nevertheless, anyone who loves amusement parks and carnivals, or tycoon games, will likely find County Fair to be entertaining, at least for the first few hours. As with most downloadable games, you can always download it for free and play for an hour to decide whether or not to buy it.