The "Sim Village" part of the game isn't too complex, is quite well implemented, but is perhaps too repetitive in each mission. Wheat is planted in spring and harvested in the autumn, cows can be lured into fenced fields where they can be milked. As long as you provide food, housing, water, and you don't get attacked, you should expand nicely by surviving on wheat, bread, cattle and milk. It takes a few seasons for babies to grow to adults, and an adult may live for four or five game years, depending on food and water supply. The game clock runs continuously - you can't pause to give orders - and time is split into four seasons which in turn are split by night-time phases. If you later want a villager back, you can demob the footman back to farm duty. If you want a soldier you have to send a young man to a guard tower and train him for cash (which you raise by charging for water and food). The innovative slant on Beasts and Bumpkins is that your population must grow by "natural" means - you don't build or buy new villagers, you need a frisky man and woman to nip off into a hut for a bit of nookie to get a baby, which then may grow into a boy or girl, assuming the wolves don't get it first. Putting aside the perils of the game world, your prime goal is to expand your population, providing food, water and anything else needed to keep your subjects happy. The game itself has the same village building nature as Settlers, but it's presented in something of a simpler way.
The cuteness factor probably comes from the apparent European influence on the game, which is credited as "Demons et Manants" in the title screen, hinting at a French connection. Or it is if the Settlers style of "cute" game is your thing. Tim Chown's Games Domain's strategy editor, says it all in his review about what makes the game well worth a look, although by no means a classic: ".What I found was a game that indeed wasn't worthy of a full price sale, but one with a lot of new game ideas and reasonable value as a bargain bin buy.
Beasts and Bumpkins is a great Settlers-style gem that is one of the very few games from software giant Electronic Arts that were released very quietly without any marketing hype, and only in Europe.Īnd that's a shame, because in contrast to many hyped-but-horrible games EA put out, BNB is entertaining and very charming.
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