We give the casual game industry credit for not going flower crazy. Flower Stand Tycoon doesn’t have the distinction of being the first flower-themed game, but it won’t be the last. At least, we don’t see flower-theme games come out left and right like other themes. Players and reviewers appreciate it when the themes don’t come out in droves.

Anyway, Flower Stand Tycoon reminds me of Fairy Godmother Tycoon without the wacky and quirky characters and comedy. Don’t let the fact Flower Stand Tycoon doesn’t quite measure up with Fairy Godmother Tycoon stop you from smelling the roses. Fairy Godmother Tycoon stands out from the tycoon crowd, so I don’t expect to see one come close to matching or surpassing the game.

In typical casual game fashion, the game starts off with the story of Uncle Potts who wants to grow a flower business. However, he has no business acumen as he specializes in bioengineering and would rather discover new flowers. He hands off what little he has of his business and lets you take over beginning with picking your avatar.

As you begin, the game guides you through the features and how to manage the business. Figuring out the game its controls involves a learning curve, but the competition doesn’t enter the game for a bit giving players time to feel comfortable. While you can build up to buy more stands, it’ll take time to get to that point as you need to upgrade, discover new flowers, and take over several areas of the city.

Stock up your inventory, set the prices, and let the day play it out. You can speed up the day (as you don’t do anything except watch customers, their reactions, and the profit numbers climb (you hope). So often, I just end the day and not bother waiting around. Is the game still playable when I do this? Yes. There are lots to do — I have to figure out which upgrades to buy, study reports, determine how much cash to invest in research and marketing.

I also study the areas to see where I want to sell next. The game provides population, demand, and popular item information. Reviewing this information makes an impact on your sales, one big plus about Flower Stand Tycoon. Make decisions do matter and you see the results of those decisions. News and reports also aid decision-making.

You have a say in how many of each product you want to sell. However, the numbers jump as they get larger beginning with 20, 40, 60, 100 and then 200. No 75 or even 150. At one point, I had customers buying an average of 70 to 80 of a flower, but 100 is a waste. Whatever they don’t buy doesn’t always carry over — a big problem in the game. While it makes sense for flowers to do before we can sell them, the game isn’t consistent in its handling of leftover inventory.

When competitors come to play, the neighborhoods receive different colors based on the company that holds the leading share of the market. Between competitors and all the information available, players have plenty to think about and decisions to make. The game’s strength is its ability to let you go in almost any direction. The only thing you can’t jump around on is buying certain items. Some items call for buying something else first.

Unlike many business games, you don’t deal with goals for every level. In fact, sometimes I’m not sure where I am going except to overtake the competitors and earn lots of profits so I can upgrade everything and discover new flowers.

Flower Stand Tycoon runs for a long time and offers many upgrades and other options. While it doesn’t win gold medals or green thumb awards, the journey of managing a business complete with marketing and reporting makes the game a worthy play.

Ready to hear the story of Fairy Godmother Tycoon? Once upon a time, there was a land known as Onceuponia and it had nine quirky villages. The Fairy Godmother managed potion stores in these villages, but competitors took over and almost ran her business into the ground.

Fairy Godmother hired me, the hulking Viking looking gal, to save her stores. The boss gave me goals to meet in each village before moving on to the next one. The first to conquer was Tutorialville. That helped me learn the business as Fairy Godmother didn’t want to throw me to the wolves, dragons and bulls when moving up to the seriously competitive villages.

This YATG (yet another tycoon game) succeeds in challenging players to run a business. Players must decide the following before the start of each day:

• Study weather reports to determine what potions to stock up on
• How many supplies to buy
• What to charge
• What marketing tools to use
• What to upgrade (building, potion maker, entertainment for entertaining people waiting in line, spells, spies, etc.)
• How much, if any, to invest in research for a new potion
• Whether to hire contractors to help promote your product or stop the competition
• Whether to take out a loan or pay it back

A celebrity or local resident popped in to request something or ask for help on occasion. Celebrities included Jack and Jill, Cinderella’s stepsisters, Red Riding Hood, Little Miss Muffet, Rapunzel and Pandora of Greek myth fame. It was an honor to meet them all, well, most of them. Some weren’t too nice. Be careful with the pop-in events as they could gain or lose beans (currency of Onceuponia) and inventory.

The people of the nine villages — Sure Would Forest, Beantown (not Boston) and Pirates Cove to name a few — needed help dealing with big head, floating, fire, broken heart, and swear curses. The goal for conquering each village typically required earning a specific amount of beans or driving competitors out of business.

Fairy Godmother reported in between each village and the witty dialog had me laughing. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the people who needed the liquid clothing potion to cure their curse (figure it out?) walking around with black boxes over their… ahem… privates.

The only annoying experience I had with Fairy Godmother Tycoon was the too small screen (picture-in-picture style) displaying the store. Also too small was the space where the villager’s opinion appeared. I spent too much time trying to scroll to read the opinion and it wasn’t long before the day was over.

Truthfully, Fairy Godmother Tycoon was the best tycoon-style game I’ve ever played. The comical conversations, variety and challenges were neither too heavy nor too light. They’re just right as Goldilocks would say (and she’s a competitor in the game). Beware: Game will hook players with magic. Play at your own risk. This is an addiction worth experiencing.

Download the game from your favorite site:

• Amazon
• Big Fish Games