Video Game Review: Buildings Have Feelings Too!

Buildings Have Feelings Too!

Developer: Blackstaff Games

Genre: Simulation, Strategy

Platform: Nintendo Switch

Buildings Have Feelings Too! is the latest city management game released across all platforms this week and it has a rather unique concept. Compared to other simulation games of this style, where you’re mostly left to yourself to build up the city, this one takes the more empathic approach by you taking on the role of the ‘Halfway Hotel’ who talks to all of the failing buildings and helps them improve and restructure the area to reach its best potential. It’s a nice take on the genre, and there’s a lot of amusement to be had from conversing with the various buildings that ask for your help. The various areas in the game which you manage are set in different eras, with the game beginning in the 1900s and eventually moving through to the modern-age.

I love playing simulation games but haven’t had the chance to play many city management games before now, which I think is a good disclaimer for this article and my experience with the game. I tried the game on Nintendo Switch which handled reasonably well, but ultimately I found this game to be a very frustrating experience. I’m not sure how much of this is from my own lack of expertise with playing these kinds of games, but after the initial half an hour or so of tutorials, I began to have real trouble with fulfilling the game’s quest objectives. The game itself relies very heavily on strategy, which gets surprisingly complex quite early on and if you don’t have a complete handle of the game’s rules then you can quite easily find yourself blocked off from progressing and being forced to restart (which unfortunately happened to me multiple times). The premise is initially quite simple to grasp – buildings require certain other buildings around them such as residences, businesses, and factories in order for them to achieve upgrades and satisfaction. An unsatisfied building will eventually just close down and you’ll be forced to demolish them and start over. You’re limited however by the number of bricks in your possession and whilst you’re given a decent number to begin with, too many mess-ups and you quickly run down on your stock and are left with no other options.  It’s a shame because there’s obviously a surprising amount of depth to this game, but ultimately it ended up feeling like a bit of a micro-managing nightmare with constantly having to move buildings around to create the perfect layout.

Buildings Have Feelings Too! is marketed more like a casual game, and this is shown well in the relaxing soundtrack and minimalist main menu. The graphics are pleasant enough although not particularly memorable. The dialogue between the buildings is well written and endearing, with tonnes of pop culture references splashed here and there. It’s all the more sad for me really, because I really wanted to enjoy this game and all it had to offer, but more often than not my sessions spent on it would end up with me rage quitting. I also found the controls themselves to be a little janky at times – moving around in general and moving buildings was quite slow and not the easiest thing to do which makes it more of a pain than a quick fix a lot of the time. When you get blocked off, you can get a good amount of hints of how to fix the issue from the houses themselves but often it ends up feeling like you’re playing a game of musical chairs, moving all the houses around hoping you finally get them in the correct formation. Having some of the other areas open from the beginning might have been good in this case because I grew fed up of the first street quite quickly and would have loved to have seen what some of the others had to offer.

It’s hard for me to recommend this game – I think it’s definitely got a great concept and has a ton of potential but if you’re not someone who loves strategy games and figuring out puzzles, this might not be the best game to start with. Whilst initially quite simplistic, the game ramps up in difficulty and complexity quite fast, and despite all the hints on offer, it can get quite frustrating to fulfill the quest goals.