Wonderburg
Platform: Windows
The land of Wonderburg has been laid to waste by evil minions, and it is up to a wizard and a stalwart gnome to travel the lands putting right what has gone wrong. That is the premise of the time management strategy game Wonderburg. While it doesn't venture far beyond what games like the Build-a-lot series have established, it's a charming title that stands firmly on its own two feet.
As with most building games, Wonderburg puts you in the role of the nigh-omnipotent landlord who must build and repair houses, buy and sell plots of land, and in this case, chase away pirates and exorcise spirits who haunt homes! Everything is carried out with a few simple clicks on your handy menu bar, the rest is up to the magician Alisa and Rudy, a gnome with a knack for carpentry. Keep your tenants happy and you'll be rich and successful in no time!
You can't just fling houses on the ground willy-nilly, of course. To build something, first you'll need to own a plot of land. Most levels supply a few open spaces for you to use, otherwise you'll need to clear debris or purchase lots for sale. Next, choose what type of building you want to construct and, provided you have enough gold, materials and available workers, your house will appear in just a few moments. Later levels will introduce a number of different houses and buildings that you can construct, some of which affect how you'll play the game by reducing costs, speeding up build times, or giving you a helping hand with maintenance.
In order to fix up each section of the ravaged land, you'll need to meet a number of objectives outlined in the main section of the menu bar. You may have to upgrade a certain number of houses, rake in a set amount of rent, or perform other tasks, all in the name of moving on to the next level. As you slowly work your way through each level, picking up the pieces of a destroyed land, you'll restore the kingdom of Wonderburg to it's well-built glory.
Each level also contains some sort of enemy that you must defend your houses against. Creatures such as ghostly pirates and thundering trolls will occasionally attempt to take up residence in your houses, stopping them from producing rent. It is up to your magician, Alisa, and her witchy friends to exorcise them from the buildings, turning them back to normal rent-producing structures. Again, this costs money, so be sure you have a steady income!
Analysis: While it isn't a huge step above Build-a-Lot in terms of innovation, Wonderburg stands on its own as an excellent example of a resource management strategy game. With a timed game and a more casual relaxed mode, it's playable by gamers of all skill levels. The storybook setting is nothing short of charming, and some of the animations could have been lifted from a Saturday morning cartoon. Gotta love that snoozing dragon on the title screen.
Both visuals and sound are excellent, the latter becoming very important as you enter levels with a dozen or more buildings to keep track of. Various cues for buildings falling into disrepair or houses becoming possessed will cause you to snap into action. Houses with ghosts and broken faucets don't pay rent, so you'll need to act fast! Wish that were true in real life, I swear I've seen a ghost or two around here...
The feel of Wonderburg is so similar to Build-a-Lot you find yourself wondering if they simply replaced graphics and story with witches, monsters, and medieval cottages. The mechanics of the two games are almost identical, although Wonderburg's ghostly hauntings are rather amusing. This game doesn't take itself as seriously as others in the genre, and as a result, you won't take it as seriously, either. In other words, we're just here to have some fun, build some houses, and chase away pirates, trolls and ghosts.
It's not a new page in the resource management book, but it's certainly a well-illustrated and charming addition. Grab your hammer and magic wand and give Wonderburg a try.
Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.
Walkthrough Guide
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Walkthrough
Level 1
Goals
Repair a house.
Own three shacks.
Get $3,900 in rent.
To do
hire a dwarf
Buy 250 Materials
Build a shack
Repair the broken house
Upgrade the house you just repaired
Build a new shack
buy a fourth shack to get yor rent over $3,900
Level 2
Goals
Get $5,200 in rent
Own 3 Shacks
To Do
Buy the broken property and demolish the broken house on it
Build a new house
You can also demolish the house near the top and build a house there too.
Upgrade the houses untill you get $5,200 in rent
Level 3
Goals
build a Mill
Build on all the plots
To do
Build a Mill
Build a house on every plot except theone with the mill. You don't need to keep the plot after a house is on it.
Level 4
Goals
Own 1 Residence
Two upgrades for one shack.
To do
Preform an exorsism on the haunted house
Build a residence
Upgrade one of your shacks two times.
Level 5
Goals
Build a workshop
Get $9,100 in rent
Own two residences
To do
hire a dwarf
Build a workshop
Repair the broken residence
build an additional residence on your spare property
upgrade your houses untill you have $9.200 in rent
Level 6
Goals
Get $10,400 in rent
Three upgrades for One Shack
Remove the curse 2 times
To do
Build residences on all but one of your properties, the last one build a shack
upgrade the shack 3 times
Upgrade the residences untill you are making enough rent
wait for two houses to get cursed and remove the, (Doesn't have to be at the same time)
Chase away 15 pirates with your new wand. (Just click on them)
after you chase the pirates away make sure you still meet the goals, you might have to repair some houses.
Level 7
Goals
Build a Lighthouse
Get $12,000 in rent.
To do
Hire a worker to build your lighthouse, then build it.
While your lighthouse is building start working on getting your other houses livable and upgraded to bring in the rent.
Level 8
Goals
Strengthen 2 houses
Own three homesteads
Remove the curse 3 times
To do
Star by building the three homesteads, this will bring up your cash so you can build the workshop
Once you've gotten the workshop use it to strengthen 2 homes
By the time you've done the first two things you should have removed the curse 3 times already, if not just wait a bit
Level 9
Goals
Get $33,000 in rent
Build on all the plots
To do
Start by building on the plots you already own to bring up your income.
Once you've got those move onto the other plots
You don't need to own EVERY plot as long as they all have houses on them
Once you have every plot built on then start upgrading until your rent is high enough
Level 10
Goals
Build a warehouse
Get $29,000 in rent
Remove the curse 5 times
To do
First build the warehouse
Start building up homesteads on the plots you already own
Work twoards making $29,000 in rent buy upgrading your houses and possibly buying new ones.
by the time you are at $29,000 you should have removed the curse 5 times already
Disenchant 10 trolls
Level 11
Goals
Strengthen 3 houses, earn $110,000 in cash
To do
Build homesteads on every plot you own except one.
Once you are done that build a workshop on the last one
Begin strengthening your homes
Once you have 3 of them strengthened just wait for the cash to roll in. Remember its get $110,000, not make $110,000 in rent
Alternatively you can just sell one of the houses you didn't fortify
Level 12
Goals
Build a library
Get $35,000 in rent
To do
Being by building some houses and working on bringing up your income.
The library needs 2 more workers than you start with so hire them after your income is a bit higher
Build the library and then work on your income if you still need it.
If the empty plot goes up for sale grab it, building a house on there is a cheap way to bring up your income.
Level 13
Goals
Get $45,000 in rent
Repair a house 2 times
Strengthen 3 Houses
To do
Start by building a workshop and a warehouse.
You will need 2-3 more dwarves
After you've got those built simply work on building and upgrading homsteads to get your rent up
Once your rent is up start strengthening houses.
Chase away 15 scarecrows.
Level 14
Goals
Three upgrades for 2 homesteads
Get $40,000 in rent
Repair a house 2 times
Own three cottages
To do
Start by laying the groundwork for your rent. Build twoh omsteads and save the rest for cottages.
Once you've got the buildings done start upgrading the two homesteads to level 3
After those are level 3 you should have $40,000 in rent
By the time you have $40,000 you should have had to repair a house two times already
Level 15
Goals
Build a school
Strengthen 2 houses
Get $45,500 in rent
To do
Start by building a workshop.
Once you've got that hire an extra dwarf and build a cottage
Get enough money for materials to build cottages on all but one of your properties
Upgrade your cottages untill you are making enough rent
Strengthen 2 homes and keep them in good condition and you are done
Level 16
Goals
Demolish 2 houses
Use the speed up spell
Earn $195,000 in cash.
To do
Build a school.
Use the speed up spell and build a cottage while its still active
Build a shack on one of your plots, then destroy it. Do this twice
After that just sell a cottage to make the money you need.
Level 17
Goals
Build a market
Get $80,000 in rent
3 upgrades for 3 cottages
To do
Since you will need a lot of materials for this level build a warehouse and a workshop
build cottages on all but one of your leftover properties
Begin upgrading them
Once you have three of them upgraded to level 3 build a market
Upgrade your fourth cottage to level 3, and demoolish your workshop
While you are upgrading build a new cottage where the workshop was to help bring up the rent quickly
Level 18
Goals
Earn $1,300,000 in cash
Get $130,000 in rent
Own 3 mansions
To do
I'd suggest building a warehouse.
Hire two dwarves
Build some mansions on your empty plots and begin your upgrading
You will need to purchase at least 1 extra plot.
With 3 level 3 mansions and a level 2 mansion you will be making enough rent, then simply wait untill you have enough cash to finish the level. you can demoish the warehouse and build a mansion on it to sell and make some quick cash. But if you do buy some materials before you do incase you need to make repairs
Level 19
Goals
Earn $1,950,000 in cash
Charm 5 houses
Strengthen 5 houses
To do
The first thing you should do is build a workshop and a warehouse.
After that you should have enough money to buy 2 workers and enough materials for a mansion.
Save up enough money to buy 2500 materials for $100,000. Use this to build two more mansions.
Build another mansion on your last plot, and save money to buy some of the cheaper houses that go on sale
Once yu own 5 houses stock up on materials and demoloish the warehouse to make room for the school. Then strengthen and charm all 5 of your houses and wait for the cash to roll in.
Level 20
Goals
Build an architect
Get $290,000 in rent.
To do
Build the architects house and buy a permit for that house
upgrade your houses to get your income up to $290,000
Buying permits and adding a fourt upgrade substantially increases the rent for a house. A mansion with a fourth upgrade make over double one with only three upgrades.
Shouldn't be too hard to just build up your income at this point
Level 21
Goals
Charm 5 houses
Demolish 3 houses
Own 5 mansions
To do
Since you only need 5 buildings and you have 6 plots build a warehouse first
Once you see one of the empty plots you don't own show up for sale buy it if you can afford it. It's much cheaper than buying a shack and demolishing it
On one of the empty lots build a shack and demolish it, Do this twice and then build a mansion on it.
Once you have 5 mansions built, buy enough materials for a school then demolish your warehouse and build a school there
Charm your 5 mansions
Unfreeze 20 villagers
Level 22
Goals
Build a tavern
Earn 1,050,000 in cash
Use the ghost spell.
To do
Start by building a warehouse.
If you sell an empty plot you will have enough money to hire the workers you need and buy materials for a mansion
Use the rent from this mansion to buy materials to build mansions on all your plots
once you've ogt a lot of mansions buy back the empty plot and one of the plots with a shack on it
Demolish the shack and build a school and a tavern
Use the ghost spell
Build the tavern and wait untill you have enough cash to win the level.
Level 23
Goals
Strengthen 6 houses
Use the speed-up spell
Earn $260,000 in rent.
To do
Build a warehouse, and sell an empty plot or two so you can afford dwarves and materials to build a mansion.
Once you have a few mansions build a school and use the speed up spell to help with upgrading
The euphoria spell will increase your rent by double (count towards your goal) so you really only need half what the goal is in rent.
once you have some decent rent in you will be able to afford to build a workshop and strengthen your houses.
Level 24
Goals
1 Residence on premium plot
Own 5 shacks
Earn $2,600,000 in cash
To do
Start with the omney goal how you would normally. build a warehouse and some mansions, and upgrade them to get the cash
Once you have the money (plus a little extra) you can demolish your houses/warehouse and build the shacks and residence.
Level 25
Goals
3 upgrades for 3 cottages
Build a treasury
get $260,000 in rent
To do
first work on building your rent up like usual
Once you have a good amount of rent you will be able to easily afford smaller houses that go on sale and put cottages on them and upgrade them
dion't forget you can use euphoria to double your rent so you only need half as much as required.
Level 26
Goals
build a school
Own 3 Villas
Charm 3 houses
To do
star off with a warehouse 2 additional dwarves and a mansion to get your income rolling
Add the villas once you can afford them, don't forget you will need 9 dwarves total to build them. Then add in a school.
Once the school is built charm 3 of your houses, easy peasy lemon squeezy
Find 8 girls, they are wearing yellow dresses.
Level 27
Goals
Build a florist
Earn $1,950,000 in cash
Get $325,000 in rent
To do
Again start with a warehouse and 2 dwarves, then build 2 mansions
Once the mansions are bringing in some cash get a Villa and just keep building those untill your income is high enough, don't forget to upgrade
There's a lot of empty plots here so buy those up for space when you can.
Once you have the cash and rent done built a florist
Don't forget about euphoria!
Level 28
Goals
Get $365,000 in rent
4 upgrades for 2 mansions
Three Villas on premium plots
To do
As usual build a warehouse, hire some dwarves, and build two mansions.
Build up some villas to get your income going
There are only three premium spots on this map so you will have to buy the houses they are on and tear them down to build more villas on them.
Level 29
Goals
Get $500,000 in rent.
Use Ghosts spell
Charm 7 houses.
To do
Start with a warehouse, 2 dwarves, and 2 mansions
I found it easier to sell 3 empty plots for some quick cash to get me going, and buy them back later
After you've got two mansions get 2 more dwarves and build a villa.
Keep building and buying houses, you will need a school, and an architect will help get your rent up alot.
After you get a few houses to level 3 and 4 put charms on them untill you have 7 houses charmed
chase away 20 monsters
Level 30
Goals
earn $6.500,000 in cash
15 empty plots
To do
start with our proven method of building cash flow
Once you've got the two mansions build work on the villas.
Once you've gotten a large chunk of money saved up you will need to start buying and destroying houses to get those plots empty. After you have aquired 15 plots total demolish EVERYTHING MUAHAHAHAHAAA*cough* Sorry.
Level 31
Goals
1 Mansion on a premium plot
1 Cottage on a premium Plot
1 Homstead on a premium plot.
Earn $13,000,000 in cash
To do
Start with Kero's Awesome Method to Earn Quick Cash!(tm)
once you've got the villas build and you've bought back the 2-3 plots you sold, star trying to buy the properties on the premium plots and build the appropriate housing there to meet your goals
Once you've got the housing build on the premium plots and you are getting close to your goals don't forget you can sell the buildings you dont need for the goals for cash
Level 32
Goals
Build a castle
Earn $19,500,000
Own 3 Villas on premium plots
To do
Kero's Awesome Method to Earn Quick Cash!(tm) yet again
Once you've got a few villas up and upgraded as well as your mansion(s), start buying up the houses that go up for sale, as well as the plots you sold before. Remember to try and get premium plots for your goal
Residences and shacks are pretty cheap to buy and you cnan quickly demolish them and put up a villa.
A school would probably be a good idea too once you have some houses so you can charm them, and also use the euphoria spell for some easy cash.
Scare the dragon 7 times
And you are done!
The walkthrough was written while i played through relaxed mode, however using my methods, the longest level only took me 15 minutes, so I'm sure it will work for timed mode too :) If you notice any mistakes let me know at Kero (at) Casualgameplay (dot) com. :D
Posted by: Kero
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April 5, 2009 6:26 PM