Flower Stand Tycoon (Typhoon, Really)

   This freaking game...

   I was trying to play something easy and quick. Instead, what I found was frustration and a new understanding of the rules. Boy, what a day.

   Years ago, I got this game from Big Fish Games. At the time, I thought I had mastered it. All the neighborhoods were my color, so I was done. My little tycoon girl was rich and happy, and I thought it was a statement about how life has no real ending. You know, because monopoly is illegal (not the game, the actual situation).

   Nope!

How To Win

   Apparently to drive your competitors out of business, you've got to take all their neighborhoods and then surround them until they go bankrupt. This means spamming the three cardinally-adjacent neighborhoods around their starting headquarters so they can't place any flower stands. All the while patiently waiting for their funds to slowly drain away.

   Honestly, it felt kinda cruel. I rather liked the idea of everyone living in a relative harmony, each flower business giving something a little different to the neighborhoods. But I left it unfinished last time, so I was determined to win once and for all.

Backwards Challenges

   If the only goal was making a ton of money, the game is super-dee-duper easy. So easy, in fact, the game gets boring fairly fast. Bankrupting the competition, however, is simple in theory - difficult in practice.

   I went bankrupt five times.

   Just like with Big Pharma, once I threw caution to the wind and settled on a very basic plan, things started to look up. I gave myself a general budget for research, only increased marketing by segments when more than 100 products were unsold, and focused on upgrading at opportune moments. Upgrades that affect sales I could use in place of marketing, but the main focus was getting those other two stands.

   I didn't even care how much they could hold, or how much products I sold. It didn't matter how happy the customers were, and I never even touched the prices. All that mattered was every flower was in there, the trending flower was higher than the rest and the neighborhood's preferred flower was higher or equal to trending.

   I felt evil.

The Struggle Is Real

   Taking out the purple guy was pretty rough. Three competitors at once means continuously reinforcing neighborhoods they could access (in cardinal directions from any they've overtaken).

Photo by Vladislav Reshetnyak from Pexels

   I felt ok about the struggle, because I was getting what I deserved- this was pretty cutthroat, after all. Each turn/day, I'd watch his funds trickle away. When I had to defend my territory, I saw hope flash through his bank account. And one day, the deed was done.

   The other two, however, not nearly as hard. I took them out at the same time, and I'm not really sure how. I just swept a hard front straight across the board, three neighborhoods at a time. Always choosing the highest flower need until I had them cornered at their headquarters.

   Both restricted to the original three neighborhoods from their base, I just chose the neighborhoods with the lowest "ownership" and kept them from expanding. A few turns later, it was over. The ending was anticlimactic.

   Don't get me wrong, I still like the game. But having beaten it the intended way, I think from now on I'll consider it finished when all the neighborhoods are my color. Why? It's easier, more satisfying, and allows everyone to live in harmony in the imaginary after story.

   It's my game, I can play it how I want. ;P

   What are your thoughts? I've got Patreon caught up now, so you can comment here, there or everywhere (Facebook).

See ya next time, Internet Drifters!