Life's Playground

About

Life's Playground is a single player and multiplayer casual strategy game. It was developed by SimProse Studios and was released on June 12, 2018. It received neutral reviews from players.

Life's Playground is the board game with a unique blend of familiar mechanics from Monopoly, Life, PayDay, combined together with a flavor all its own!

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60%

Audience ScoreBased on 15 reviews

music3 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game has cute minigames and entertaining music/sound effects that can provide some enjoyment.
Some players found it surprisingly fun, especially considering its low price.
It serves as a useful case study for game design students, highlighting both successes and failures in game development.

The game is criticized for being a low-quality cash grab, heavily relying on asset flipping and lacking originality.
Technical issues such as the inability to change volume or resolution significantly detract from the experience.
Overall visual quality is poor, with outdated graphics and a clunky interface that makes gameplay frustrating.

gameplay
10 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
10%
60%
30%
The gameplay is criticized for its lack of innovation, as it heavily emulates the cumbersome interface of its board game origins without enhancing the core mechanics. Reviewers emphasize that successful games should prioritize engaging mechanics over their interfaces, suggesting that this conversion fails to bring players closer to the gameplay experience.
- “The mechanics of the game, and the interface that the players have with that mechanic.”
- “So here, we have a board game/card game conversion, and the focus of the developers has clearly been to keep and emulate the annoying physical interface, without bothering to improve on the mechanics or put the players closer to them.”
- “We don't love games because of their interfaces, we love them for their mechanics.”
- “The best video games put the players directly against the core game mechanic.”
monetization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the developers has been heavily criticized for relying on unethical practices, such as repackaging premade game templates and assets into low-quality products that are perceived as cash grabs. Reviewers describe these games as shovelware, indicating a lack of originality and effort, and suggest that the developers exploit existing content for profit rather than creating unique experiences.
- “Trying to get paid for someone else's game templates and assets... at best, this is shovelware; at worst, it's a scam/cash grab.”
- “Simprose Studios/Trinity Project have shown a repeat pattern of unethically dumping other people's work onto Steam as a cheap, nasty cash grab, through this account or through closely linked/alt accounts.”
- “This board game looks like it was made in the 1990s and stolen by Trinity Project/Dnovel and dumped on Steam as a cash grab.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game features outdated retro pixel art that lacks the polish of modern graphics, with no options for resolution adjustments or customization settings, leaving players unable to enhance the low-quality visuals.
- “A choice was made to use obsolete, decades-old retro pixel art as a substitute for contemporary PC graphics.”
- “There are no options to change the resolution for the game or customize the graphics settings.”
- “There's no way for gamers to try to improve the low-quality graphics.”
music
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music and sound effects in the game are described as cutesy and entertaining, effectively enhancing the experience during minigames. Overall, they contribute positively to the game's charm.
- “The minigames, along with the cute music and sound effects, created an entertaining atmosphere that kept me engaged for a while.”
- “The combination of charming music and playful sound effects added a delightful touch to the overall experience.”
- “The music and sound design really enhanced the gameplay, making each moment feel more vibrant and enjoyable.”