56 Sage Street Review (Web)

I'm not really one for browser games. Almost 5 years ago I really got into Defend Your Castle for a couple of days. Earlier this year I played a lot of Mafia Wars, but neither of those were particularly compelling. I think it was more lack of anything better to do. 

Barclays have come out with a new educational browser game called 56 Sage Street and it's actually quite addictive. Not addictive in the Caesary take-over-your-life way, thankfully. It's compelling in that just-one-more-turn sort of way where you turn around and suddenly realise that the sun has set and three hours passed. Pretty damn good for a banking promotional game.

The basic concept is a rags-to-riches deal. You're poor and homeless in the dodgy part of town and you need to work your way up. There are loads of job opportunities, Make $$$ FAST schemes and places to stay for a price. You can take all the crappy jobs but you'll wind up smelly and unable to get the better paying customer -facing jobs. Wash your clothes to be more presentable, stay in nicer digs for more energy, and all that stuff. Put your money in the bank in case you get mugged. Open a savings account to earn interest. Essentially it's a mini life-sim. I love life sims :) Even better when you can crack through them in just a few hours.

What's the catch? Well, there isn't a REAL catch. All the banks have Barclays logos and you are heavily incentivised to use their services – e.g. rent a scooter and you'll be prompted for insurance. Stay in a dodgy place and you'll get robbed with a note that HAD YOU BOUGHT INSURANCE your stuff would have been replaced for free. And yup, the only place to get insurance is from the bank. There is some less product-pushing education as well. Once in a while you'll get a text message or email telling you to verify your bank details at www.verify-bank-details-barclays.co.uk or something to that effect. Obviously you SHOULDN'T do that but the game lets you try and pay the price.

If you're particularly foolhardy, you can also throw money away on scams or get awards for detecting and refusing scams. Doing well in a job in one area will unlock more opportunities in the next area. Networking where you can will offer other rewards. As life sims go, it's pretty good without aping The Sims. As educational browser games go, it's just awesome. Much better than the recent bunny-shagging attempt by the NHS.  It looks nice and the controls are okay, although the click-and-drag map scrolling can get tedious. You can even save your game if you link to your Facebook account.

I admit, this a sponsored post but I was pleasantly surprised by 56 Sage Street. There's depth there and you can play as a girl or a boy. It's also nice to hear a British accent that isn't playing someone evil or making bad attempts at comedy.  56 Sage Street is a free game so go check it out if you have some time to kill. 

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