In Build-a-lot, there are six types of houses that can be built: There are three main building types in the game, which can be used to help the player in various ways. As in Summit Ridge, the player begins with $250,000 in cash, eight workers, and 1,000 materials. Palm Grove - The goal of Palm Grove in casual mode in $50,000,000. One of the premium lots is occupied by the unowned Castle, and the other is occupied one of the unowned Estates. At the start of a casual mode game, one lot is occupied by an unowned Colonial, two lots are occupied by unowned Tudors, two lots are occupied by unowned Estates, one lot is occupied by an unowned Castle, and twelve lots are empty lots owned by the player. There are eighteen total lots in the Summit Ridge neighborhood in casual mode. The player begins with $250,000 in cash, eight workers, and 1,000 materials. Summit Ridge - The goal of Summit Ridge in casual mode is $25,000,000. The player again (as in Lakeside) begins with $150,000 in cash, six workers and 750 materials. Granite Springs - The goal of Granite Springs in casual mode is $10,000,000. The player begins with $150,000 in cash, six workers and 750 materials. Lakeside - The goal of Lakeside in casual mode is $5,000,000. The player again begins with $100,000 in cash, four workers, and 500 materials. The player begins with $100,000 in cash, four workers, and 500 materials.Įvergreen Park - The goal of Evergreen Park in casual mode is $2,500,000. River Glen - The goal of River Glen in casual mode is $1,000,000. The six neighborhoods available in casual mode are the last six neighborhoods in career mode. Only six neighborhoods are available for play in casual mode, as opposed to the eight neighborhoods in career mode. Other than the smallest of the housing blueprints, the player must purchase the blueprint for any house or building the player would like to build.
However, in each casual mode game, the player is given only a starting cache of cash, workers, and materials. The player may achieve that goal using any strategy, and is not required to build any particular house or building. In casual mode, the player's goal in each level is solely monetary-reaching a predetermined level of cash. Palm Grove is an island community ( à la Hawaii), as Danner refers to the "Mainland". The Mayor of Palm Grove is Vince Danner, who claims to have been a " Hollywood Superstar". Palm Grove is the final neighborhood, where levels 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 are played. The Mayor of Summit Ridge is Hans "The Wolf" Stallmire. Summit Ridge is modeled as a skiing community, à la Jackson Hole or Aspen, Colorado. Summit Ridge is the penultimate neighborhood, where levels 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 are played. Granite Springs is the setting for levels 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 and its mayor is the blonde Annie Stanton. Lakeside is the setting for levels 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and its mayor is the bald Frank Crawford. The Mayor of River Glen is Patrick O'Brien.Įvergreen Park hosts levels 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 and its Mayor is Theodore Buckley III. River Glen contains levels 7, 8, 9 and 10. The Mayor of Pleasant Valley is Beatrice Hudson, who in the game is revealed to be a native of New England. Levels 4, 5 and 6 are played in this neighborhood. Pleasant Valley is the first regular game neighborhood. The "new" Mayor of Meadow Dale is Jennifer Russell. Levels 1, 2 and 3 are played in this neighborhood. Meadow Dale is the tutorial neighborhood, in which the player is given the most basic tasks and is provided on-screen instructions for the game. New structures become available at higher levels, and goals become more difficult. The neighborhoods advance in terms of game complexity. Each "neighborhood" has a different map character, number of lots, and different mayor. Career mode has a total of thirty-five different levels, which are grouped together in eight different "neighborhoods" of between three and five levels. Once a level is completed, that level is available for play to that player on a continuing basis. After doing so, they can advance to the next scenario. In career mode, the player's object is to complete a set of tasks in an individual game scenario, or "level". In casual mode, the object is to meet a cash balance goal in the shortest time possible. In career mode, the object is to complete levels in which the player is assigned a set of tasks. There are two game modes in Build-a-lot: career mode and casual mode.