Greed is good!
Big Money is a windows game that you play using the mouse.
The aim of Big Money is to rise to as high a level as you can. Before you start a game of Big Money, you must choose your
Game Type. The two options are '
Action' and '
Strategy'. Both games begin by presenting you with a
wall of
multicoloured coins. These coins can be 'collected' by clicking on adjacent coins in groups of three or more. If a group of coins can be collected they will
glimmer as you
hover the
mouse over them. As you collect more and more coins, a '
money meter' (displayed on the left of the game screen) begins to fill. When this meter is full a
money bag is dropped a coin at the top of the wall of coins.
In the 'Action' game, a line of new coins is added to the base of the wall, every few seconds. The new line of coins pushes the wall upwards. You must collect the coins before any column touches the tops of the screen, or it is game over. This game type is fast paced and requires quick mouse skills. The early levels are quite forgiving, but the game speeds up as you progress and gets more and more difficult.
In the 'Strategy' game a new line of coins is added after every three clicks. Initially this may seem like an easier option as you are not racing against the clock, but as every single click counts you cannot need a careful game plan as you cannot save yourself from defeat by clicking like a madman- an approach which can work in the 'Action' game.
The game can be paused at any time by hitting the space bar.
In order to complete a level, you must collect the specified number of money bags. This number starts low (only two are needs to complete the very first level) and increases. At the end of each level the game displays a screen confirming:
- Current Game Time
- Levels Completed
- Biggest Coin Combo
- Biggest Bonus
- Coins Cleared
- Your current rank
Your rank begins at 'Pauper' and rises with your score. Other ranks include: Fry Cook, Minimum Wage Slave, Ditch Digger and Entrepreneur.
Bonuses occur throughout the game and include extra points for:
- Column Clearing
- Coin Combos
- Money Bag Combos
Occasionally a burning
dollar sign drops onto a coin in the same way as a money bag. If you collect the coin that it rests on all coins that match the colour of the dollar sign will disappear. This is really useful, and can often save a level that seemed
doomed.
Also to encourage you, the game barks congratulatory comments at you like "Excellent", "Good Job", "Level Up" and "Go!"
Practice makes perfect seems the best advice to give, and it certainly gets easier to spot the groups of coins that can be collected the longer you spend playing Big Money. It is worth bearing in mind that collecting coins from the base of the wall will alter the order and arrangement of the coins above, while starting at the top and working downwards - especially at the beginning of the game - may leave more moves open to you without you having to wait for the new row to be added.
Try it and see if you enjoy it. And if you manage to complete it (I haven't discovered if there is an end to it all) then please let me know!
Big Money is available from www.popcap.com. The web version is free to play. The deluxe version, with an extra game type entitled 'Puzzle' and new graphics and sound, must be bought and downloaded.