The Good Life is an alright game with a neat concept. I would describe it as a casual simu-explorer with hints of management. For a game of this caliber, the graphics are decent – I’m running the game on the “Fantastic” setting @ 1920 x 1080 and I maintain around 60 fps; your mileage may vary. The sound is acceptable, although several recording loops can be heard within the engine noises and the background ambients. In my opinion, the game feels a bit unfinished, and could definitely benefit from more "tweaking" work.

One of my early frustrations with this game, was getting the controls on an Xbox One controller all sorted out. Specifically the thumbsticks which control driving and camera movement. You can change the axis settings via the configuration pop-up before starting the game and this helps. After I made a few minor tweaks, I really began to enjoy it more.

All in all, it was quite fun cruising around ferrying passengers, and all the while building up my water taxi/property tycoon business within the given tropical setting of the Jo Jo Islands. I would recommend this game and I do think it’s reasonably priced for what it is. I say pick it up if you’re looking for a simple, relaxing, no brainer-time killer!

For the sake of rating the game with numbers...I give it a 2 / 5!

Recommended +0 for "it could be better"

Bought this game when it first came out in 2013, just recently picked it back up but didnt have it on my computer and my old game was outdated and i couldnt redownload it. Customer support simply asked for a receipt and sent me a free game key for steam (which is an update from my old version) within an hour of contacting them. Im just amazed at how prompt and easy it was, wish all customer support were as great as this. The game is also a lot of fun and theres plenty to explore in a laid back environment, a nice change of pace from all the fast pace action games these days. 10/10.

The game is magnificent, is fully changed for good, I liked a lot, the graphics are excellent, the game engine is fluid, all the new features that were added to the game are suited to the game story, It is highly entertaining and it is not repetitive..
Well, what else can I say?.. It is an extraordinary game I definitely recommend it..

I thought ther would be more to this game, but all you are is a water taxi, cant get off boats or do anything much else then buy virtual property. Some other side missions but they seem a little buggy. Game got boring very quick. Dont care for controls either. Graphics are ok. I would pass on this title unless you like those boring simulator types.

So fun game so far, slow casual pace with plenty to do. Appears to be a lot to do in order to reach the end.
Controls are fine once your used to them and basics are explained well in the tutorial.
Visuals are nothing spectacular but are plesant to look at and have found no ingame bugs in my 2hrs of play.
Only bug so far is unlocking achievements before you do them.
The tycoon part of the game is a very simplified property buying process that only involves money management
as to whens the best time to buy. The end game does involve owning all property though so is a nice incentive to pay attention. The reputation part is an important aspect because when you bid on jobs and property you need to pay attention to who else is bidding cause someone with a much higher rep than yours will drive the price up making it tougher to be profitable. Like that part.
So if your looking for a casual way to spend your time yet stay engaged this game is a good buy for the price.

The Good Life description says that this is a game about building a "commercial empire" while becoming "rich and famous". However in reality, the game is so shallow that these descriptions are bordering on false advertising and misrepresentation. I'll briefly explain how the description provided is just barely met by the reality of what the game actually gives you.

Do you build a commercial empire? Well, you do have a box that pops up occasionally to allow you to buy property. But that is the end of it, no further interaction from the player. I wouldn't call it management at all since you cannot even set a charge for renting these properties or influence them at all. What these do is function as bonus cash after you taxi clients from port to port. This brings me nicely onto the boating business aspect.

When someone says the game is about running a business, there are some key elements required for that to really apply. Budgets, marketing, customer relations and employee relations are the core things which come to mind. Well, The Good Life does require you work to a budget but everything else is absent. You apparently have employees because boats you own, but don't personally use, generate income like your other investments. But again, you don't actually influence any of that. Essentially your 'empire' consists of you personally picking up customers and taking them from A to B. Now this wouldn't really be too bad since games like Crazy Taxi actually made this kind of thing enjoyable but sailing empty waters in largely straight lines gets dull very fast and the highlight of the journey is the challenge of docking the boat without damaging it. One of the biggest mistakes the developers made is to give you the slowest boat in the game at the start and not explain that they can instantly buy a speed-boat instead. The developers should have simply provided the speed boat right away to avoid frustrating players.

The description also says that this has exploration, treasure hunting and other activities. Well, since you cannot ever leave your boat the exploration is limited to looking at islands from the coast and while the diving sections do allow you to very slowly move around freely, there is only 1 small map which is used for every diving mini-game. There is fishing, but it is a mini-game that just generates some more cash and isn't profitable or serve any purpose in the larger scope of the game. There isn't any complexity to fishing other than pushing the up and down arrows keys to reel the line in or loosen it to stop the line from breaking. There are other trivial events which happen at random as well. Such as tossing life-preservers to rescue people in the water, the occasional pirate speed-boat for you to avoid and the laughable 'tornadoes' which appear from time to time. But none of these are very interesting.

I can honestly say that while The Good Life sounds good on paper; what it gives you is a shadow of what it promises. Paying money for this game would be a big mistake even if it was on sale due to the limited entertainment value and what basically boils down to as leveling system where you invest time and energy to just see your bank balance grow. It lacks personality, a sense of progression or achievement and it just barely manages to even qualify as a game at all, due to how shallow the content is.

Why don't "they" make more games like this? I really like this game a lot!

Basically, this is a game about moving to the tropics and taking over a small boat transportation enterprise. You spend most your time transporting people from island to island (for a fee), while acquiring the money to help build your tourist industry empire (via bidding on properties that pay rent). There are also missions that have you skin diving to collect treasure and find downed vintage helicopters, etc... You also have the opportunity to fish (which I have yet to get the full hang of). As you gain money and property, you also gain reputation. And yes, you can buy different boats and so on as you increase your funds (and it is all fairly open ended). The game apparently ends when (you go broke or) you drive all of your competitors out of business. Haven't got to that point yet... :)

The game takes a little getting used to as far as the controls, but its smooth sailing (sorry) once you do. There are some minor issues that the developer is on top of and he has already released a patch addressing some of them and adding improvements (literally acknowledging the individual players who suggested them). He is very engaged on the "discussions" board and obviously, is very open to those of us who have made suggestions. THIS is the kind of communication that you hope for from a developer!

I'm really excited about the possibilities that might be included and the tweaks that will be made. Because this game is really fun to me .... And I believe it can be even more fun as its further refined.

I really wanted to like this game. The idea of the game seems very cool.

Pros:
- The water is just beautiful!

Cons:
- Game controls are very weird and hard to get used to.
- The boats are SLOOOOOW! even a speed boat is'nt much faster than the rickity boat you get in the beginning.
- I was thinking there would be so much more to this game but your really just a water taxi for tourists, about 90 percent of the game is transporting people. Sure there are little side distractions, but they are just that, distractions.
- When diving the controls are so bad its almost impossible to do anything underwater.
- The clouds look like packs of UFOS
- The dolfins sound like a bird of prey rather than a sea creature
- The pirates are just weird. It looks like they are shooting yellow nerf balls at you. They are terrible shots and it dosen't even affect the strategy of the game much. Just a weird distraction.


Having said all of that, I hope the designers keep improving this game, because I think it could be turned into something great. It seems like it just needs a bit more tweaking.

Game: 8 / 10 - Dev: 11 / 10

This game has so many activities, including: Boating, Fishing, Diving, Photography, Rescue, Real Estate Tycoon and Management!

Pros: DEV Support, Graphics, AI (Bids/Ranking System/In-Game Economy), Management, Many Varied Missions, Detailed Boats, Contols (Realism), Diving Scenarios and Map Size.

Cons: Fishing Scenarios (Weak), Real Estate Purchase System, Camera During Diving Scenarios is sometimes unresponsive, Pirate Zones (No Designated Area on Map to Avoid) and Repetitave Missions.

I really wasn't a fan of this game until about 2 hours of play. I thought that it felt a little shallow. Understand that the main point of this game is to gain REP to increase your income through bids, and ultimately purchase all of the real estate to run the AI out of business due to bankruptcy. After a couple of hours of getting the hang of it, this has become a suprisingly good game.

Synopsis: The cons aren't enough to take away from the strong features of the game. If you're a fan of simulation/management games, then you must pick this up! The price is well worth it, even at full $10USD retail. Also, the DEV is awesome. He really listened to the community through forums and quickly fixed a lot of the main issues quickly. I don't think other DEVs put this kind of work in on a Sunday to please the gamers. Cheers!

BUY IT!

To me it seems like it never got "polished". Like a early release game.

I'm going to recommend it anyway 2 thumbs way up and elaborate a little:


-driving the boat is a good balance of challenge. When u dock u can't just drive in there, u have to be careful w/ the controls so u don't beat ur boat all up. It's cool.
-Fishing is ok, I only did a couple fishing b/c fish aren't valuable enough to be worth it. Maybe if I casted closer to the middle there's fish worth catching? I dunno.
-I only did one diving quest for about 5 mins before throwing my hands up in complete disgust and giving up. I play a game to have a good time, not to get frustrated. They need to work on that.
-Pirates are stupid

Other ppl have mentioned the game is good but the controls are quite awful. Still I played almost 10 hours I hope they build it more or build a new one if this ones a hit. It's a good game.

“The Good Life” immediately caught my attention since I like management games. It gives me a sense of satisfaction since I’m no business man. This is a close as I’ll get. To start off the graphics looks terrible when you’re still in the city. That’s acceptable though since the game will not be played in the city. Arriving on the island the graphics immediately got better. There is room for improvement though, e.g. if you look at the edges of the water and the beach – it just doesn’t look “real”.
What I like is the idea of purchasing real estate apart from running a boat company (really is that what its called? Nice uncle :( ). Although I’ve not had time to really play this game very long the first thing that really annoyed me, was trying to dock the boat. Sure I understand that realism is important but damn, I’m where I’m supposed to be but just can not dock it. The water keeps moving the boat around. So maybe the controls needs some tweaking … or maybe practise makes perfect.
But in general I think this game is worth the sale price and even the full price. I mean really, I’ve bought rubbish for between $14.99 - $19.99, that looked intriguing at first but turned out to be the biggest disappointment. So for $9.99, or for the current sale price, I will recommend it. I’m sure the bugs will be sorted out.

When I initially saw this game I thought it would be bad. But I gave it a go and strangely I had a lot of fun with it! Though the characters models were a bit strange looking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INCFSINEpZU&list=UUV3Kx3vCAIKxx5H7Lh7SzQg

Found this one my discovery queue today and it sounded interesting.

Well it plays like a cut down version of Ship Simulator in parts and has similar physics - so if you cut the motor you wont auto stop. Not as indepth as Ship Sim (if that could be classed as indepth).

Not sure what the diving is all about nor the fishing. But it is a slow cruise taxi service. The Tycoon bit, as some one said, is basically buy cheap, sell at a profit. The properties do generate income, so weigh that too.

All in all, I'll get something out of it - but that's just me.

Nice idea, good implementation. You really have a nice feeling while playing it: islands, sea, tourists, fish, diving, weather, places to view. I understand that the development team is small and relatively to their size they have done a great work. I do recommend it to anyone wanting to feel nice and in a "vacations mode" while trying to achieve goals and become the best captain out there.

I reviewed the game a year and a half ago while it was on Desura and for the most part had a positive experience. However, there are some glaring flaws that I'm sorry to say haven't been fixed.

*There are no audio sliders in the option menu. Granted, this can be worked around by using your desktop's audio mixer, but you really shouldn't have to.

*At present, there are certain situations in which the "save" button will not appear when you hit "esc" to view the in-game menu. This can be a bit inconvenient for when you need to leave in a hurry.

*I like the addition of the new red quest line telling you where to go on your map, though for whatever reason it displays a line from the last port I've been to rather than the current port to which I'm currently docked. It's worth noting that this only happens before you accept the quest (when you check to see where the destination port is on your map) - 11/30/14 Update: This appears to have been fixed.

*Safari and photo missions tend to pop up at the worst times (like when on a timed ferry mission) and skipping it so as to deliver the person on time will actually penalize you.

*On the plus side, new fishing missions have been added though reeling in a fish takes some getting used to. The water effects are superb but the rest of it (character & cloud models, etc.) could use work.

For now, the game is simply "good" for the asking price, though it could have been better.

2/15/13 Review: http://www.dadsgamingaddiction.com/the-good-life/

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Updated Gameplay Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr1iyTga2w4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2JJfqwJPN8

A casual relaxing game, except when pirates shoot rpgs at you. Good concept. The economics are a bit simple, but if you want to bum around in a boat then this will do.

I really wanted to like this game. It's a budget title so I went in with what I think are fair expectations. The problems are fixable so I'll start with the good, end with the bad. Maybe they'll get fixed! Edit: The developers have noted that they're working on some of the negatives in my reveiw. This game is NOT shovelware, it's just rough. It's November now, if you're reading this review a few months from now, check the forums to see if my concerns have been fixed. Edit2: Pirate issues have been addressed. I can safely give this game a thumbs up. It's ROUGH, but still good if you like this kind of game.

The graphics are a mixed bag, the models for people are so bad, but it's not really a big deal because the game is about boats, water and scenery. I think they did a pretty good job on that although there is definitely some improvement with weather effects.

I really liked the physics for waves. You can't just point your boat in a direction and go, you've got to be active on the helm like in a real boat.

The controls for everything except steering your boat are awful. Trying to aim when throwing life rings is nauseating. Trying to use the diving controls is a nightmare, fishing is confusing and unfun even once you know what you're supposed to do.

The random event generator is unbalanced, a random Hurricane is awesome. Two in a row is dumb.
Pirates, at least early in the game are a death sentence. I got two pirate events in a row before giving up on this game.

Edit!!: Boat Damage has been addressed and fixed---
Boat damage is economically crippling. A trip taking about 10 minutes might pay for 10% of your ship's damage. A single crash can cause that much, pirates might cause 50% damage. Damage also slows you down so good luck earning your way back to 100% health after a pirate hits you.

Edited on 25 Nov 2014: Made a note that the developer has acknowledged some of these problems.
Edit: 26 Nov 2014: Repair damage has been rebalanced and pirate areas are now marked. This was the thing that made me feel like the game was unplayable. The other issues are still being worked on.

This game looks great. Going to be very relaxing just boating and checking out all the scenery. Recommended if you like slow paced simulation type games.

If all you want to do is have a good sail and a swim, this game is for you.

The trailer is quite misleading and makes it look as if there's more to it than just driving a boat but there really isn't.
It looks really nice but I highly recommend that you watch video reviews of gameplay before buying.

I have only played through the tutorial but I like what I see so far. Boat control take a bit to get used to but does feel like a boat. Diving and fishing is fun. Overall a very cool game.