Virtual Villagers 2 for Windows

Virtualvillagers is a unique blend of adventure and time management games. After the events of Virtualvillagers, the boy protagonist, Luke, returned home to find out that his virtual assistant, Vivi, had been brutally murdered in cold blood. Embarrassed and confused, he sets out on a desperate quest to find the murderer, who has seemingly gotten better people close to him killed while searching for him himself. But when his investigation turns up dead bodies under suspicious circumstances, he knows it's time to enlist the aid of some unlikely people - including the leader of the Virtual Villagers, himself!

Virtualvillagers 2: The Lost Children is the second release of the Virtual trilogy, or so they say. Although I think the first game was much more engaging, Virtualvillagers 2 is certainly not a disappointment. Follow two equally curious, devoted virtual villagers as they make their journey into the deepest recesses of their own cave in search of their long-lost friend, Villager Luke. As in the first game, you are not just given a limited number of days to complete the tasks in each level (Virtual Villagers are no longer humanoids you have to save in their sleep, they're actually very advanced computer-generated characters that have been 'plucked' out of thin air and placed in your position of need), but there are also several different time travel mechanics that make the whole concept slightly different from the first game.

You can also find out if your chosen villager is in fact still alive by interacting with him/her, but this too is not without risk, as the very life of your chosen villager could depend on your actions. Although Virtualvillagers 2 is an improvement on its predecessors, it still falls a little short of being a completely original game, which is a shame as it features some fantastic features which make it very different from the rest of the Virtualvillagers games. If you enjoyed Virtualvillagers, then Virtualvillagers 2 is something you definitely should check out. And if you didn't like Virtualvillagers, it's possible that you'll find Virtualvillagers 2 to be far better than the first game in your price range!