Beach Life (known as Spring Break in North America) is a business strategy video game. It was released on September 6, 2002 by Eidos Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The game was developed by Deep Red Games.
Gameplay[ | ]
Beach Life is a business management sim in the same vein as Theme Park and Rollercoaster Tycoon, to which it has been compared.[1] The twist is that the player manages an Ibiza-style holiday resort, complete with themed clubs and holiday reps. Through learning what their guests want from their stay, different kinds of attractions and food and drink establishments can be built to satisfy their needs and make more money. Staff can be hired to help facilitate this, such as cleaners, mechanics and security guards.
Gameplay options themselves come in two forms: the Scenario mode and the Sandbox mode. In Scenario mode, the player works their way through island after island, completing a number of set objectives in each. Their progress on a resort can be hampered by hazards such as shark attacks and thunderstorms, all while they build attractions and cater to the needs of the guests. Once they have beaten a level in Scenario mode, they can unlock it in Sandbox mode. Sandbox mode is essentially a "free-play" mode, where there are no objectives, unlimited time and more building options.
Music[ | ]
The game's soundtrack consists of twelve licensed tracks from genres ranging from chillout to dance music, and changes tone as the day goes on. For example, laid-back music tends to play during the daytime, while more lively dance and trance music comes on at night, to fit the nightclub atmosphere. The music can be changed in-game via an 'MP3 player' located in the bottom right of the screen. Additionally, music files from a user's own music collection can be copied into the game's soundtrack folder.
Reception[ | ]
Critically, the game was not extremely well-received, with reviewers rarely giving over 70%.[2] This was mainly due to a perceived unoriginality in the core gameplay mechanics, which do strikingly resemble most other business management sims. The original idea of resort management is often dismissed as being gimmicky.
However, the game is not without a wide fanbase, who appreciate the kooky sense of humor that the game has and its youthful, energetic spin on business management compared to most other games of the same genre.[citation needed]