"For the price, this game is a great distraction."

No doubt about it, this is a great game and a great start to Nintendo's WiiWare games. My Life as a King is about a young king who has to rebuild a town that was once his fathers, all the while trying to figure out the history behind the town, and the dark events that took place there.

Before I begin with anything, I'm only going to say it once more. This is a Wii Ware title. So I cannot compare this game to Super Mario Galaxy, or any other full fledged Wii title on the console, so when comparing graphics and the sorts, remember I'm comparing it to nothing, but treating it as a Wii Ware Title.

Graphics wise, this game is sharp. It looks like a stylized Gamecube game, and for a downloadable title, looks fantastic. There are some pretty neat details, such as a flowing water fountain, as well as some nice lighting effects when your character creates a building. One thing I have noticed is a hit to the framerate when too many things are going on, or when zoomed out. It isn't that bad, as this game is a very slow paced game, so I wouldn't think too much of it.

Onto the Story, it is very kid friendly, and nothing too deep. It is entertaining when you do get to those segments, but be prepared to do a lot of reading. Nothing a Nintendo fan cannot handle, as we've all been trained on Zelda titles for ages now. There are nice little snippets of voice, similar to the newer Zelda titles that coincide with the text, but nothing too big. The story itself is a mystery to unravel though, but nothing too out there.

The audio of the game is pretty nice. The in-game music changes every few in-game days, and has a really nice mellow tune when you decide to stay out past dark. Like I mentioned earlier, there are the voice snippets that act in tandem with the text to give you a further sense of how the characters sound in your head while you read.

And finally and most importantly, the gameplay. I don't know why, but this game is just insanely addicting. I totaled probably 9-10 hours, and still not near completing the game. The game has no action element, and it basically consists of taking care of the town, creating more buildings, and making sure the town is prosperous. Every day, you have to make sure you have adventurers set on missions to bring back materials and treasures for the town. It seems a bit repetitive, but it has that addicting factor x that many games like this do.

Overall, I think the game is worth the purchase if you are into simulation games.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/13/08