The Bank 

has two functions:

1. Generates interest on the amount of money in the player's account, at the rate of

10% per interest period
2. If "donated", it does not generate interest, but prevents a player from being
responsible for paying property taxes.
Having multiple banks increases the amount of money generated for the player. However, the
amount of interest earned does not increase on a linear basis, i.e., each Bank will not generate 10%
interest on the player's money. Instead, the game acts to distribute the player's money evenly in
each Bank, allowing a greater total rate of interest in the Banks, so there is an overall compound
interest effect. As an example, if the player has a total cash balance of $1,000,000 and two Banks,
$500,000 will be deposited in each Bank. The first Bank would generate 6% ($60,000) in interest,
raising the total cash amount to $1,060,000. The second Bank would generate 6% interest ($63,600)
on half that amount ($530,000) to raise the total amount in the player's account to $1,102,500. If the
player has three Banks rather than two, each bank generates 4% interest on the player's money.
Accordingly, while the difference between one Bank and two Banks is substantial in that two Banks
will produce more than 20% more interest than one Bank on its own, the addition of a third Bank
does not appreciably add to the interest generated and takes up funds that could otherwise be used
for house construction.
CostMart is a building unlocked if the player completes all levels of the career mode of the game at
a "high efficiency" or "star" level. It may be used in re-playing levels of the career mode, where it
provides "profit-sharing"—a trickle of cash—and a trickle of free materials. It seems not to be
available during the casual mode of the game.

Cultural buildings[edit]
Cultural buildings are relevant to the career mode of the game, and are frequently the goals of
particular levels.
The various cultural buildings are often tied to the personal interests of the Mayors, and also tie into
the special gift given to the builder once a city is complete. For each city, the cultural buildings (and
tie-in special gifts) are:

 Meadow Dale — none

 Pleasant Valley — Post Office (tie-in gift, rare stamps)
 River Glen — library (tie-in gift, rare book)
 Evergreen Park — (tie-in gift, golden money clip)
 Lakeside — (tie-in gift, precision woodcraft tool kit)
 Granite Springs — fire station, Western museum (tie-in gift, set of silver spurs)
 Summit Ridge — ice rink (tie-in gift, skiing gold medal)
 Palm Grove — surf shop, cinema, marina (tie-in gift, Best Actor award)

Reception & awards[edit]

Build-a-lot was the #1 Action/Arcade game of 2007 on Big Fish Games.[7] Build-a-lot was Casual-
Game-of-the-Week at killerbetties.com, who highlighted the simple but smooth and pleasing
animation, sound effects and surprisingly fun micromanagement.[8] It was rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
by Yahoo! Games users.[9]
It was named Big Fish Games "Action/Arcade Game of the Year",[7] and RealArcade named it
"Strategy Game of the Year".[10] It was nominated for the Interactive Achievement Awards for 2008
Downloadable Game of the Year.
Sequels[edit]
A sequel to Build-a-lot was released in April 2008. It is called Build-a-lot: Town of the Year.[11]
[12]
 According to reviews, it allows players to build parks and stores. It requires more micro-managing
as players will not only build stores, but manage their inventories and appearance. It removes
several elements of Build-a-lot gameplay and replaces them with new elements. For example,
premier properties are gone and a "curb appeal" feature is added where houses can be painted and
landscaped to increase desirability and property value.
A second sequel, Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe was released in 2008. In it, players travel to
several European nations and build a variety of improvements, including landmarks and European-
style houses. It retains most of the elements of the previous two games, but adds some new options,
such as restoring run-down buildings. It reinstates the premier lots from the first version, but these
are much less often relevant to play. Like the previous two games, it is available via several casual
game distributors, as well as HipSoft's own website.[13][14]
Another sequel, Build-a-lot 4: Power Source, was made available for download in August, 2009. It
includes a "power" resource, requiring players to build neighborhoods that do not exceed their power
availability.
Build-a-lot: Monopoly edition was released on the 2nd September 2009 and is based on Build-a-lot
but does include facilities such as hotels and train stations. Also, instead of having fictitious
neighborhoods or cities like the original Build-a-lot and Build-a-lot 2, the game uses the properties on
the standard Monopoly game board. Also, instead of dollars being used, all values are measured in
Monos.
Build-a-lot: The Elizabethan Era was released in 2010. Set in Elizabethan England, the player
manages farms and livestock in addition to real estate and deals with problems like vermin
infestation. A Premium Edition was made available that included additional levels and property, as
well as a strategy guide and behind-the-scenes material. The "host" of the game is of course, none
other than Queen Elizabeth herself.
Build-a-lot: On vacation came out on September 7 of 2011.
Build-a-lot: Fairy Tales came out in 2012.
Build-a-lot: Mysteries came out in 2013.
Build-a-lot: Mysteries 2 and Build-a-lot World came out in 2014.
Build-a-lot: Big Dreams came out in 2020.

References[edit]
1. ^ "Build-a-lot". hipsoft.com. Archived from  the original on 2007-12-24. Retrieved 2007-12-15.
2. ^ "Build-a-lot Release Information for BlackBerry". GameFAQs. Retrieved  2010-12-27.
3. ^ "Build-a-Lot Release Information for iPhone/iPod".  GameFAQs. Retrieved 2010-12-27.
4. ^ "Build-a-Lot Release Information for Mobile". GameFAQs. Retrieved  2010-12-27.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b "Build-a-lot 3 - Android Apps on Google Play".  Google Play.
6. ^ Jump up to:a b "Build-a-lot 4: Power Source - Android Apps on Google Play". Google Play. 9
July 2013. Retrieved  9 September 2016.
7. ^ Jump up to:a b "Build-a-lot". bigfishgames.com. Retrieved  2007-12-15.
8. ^ "Build-a-lot  review".  killerbetties.com. Archived from the original  on 2007-10-11.
Retrieved 2007-12-15.
9. ^ "Build-A-Lot".  Casual Game. Hipsoft. 2009-04-01. Retrieved  2008-04-03.
10. ^ "Build-a-lot". realarcade.com. Archived from  the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2007-
12-15.
 11. ^ Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year at casualgames24.com
12. ^ Build-a-lot: Town of the Year Preview Archived March 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at
gamezebo.com
13. ^ Build-a-lot 3 at Big Fish Games
14. ^ Build-a-lot 3 Archived December 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine at HipSoft

External links[edit]
 Build-a-lot page at HipSoft