Lil' Airport Reviews

[h1] Great concept, but flawed execution. [/h1] The idea of an airport desktop companion game is fantastic. It takes up minimal space compared to others in the genre while still providing the satisfaction of having something happening in the foreground. However, the execution is currently lacking, as technical issues and an intrusive UI get in the way. One of the biggest problems for an idle game is that it's way too short. Checking in occasionally, I managed to exhaust the entire game's progression within just 3–4 hours. While I still had two more "new" buildings to unlock, they added nothing to the gameplay. The higher-level gates only allow for more scheduled flights, but at that point you won’t need them, since there’s nothing left to do. Getting additional garages, fire stations is never needed, and why would I need multiple towers? The progression feels unbalanced. Instead of slowing down over time, as you'd expect in an idle game, it remains too fast. Spamming gates is enough to sustain unlimited income, since research times are long but money in comparison is never an issue. [h1] UI & Design Issues [/h1] The UI on the right panel needs improvement. Buttons should be revealed gradually... sure, give me access to help, building, and research at the start, but there’s no reason to unlock scheduling before flights can even be scheduled. Especially since opening the scheduling window too early causes it to bug out, with no way to close it. Once you build enough gates, your screen becomes cluttered with notifications about upcoming flights every 10 minutes, I don't even know why I'd need to get notified about that. Seeing the scheduled planes looking different would be much more satisfying. Some additional usability changes would improve the experience: [list] [*]Instead of a separate button for runway upgrades, let players upgrade it by clicking the runway itself. [*]Instead of allowing vehicle purchases before they can be used, let me buy vehicles by clicking on each of the garages. [*]Instead of forcing players to destroy gates and towers just to place better ones, allow direct upgrades. [/list] Here are also some of the problems I encountered: [list] [*]Opening the flight schedule window before placing a gate causes the window to start closing, without ever actually doing it. [*]there were plenty of bugs with scheduling, from being unable to schedule manually, because the contract would just disappear, to none of the completed contracts counting, causing one of the achievements to be impossible to get. [*]Hovering over a building displays its name, but if the building is deleted, the name remains stuck on-screen until a game restart. Sometimes, these names would get stuck in the middle of the screen. [*]Once an emergency occurs, all ambulances rush to the plane, even after the emergency has been resolved. [*]Two vehicles remain locked even after completing the game. [*]The game window occasionally shifts to the middle or right side of the screen, making interactive buttons inaccessible. [/list] I'll update this review over time, and I truly hope I’ll be able to recommend the game in the future. With more polish and content, I can definitely see myself enjoying it.