Internet Cafe Evolution Review (PC)

Given the fact that most, if not all convenient things are small enough to fit in your pocket these days, it does seem awfully strange to still have internet cafes in certain corners of the world. Similarly, when I think about the exams that I took however many years go, I think about my teachers telling me that I’d never have the luxury of having a calculator in my back pocket, similar to how I’d never have access to a zillion websites in the palm of my hand. Well, they were wrong; calculators became part of the internal system not long after that, and the internet, unsurprisingly, soon followed suit, effectively ushering in an entirely new generation of technological innovations. And that, in a nutshell, is the story that Internet Cafe Evolution aims to encapsulate in its nostalgic business simulation game, funnily enough.

As the title implies, Internet Cafe Evolution is all about one thing: the gradual development of small internet cafes, as well as the rapid growth in their popularity and public consumption. The goal of the game, in a similar fashion as the vast majority of other business simulation types, is to create your own virtual space for your clients, and daisy chain your way through the eras whilst acquiring new products and services to help revolutionize the business. It goes a little beyond that, too; it also allows you to break into new and uncharted areas of the market—a feat that, due to the drastic changes in handheld technology, never came to fruition.

Internet Cafe Evolution has just about found its spot on the market, and so, if you are looking to—dare I say—log in to its servers, then be sure to read on for a few quick pre-purchase pointers.

Logging on

Internet Cafe Evolution is a lot more than a standard business simulation game; it’s also a learning tool, and one that illustrates the importance of the internet during the golden age of casual browsing. In this world, smartphones cease to exist, and so, naturally, local hangout spots like internet cafes are, for lack of a better word, commonplace, and often seen as the best way to wax your social network for the sake of keeping a lid on your personal endeavors. This is where you begin your journey as a rising star in the trade: with a small shop that offers diabolically low connection speeds, and a good old-fashioned cup of coffee. Needless to say that, in order to make something out of this venture, you first need to appeal to your target audience, whether it’s by embellishing stations with floral arrangements, or ushering in new forms of technological innovation.

Internet Cafe Evolution comes gut-loaded with a selection of campaign chapters, or eras, as they’re known as. In each of these chapters, you have the opportunity to renovate one of several relatively small buildings, and transform what would otherwise be a rather daunting husk into an operational workspace for your customers. Similar to, say, Civilization, you begin your career with the absolute basics—a patchy dial-up internet connection; several chairs and desks; one or two malnourished ferns; and an undying desire to learn on the fly. In order to transition from this small-time entrepreneurial mindset into a full-fledged, money-making business, you must first be willing to invest, both emotionally and financially.

Embellishing the Network

It’s easy to paint Internet Cafe Evolution as a simple, one-and-done sort of experience, and that’s because it is, quite simply, exactly that. Aside from the fact that it has a selection of story elements to further enhance the various eras, the game does also offer a sandbox mode—a creative tool that essentially grants you access to just about every available ingredient and, with them, unleash your inner creations unto the field. It’s arguably one of the easier choices of the two, too, as it removes a lot of the financial constraints and allows you to flex your skills without the risk of, well, reducing the business to rubble, router cables and dongle fobs. And honestly, this is where I found myself the most — in the bottomless depths of the creative suite, a place in which I could experiment with new techniques and not concern myself with the intricacies.

As far as the financial aspects go, Internet Cafe Evolution does, unsurprisingly, come with its own fair share of costly molehills and upgrades. Naturally, the best way to progress with the times is to keep on top of newer software updates, monitors, and other technical improvements that stroll through the door. With that, of course, comes additional security, as well as a more sophisticated system that can attract even greater numbers for potential membership programs. Granted, it can be a lot to take in, especially if you’re relatively new to business management sims, but thankfully, it does hold out its hand to you by providing you with exclusive insights into what’s trending, and what’s needed to really get the ball rolling. On that note, I couldn’t complain; a helping hand was never all that far away — even when the world seemed to be moving a lot quicker than I anticipated.

Connecting to the Inner Circle

As it turned out, it didn’t take all that long for me to comprehend a lot of what was going on around me. It helped, too, that I had also experienced the internet in its infancy, as it made certain financial decisions slightly easier to navigate; I had a vague idea of what a structured internet cafe would look like during the late nineties — and that helped me to create a solid portion of my earliest work both in the campaign and its sandbox counterpart. The only thing I wasn’t overly confident in, however, was the decor — or the areas that needed smoking areas or specific lighting requirements in order to satisfy a certain clientele. To that end, I had to learn on the fly, which ultimately led me to form a deeper understanding of the finer details. Again, nothing particularly overbearing, but it did require some level of commitment.

Aside from the financial and decorative aspects, there really wasn’t a whole lot else to figure out. Simply put, it looked like a typical business management sim, and it definitely played like one, too. The only major drawback to its design, however, was its frequent lack of free-flowing frames—a technical issue that often spoiled a lot of the experience, rather frustratingly. Its graphics, too, weren’t anything to write home about, as they often sank somewhere between the lines of being unapologetically mediocre, and often laughably awful. But, that wasn’t what coerced me to launch my own internet cafe; it was the mere thought of being able to build one myself and pull its strings throughout the ages. To that end, I can’t say that I was disappointed, or even fooled into believing that it would be more.

Verdict

Internet Cafe Evolution has all the bells and whistles of a traditional world-building game, right down to its souped-up customizable interface and need-deprived clientele. Granted, it isn’t the best simulation game on the current market, but it does scratch that one itch, in particular, and it certainly manages to capitalize on a niche that, quite frankly, isn’t quite as present as it probably should be. Sure, it could do with a slew of technical improvements and a little bit of elbow grease on its interface, but that isn’t to say that it’s a bad game, in general; on the contrary, it’s actually a pretty solid addition to the sandbox domain itself, and that alone justifies the price tag, all things considered.

To cut a long story short, yes, you should give Internet Cafe Evolution the tender love and care that it deserves, if only to give yourself the chance to slip back in time and reminisce about the dawning of a new technological revolution. For the record, it isn’t the longest game out there, so don’t expect to immerse in a seemingly endless campaign for weeks on end; it can, in all fairness, take you just a few short hours to see all there is to see and do all there is to do. But then, that’s where the sandbox mode comes into its own; it provides a quality amount of additional content that really allows you to push the boat out — but only to a certain extent. Needless to say that, if you’ve been longing to establish your own business on a virtual platform, then this ought to do it.