Игры

Much of your time during each game day will be spent watching your visitors meander around, tapping on your rides and stalls to check how they are doing.

The latest one to come around on the carousel is Karnival from Hands-On Mobile for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

After placing items in your carnival you then control variables such as ticket prices, maintenance spending and salaries. The aim is to maximise profits while keeping costs under control.

There are also five mini games to play, including ring toss, whack-a-mole and balloon pop.

You start with just a merry-go-round and your enthusiasm, but you will quickly begin unlocking the other attractions as you build up fortune, fame and karma.

Each game ‘day’ lasts about five to 10 minutes – you can tweak your park’s opening and closing times by touching the ticket booth. At the end of each day you have the chance to rearrange the layout of your carnival and buy new attractions which have become available.

A little way into the game you are able to receive a daily tarot card reading. This can provide a boost to your carnival’s performance, or have a negative effect.

The aim of the game was to create the best, well, theme park. Players had to build rides, stalls and other facilities as well as hire staff, maintain a clean park and maximise profits.

Until someone does a proper modern version, iTheme Park if you like, that does justice to the original classic, I will have to contend myself with other similar entertainment-themed tycoon games.

It went on to become one of my all-time favourite games, and I have longed for it to make a triumphant return in portable form on either the PSP or iPhone.

Further into levels other local ‘freaks’ will opt to join your carnival and at this point you can pack up and move on to new towns.

I know there is a Theme Park on PSP but it’s a hideously bad conversion of the very old PSOne game.

Back in the deep dark depths of gaming history there was a fine game called Theme Park.

The premise of the game is that you are a young lad born with a goat’s leg for an arm and branded a freak.

From humble beginning in your hometown you will eventually explore 15 locations containing 20 maps.

Each map, or carnival field, is presented as a grid and on each square on the grid you can put one of 30 rides, shops and freak shows.

You decide to use your curse to your advantage by setting up a travelling carnival and heading out on the road to make your name.