Tonka Construction 2

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Description:

Tonka Joe has returned with new (and improved) construction jobs. Tonka Construction 2 offers children a wonderful opportunity to imagine and create their own buildings, towns, roads and more. There are plenty of Tonka vehicles on hand to make the jobs a snap!

Design your very own town in Tonka City. Drive the dump truck around town to choose your construction site. Erect buildings with your choice of walls, a roof, doors and windows. Add signs and landscaping. When you're done, just call the mayor for a special celebration! You can also build playgrounds or add swimming pools. When it's time to rebuild, just call in the demolition crew to clear out the old buildings and make room for new ones.

On Tonka Mountain you can create an Alpine Village or plow ski trails on the Ski Hill slopes. When you're done, watch the skiers enjoy your trails or take a snowmobile tour through your village.

Aliens have been sighted in the Tonka Desert, so it's your job to clear the land and build roads for the tourists. To accomplish this task, you'll use the road grader, asphalt truck, steamroller and painting truck (to paint those important lines on the road). Then create a tourist town.

There is treasure buried in the Tonka Quarry and it's your job to find it. Use dynamite, a front-loader, or a bulldozer to excavate into the rock walls and find the treasure. After finding all three treasure pieces, assemble it and load it onto the flatbed truck for delivery. Oh, and don't forget to tidy up! Use the front-loader to pick up all of the boulders and put them in the rock crusher to make gravel.

Features:

• 4 work sites with lots of construction and demolition jobs
• 12 Tonka vehicles to operate onscreen
• Customize the construction project using a variety of building materials
• Add personalized signs to the project
• Save your creations to import or export from town to town
• Print what you've built
• Printable awards for completed jobs

Technical Aspects:

There are verbal instructions at the beginning of each work site that are very helpful. My 5-year-old learned to play with minimal assistance from me. A hearing impaired child would need help learning the interface, but would be able to play independently afterward.

The only problem that I have encountered with this title is that the vehicles are rather difficult to drive. Both of my sons commented on this and I found that I had the same trouble. However, we did improve with practice. Basically, you control the vehicles' movements with the mouse. Turning around seemed to be the biggest challenge - it requires a wide turn, otherwise the vehicle simply backs up. This is certainly not a big enough problem to discourage buying or playing the game. Just be aware that you and your children will need some driving practice. :)

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