When first searching for reviews on Youda games all I found were paid reviews that pumped up the games as the next great thing since sliced bread. I have to admit that this turned me off at first, but I liked the demos for a few of them, and since the average price of a Youda game was only $10 I decided to try a few out. I'm glad I did.

The first Youda game I bought was Youda Marina, a time/resource management game that concentrated on the resources. In this computer game you have to build a marina resort to serve ships as they pass by. The nicer your resort the more and bigger ships you'll attract. The object is to service a certain amount of customers, while balancing the care and upkeep of you businesses. It's heavily map based, and you get to design your own town. The drawback is that as the map gets bigger the game slows down. If you only use your computer for gaming this is less likely to happen, however.

After that I got Youda Camper, which I found on sale online for $4. It played in a very similar way to Youda Marina, but with a campground theme. I never got through this one all the way to end, however, because it kept slowing down to the point of freezing on a regular basis. My family and I tried it on several different computers, but it wouldn't work right on any of them. While, like all Youda Games, it's rated E for everyone, my kids found it boring and lost interest quickly.

That put me off of looking at any more Youda Games for about a year. Eventually, though, I stumbled across a free demo of Youda Farmer on Candystand.com. It played completely differently than the first two I'd tried and my kids hovered over me until I broke down and bought the full version. That was 3 years ago, and they're still playing it today.

Since then we've grown to look forward to the next Youda games release and jump on the demos as soon as they come out. Some are better than others, but overall, the newer Youda games seem to have the kinks worked out, with greatly improved graphics and playability. Where the first few games didn't have any story lines, per say, the new ones have integrated story lines that help keep them interesting.

Overall, Youda games are great little time/ resource management games with seamlessly integrated educational aspects that won't break the bank. Official Youda games can also be put on multiple computers, without an internet connection required. Since half the computers in our house don't go online, that was a huge plus for me. They download as zipped .exe files that are easy to install or store as back-ups on flash drives.

The Youda games I recommend the most are Youda Farmer, Youda Farmer 2: Save The Village, Youda Sushi Chef, and Youda Survivor. While there is no inappropriate material in them, I suggest that they are for ages 8+ based on the skills and dexterity required to play them. If you want to let a younger child try them out go ahead. My kids, ages 8, 11, and 16, play these computer games as readily and easily as they'll play more expensive games on the XBox. As a parent, I prefer for them to play the Youda games because they help them practice basic math and critical thinking skills that bigger games tend not to incorporate.