Tots’N’Togs by Handy Entertainment Price: $19.95
Reviewed November 2004 by Marc Morgan

If you’ve ever wanted to run your own store, this is the game for you! Open your own clothing store and fill it with all sorts of trendy styles and see if they sell. Are you ready for the challenge?

I think that a game based on running your own clothing store is original. After all, I’ve never played one on the computer, never mind a PDA! This concept was very easy to get used to, fun enough to continue, and then challenging enough to play it even longer. In the game, there are two modes: Legacy, where you inherit a family business, and Venture, where you get to choose which of the stores to run and your location. There are twelve businesses to choose from, but in Legacy, it is chosen randomly for you. Once I started a game up, I noticed that it was going to be a fast paced game. The hours in the game went by very quickly, so I found myself pausing many times. Although it was fast, it was not confusing, a fact that was aided by the built-in tutorials that I followed to start up a successful business. You have to choose what clothing to stock in warehouses and what you want on the clothing racks. To figure it all out, you just have to press menu and click on statistics to see what are the top items to keep in stock and which should be changed. One of the most important features is upgrading your shop. You can add items such as racks to store more clothing, or you can improve the looks of your shop. Also, hiring staff to help out is a good idea.

The game is stylus only, probably because there is no use for the buttons. Because of this, I already knew the controls. To change the stock on the racks, you simply tap on them. The menu does everything else. This made the game very easy to understand, and easy to start. The controls used are probably the best for this type of game.

The graphics in the game are what you would expect from a simulation game for a PDA. There are a few different types of people that you see in your store, and it is easy to distinguish one from another. Sometimes, they will have bubbles above their heads with a picture of what they think about the clothing, or the store as a whole. The clothing is illustrated well both on the rack and when you get to see a larger image of it. The colors in the game jump out at you, especially the colors of the clothing. While Tots’n’Togs has many colors, it also isn’t too busy, so you won’t get confused.

The music in this game is great! Not only are there four different types (Funk, 7 a.m., Freaky, and Gang) but they are really catchy and easy to “groove” to. They don’t get annoying like many other game soundtracks. There are also several sound effects to go along with the game.

Tots’n’Togs is a great game to play whether you only have a few minutes, or hours. It’s easy to adjust to playing it all the time. I never had the dream to own a clothing store, but I still found this to be a great addition to my Pocket PC game library. You should definitely check this out!

Playing Tips and Hints

• Be sure to buy a security camera to keep from theft or other crimes
• Buy as many upgrades as possible
• Make sure to spend money on Marketing Wars and advertising
• Hire staff to help out
• Look at the sales graphs to see what sells and what doesn’t so you can restock with more or less of the item