Playboy: The Mansion Video Game Review

Playboy. Really, how could anybody think they could make a successful video game out of such a company. Nonetheless, Playboy: The Mansion has hit shelves and hopes to seduce gamers with its sexual themed content, as one would expect. Thing is, can it actually get the fundamentals right and turn out to be a successful game, or does it end up how people expect it to?

The game is simply a dud, as expected. But upon further inspection into the game, it becomes increasingly obvious how promising it really was. It features Sim-like management with some unique elements for putting out the Playboy magazine. It has surprising depth that, if expanded upon and properly tapped in, could have turned Playboy: The Mansion into an excellent game.

The premise in Playboy: The Mansion is to take control of Hef and turn his fledgling mansion and company into something large and grand. To help along the way, Hef can make valuable friends which he can use to write articles, take photo shoots, feature on magazine covers, etc. Additionally, some can become more than just "friends", if you know what I mean, and the game even offers the ability to have sex (although only breasts are shown in the game).

In order to earn money and promote Playboy, Hef has to get a cover shoot, a photo shoot, an article, an essay, and other things and then combine one of each and put out a new article. The quality of each piece will determine how well the article sells and how prestigious Playboy will grow. The sales turn into profit for Hef and this profit can be used to obtain better staff for entertaining guests, taking better photo shoots, writing better articles, etc., as well as being used to expand the mansion and make it truly grand and fantastic, as it is in real life.

Really, that's pretty much it for the gameplay, sadly. It had so much potential, but it seems more like a demo or an overview of a game. With more depth and more options, the game could have been truly special and really been a hit. But, sadly, the game was marketed and sold purely for its Playboy name rather than trying to be a quality game.