And yes, there is a strong element of social satire in the three major corporations that move into your town. I especially like it that TransUtopia is not only the eco-friendly member of the trio — it’s the one with ties to weird sci-fi things like space aliens and secret biological research. I can totally see these companies appearing in spin-off games somewhere down the road. (Waves enthusiastically in Hellfire Games’ general direction.)

I would also like to see new quest elements pop up from time to time. There needs to be a way to keep the game fresh and amusing. I can see people getting bored with sandbox play if there’s nothing new to do, especially after your city reaches a steady state. But springing periodic adventures on us will generate buzz, and quite probably boost sales of expansion packs once the word gets out.

I haven’t had this much fun in Home in ages. And I’m not alone. If I were to judge by my friends’ list in the Navigator, there was only one activity in Home this past weekend. And if I were to judge by my own spending on the game, this is an incredible money-maker. Kudos to Hellfire Games for pulling this off!

Magnus Keynes just says he wants them torn down out of revenge. He doesn’t care if you put another power plant back up. I tore them down for the sake of the mission, and put them right back up, but I don’t know if that affects the mission after that or not. I didn’t try putting up another coal plant, so I don’t know if that upset TransUtopia or not. But i progressed through to other missions.