Board Game Top Shop Complete Strategy Tyler Wright Mercenary@Greatestgamers.com 2001 c. Copyright, 2001, Tyler Wright. All rights reserved. If I find this document duplicated without my permission, I will sue. Contents I. Introduction II. Characters III. Shops IV. Gameplay/Directions/Strategies V. Secrets VI. My Thoughts VII. Credits I. Introduction Board Game Top Shop has to be one of my favorite games, and I wanted to share some of the game's basics with all of you. Board Game Top Shop is a game where you control very strange characters against each other to reach a certain amount of money by making business, and when reaching the amount needed to win, it ends. It sounds easy, but truely, it can be a challenge. At the same time your opponents give you money, buying things from your shops, so are you, so watch out. The game plays similar to Monopoly, or Dice De Chocobo, and has many memorable characters. II. Characters There are a total of 11 characters you can start out with, and 3 secret characters. I will first state the information on each character found directly from the manual, then my view of them, or, a more specific description. Manual 1. Meower Gender- Male Personality- Friendly 2. Gummi Gender- Male Personality- Cool-looking amphibian 3. Maiko Gender- Female Personality- Modern Teenager 4. Merlin Gender- Male Personality- Portrays himself as a migician 5. Rob Gender- Male Personality- Reckless 6. Ryoko Gender- Female Personality- Pleasent and energetic 7. Bro Gender- Male Personality- Mature Surfer dude 8. Oilow Gender- Unknown Personality- Gentle and shy 9. Dona Gender- Unknown Personality- Unusual and peculiar 10. Cindy Gender- Female Personality- A modern younglady 11. Chat Gender- Unknown Personality- Talkative and lively (The three secret characters Santa, Squosh, and Colin aren't in the manual.) Me 1. Meower Meower is a cat that is the complete opposite of friendly, in my opinion. He is rude, and you play as him throughout the story mode. He is greedy, and loves money. Makes a striking resemblence to Nicollo from Legend of Mana. 2. Gummi Gummi looks like a little boy (More like a girl) in a frog suit, but is really a frog himself, or so I am told. He is the "Frog" Prince, and wants to make the king, his "father" proud. He wears a crown, and ribbits. That's about it... 3. Maiko Maiko is a tennage girl, that loves cute things. She is just a standard sophmore, and wears a flower in her hair, and hates rudeness, thus explaining why she challenged Meower. 4. Merlin Merlin is a little boy that has a runny nose constantly, and thinks of himself as a magician. He wears a cape, and gets insulted easily. His hat has a little squirrel face on it, that moves its mouth in a mimicking manner while Merlin speaks. I estimate he is 3 years old. 5. Rob Rob is a boy with a beanie, headphones, and a skateboard. He goes nowhere without his skateboard. Not much is known about him because he and Cindy are the two default characters that are not a role in story mode, but rather just competitors on each level. 6. Ryoko/Patty I am assuming her real name is Patty, because in the game her name is Patty, in the manual its Ryoko, or vice-versa. That, or it was a mistake, intending her name to be Patty, but forgot to scratch the name out in the manual. Anyways, Ryoko is a blue-haired average girl that looks to be a movie star, and is very energetic and childish. I wouldn't be surprised if you see her squirting pedestrians with a squirt gun, or ding-dong -ditching. 7. Bro Bro is supposed to be a surfer with a beard, lowered eyes, a medallion, and into throwing his fist around. My first impression was him being a Kung-Fu man, or a disco dancer, but what the manual and game says, goes. A rather dull character, I don't like Bro much. He is even shown always doing karate chops. His part of the story is confusing, and I don't understand one bit of it. 8. Oilow My favorite character along with Colin, the little alien Oilow. He is a small, flabby, black-eyed "jellybean" carrying an umbrella, and wearing a bow-tie. He is a bit shy, and speaks little, and if so, he speaks properly, and doesn't make a fool of himself. He has a little white ghost doll dangling off his umbrella that mimicks his speaking, in a manner resembling Merlin's hat. He works for his boss, along with others just like him, in a futuristic shopping mall. 9. Dona Dona is a little cactus in a pot-on-wheels. A flower blossoming on his/her head, and he/she can roll quite fast. "It" seems to be annoying, and bears a weird name. That is all I know about Dona. 10. Cindy A female with brown hair, Cindy is one of the two default characters, along with Rob, that has no real story behind her, because she is not encountered in story mode, but rather as an appearence in stages, like Rob. She loves her hair and beauty, and makes that seem to be her life. She is quite pretty, and enjoys showing it off. She has been known to be a challenging character, so do not underestimate her. 11. Chat Chat is a TV with small legs, and loves to chat, thus explaining why he is named "Chat". He is a salesman, and is an annoyence when it comes to speaking. Why doesn't somebody change the channel? 12. Santa A robot that has steam coming out from pipes located on his back, and red, glowing eyes, Santa is the only character in the game that looks threatening. And, for that matter, the only robot, if you don't consider Chat a robot. Santa is one of three secret characters, and, to obtain him, refer to the "Secrets" section of this document.When playing as Santa in 1 Player mode, all characters get a little tougher. 13. Squosh Squosh appears to be a green rock that lives in the sea. She says she was ridded from her lake, and forced to live in the sea, and wishes to go back to freshwater life. She wears a bow on her head, and has a smaller companion, identical to her, that does the same as Merlin's hat, and Oilow's doll. She is another secret character. When playing as Squosh in 1 Player mode, all characters get a little tougher. 14. Colin One of my favorite characters, Colin is a snowman with a small smile, a coned hat, and a fishing pole, or a candy cane sticking out of his back! Play as him for a challenge, because he is hard mode, and I call that an understatement. When playing as him in 1 Player mode, all the characters are tougher than usual, and can murdalize you easily, unless you have much experience. Colin is a secret character. III. Shops This is a list of all the shops you are able to open in Top Shop, there are 44... Candy Store Bakery Burger Shop Johnston Books Cookin' Fun Flower Heart Meat Land Corner Deli Cafe Comic Boy Bobsons Pancake House Pharmacy Kiss Camera Shop Gameland Office Needs George Video Tokyo Resturaunt Curry India Fruits Market Men's Clothes Noodle House Fish Market Star Coffee Sports Shop Saving Groceries Juice Pub Italian Aesthetics Julia Arcade Games Fun Toys Home Needs Fishing Gear Electrical Goods BBQ House Fancy Dress Auto Parts KID Animal World Yamato Tour Tours Movie Theater Golden Jewelry Fresh Estate VI. Gameplay/Directions/Strategies At the start you are to pick the amount of money one needs to acheive victory before everyone else, unless in story mode, it is give to you. The Basic directions are to reach that goal first. When it is your turn, you have 5 options... 1. Picture of Hand and Pencil- This is the Di. You roll it to see how many steps you advance, or if you must pull a card. 2. Picture of a Line Graph- This shows the statistics of assets in the past year for each player. 3. Picture of Text, "Map"- This allows you to look around the stage with the directional buttons ahead of time, to see where players are located, or where you are about to land. 4. Picture of PSX controller- This changes the general settings. 5. Picture of Magnifying glass- This shows you the statistics of players such as their stores, and items for sale. When you begin, you roll the di, and land on a lot. If this lot is open, you may purchase it, and open a store. The store prices vary. If you land on a person's store, you are forced to choose an item to buy from the store. It is a good Idea to buy the cheapest item available. If you land on your store, you are givin the option to ship an item to other stores out of stock, or unfilled. The more money opponents must spend on an item, the more you pay to ship it, yet it is cheaper than the opponents' money spent, because otherwise you will lose money. If you land on an elevator, you may use it, but the floor you landon is random, you may land on the same floor. If you land on the bank, you get bonus money, and options to exchange for points later explained. If you land on it, but have other steps to take after, you will gain your standard amount, and given different options in exchange for points you previously received. You gain points when buying items. The more the points, the better the options. It is possible to have a quick voctory if you gain 99 points, and use the option to claim victory. If your di lands on an "E", that means to pull a card. You have three cards placed upside-down, and you are to choose one of them. Some cards may be good, some bad. Just to name a few... Gives you money Makes every step go "Chirp-Chirp" Allows you to sell a store for 2-3 times as much as bought Have everyone take 100-300 dollars away from you Have elevators closed 1 turn Have shops closed 2 turns Have all stores except Cindy's open Have 50% discount on all stores Lose a store Have everyone have the same amount of money as you Flip another card Miss Go up 7 steps Open a store There are many more, but those are the most common. You may also run if you wish to move quicker. Just hold R1 while your character moves. Also, if you land on an open lot next to one of your stores, you will be asked if you wish to use that lot as a continuation of the store next to it. It is highly recommended you increase the sizes of your stores, because the bigger, the more items you have each lot, and the more of a chance an opponent will land on it. It may be pricey, but it turns out to be worth it. Try opening as many stores as you can, but try not to go too overboard, you can go bankrupt, and be forced to sell one of your stores. Also, in some cases, you or an opponent will randomly have a refund when buying items, most commonly meats, and this will increase the buyer's money a bit, and decrease the seller's money a bit. If you wish to be able to have the option next turn to switch any direction you please, you can try risking the elevator. If it manages to keep you on the same floor, you can move any direction. If it takes you to another floor, you may do the same, but you might not enjoy being on that floor to begin with. V. Secrets I have found a few secrets that most would think of as important... 1. To play as Squosh and Santa, beat story mode once. 2. To play as Colin, beat story mode a second time. I have tried to get another secret third time, but have found nothing new... VI. My Thoughts The game was great, but there are a few things I would add/change... 1. I would add some more secrets, such as different modes. 2. I would take out alot of the glitches in the game. 3. I would add more levels, and more... stuff... 4. I would have a closing movie cinema. Favorites (A list of my favorites) Character(s)- Oilow and Colin Stage(s)- Oilow's stage and Patty's Least Favorites- Character(s)- Bro, Dona and Squosh Stage(s)- Squosh's and Santa's VII. Credits I Give thanks to my bro for help in the game, me, for writing the FAQ, and A1 games for creating this great game!