Another week, another exclusive launch for MSN Games: Virtual Villagers 2, the followup to last year's popular village-building game.  I spent the morning checking out the new version, and there are a bunch of enhancements over the previous game.  We're talking new tech tree options, a new "collection" system, new food types, new challenges and puzzles, and finally -- finally -- villagers under the age of 14 are useful for something other than gathering mushrooms.  It's also easier this time to make your village self-sufficient for food, so even if you didn't play the previous version of the game, you should be able to start a survivable village on the first try.

As usual, you can download a free trial version, and if you like it, the full game is only $19.95.  Eminently reasonable for an opportunity to control the tiny lives of an entire village!