County Fair is a building construction and management game with a funfair theme. It superficially resembles games like Theme Park, but actually has more simplified gameplay mechanics and a much less detailed simulation, tailored for the casual market. As the sole inheritor of a series of fairs from a long lost relative, the player has to build attractions and rides on vacant lots to meet the goals of each stage.

Each stage is a different empty lot, shown as isometric pseudo-3D graphics on the screen. At the top, there are several calendar pages acting as the timer, showing the remaining days before the park closure. A "day" takes only some minutes in game time. Right below the timer, several blue tabs show the stage goal, that usually is to profit a certain amount of cash, to build a number of specific attractions or to achieve or surpass a percentage of popularity.

To build something, the player has to hire some mechanics by clicking the staff button at the bottom. Nurses, security guards and janitors can also be hired to maintain order in the park. Clicking on the cash register button brings up a series of tabs showing the available attractions to buy, categorized in rides (of three sizes), game stands, food vendors and sideshows.

Each attraction requires an amount of electric power to run, shown as blue meters along with their fun factor, capacity and pricing options. The electric power available is displayed in a meter at the bottom, alongside a button to purchase more juice to the park's grid. After acquiring one of the attractions, the player has to place it in the lot, moving a transparent version of the building over the terrain with the mouse. Placement can be hindered by space restrictions, and the overlaid terrain becomes red when is not possible to build upon it, and green when there's enough room for the attraction. Construction time depends on the number of mechanics available and the size of the building.

After constructing one of the attractions, their options can be accessed by right-clicking on them. The player can change prices, purchase upgrades and dismount to make room for new or larger ones. The purchased buildings are still available after being disassembled, and are stored in the menu tabs.

Random incidents occur in the park: customers getting sick or hurt, rides breaking down, along with acts of vandalism and littering conspire to reduce the fair's popularity. When it happens, circles with crosses, badges and wrenches symbols and advisor notes appear on the screen, and the player has to click the icons to dispatch staff to deal with the problems. Sometimes, municipal officials appear to inspect the current conditions, and if their minimum standards are not met they can issue a fine.

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