Game review: Home Sweet Home

Earlier this month, I talked about a fashion designer game. Well, now there is an interior decorating game called Home Sweet Home. As a brand new decorator, it is your job to design the client's room while keeping their tastes in mind. This game is a lot more open-ended than Fashion Fits! was. Here you only get a few hints about your client's tastes and the rest is up to you. You pick out all of the furniture and accessories for the room. There is a happiness meter that you need to fill in order to keep your client happy but otherwise, as long as you stay within your budget, it's all up to you.

I found the game to be very fun. A lot of time management games get boring because they tell you exactly what to do. Exactly what shirt the customer wants, exactly what color, exactly everything. This opens it up to your imagination. You even get your own house to decorate however you want. If you enjoy decorating, this game is definitely for you.

Game review: Dirty Dancing

When I first saw the Dirty Dancing game on Big Fish Games, I shuddered. What sort of game could they make based on an 80s movie? Would it be any good? Despite my worries, I downloaded the trial to see for myself. The game is basically a bunch of mini-games thrown together in the Kellerman's setting. You go between the various cabins playing all sorts of games. There's a hidden object game where you have to not only find the objects on the list but also find keys for drawers because some of the objects are hidden are even more hidden. Another of the mini-games is a sort of matching card game. Instead of being a typical memory game, you have to figure out the pattern for matching the cards or you'll still have cards left in your hand. There's also a difficult time management game. You are given four employees that have to help the customers in all aspects of checking into the hotel. Everything from walking them into the hotel, checking them in, showing them their room, cleaning the room afterwards and showing the customer to their car. It's really difficult to keep everything going with just four employees and the flood of customers that walk in. If you don't get to the customer IMMEDIATELY, they get pretty ticked.

I think there are 10 mini-games total. While I played most of them, the games just aren't very interesting. You have to play each of the games over and over in order to "win" that particular cabin so you can move onto the dance lessons with Johnny. Unfortunately, the game just isn't as much fun as it should be. There's nothing dirty or dancing about it. They could have named it Camp Kellerman and the vibe of the game wouldn't change any.

Game review: Fashion Craze

About a month ago, I talked about Fashion Fits!, a game that sounded it would be about fashion design but was more of a time management game. I recently played Fashion Craze, which is a lot more like a designer game even though it is still a time management game. In the game, you play Maria, a young woman helping out at a clothing store. There are the normal time management game objectives: seating customers, making sure they are happy and taking their money. The customers tell you which color fabric they want and which clothing item they want. So, this time around, instead of just picking out pre-made merchandise, your character is cutting the specified color fabric and taking it to the sewing machines for the seamstress to put together.

I think this makes the game a lot more difficult. Instead of just having a couple of things for your girl to do, there is tons more. You have to seat the customer, get toys for any kids, get the fabric they want, take it to the seamstress, get the accessories the customers want, put the customers in the dressing rooms then take their money when they are happy. When you have more than two or three customers at once, it can get extremely difficult to juggle everything while making sure their happiness bars still have life in them. It's still a very fun game. I enjoyed seeing the different looks that the customers picked out. There were a lot of funny ones. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes time management games but might be looking for something a little bit different.

Game review: Holly: A Christmas Tale

My daughter frequently asks to play hidden object games with me. Since she's learning to read, the lists help her recognize words. For the Christmas season, we decided to give Holly: A Christmas Tale a try. You help Santa as he prepares to deliver toys on Christmas Eve. This game actually has two parts - a hidden object part and a find the differences part. Sadly, it is extremely difficult. Objects are frequently hidden behind other objects in both sections. We were able to tough it out and stick with it through the entire 60-minute demo but it's not something that we will be paying for. I probably would have given up on it if I was playing by myself. People are who looking for something more difficult than a normal hidden object game might enjoy this but I think that it will be too frustrating for most people.

Game review: Amazing Adventures: The Lost Tomb

Welcome to Egypt! Amazing Adventures: The Lost Tomb is a hidden object game where you are an archaeologist searching through areas of Egypt to find a lost tomb. Meanwhile, you also need to find clues to direct you where to go next! I thought this was a great game. There are a multitude of things to keep you interested. In the hidden object levels, you also need to find hidden scarabs in order to find a special treasure at the end. And in between the hidden object levels are a variety of puzzle levels including a match game, a jigsaw puzzle and a moving tiles puzzle. None of these were extremely difficult so I didn't find myself getting aggravated with any one piece of the game. While I don't think that younger players would be able to do very well due to some wordplay in the hidden object clues, this is definitely a great game that keeps adults on their toes instead of putting them to sleep.

Game review: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

While I was never a fan of Agatha Christie's novels, I have found myself drawn to adaptations of her novels. It was Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple), the 39-episode anime series, that first drew me into the world of Hercule Poirot. This time I found myself playing the Agatha Christie: Peril at End House video game. Peril at End House is the story of the attempted murder of Nick Buckley. As Poirot, you must unravel the mystery of who would try to kill the current owner of End House and why they would even bother as the estate is rapidly falling apart. Each of the main levels are basic hidden object games. However, in between each level, you are given different types of puzzles in order to find more clues to direct you to a suspect.

I really enjoyed this game. The hidden object levels are difficult enough to make you think yet still easy enough to keep you from getting frustrated. That difficult-yet-easy rating follows through to the in-between levels. Sometimes you will need to match a suspect to a clue, which means you need to pay attention to all of the clues you come upon in the main levels. Sometimes there will be a ripped newspaper clipping that you will need to put back together. Sometimes it will be trying to figure out the combination to a safe. All of these tasks have a hint of difficulty in them but they are still easy enough if you pay attention to the clues. I have to say that I can't wait for the next Agatha Christie game to come out. I hope it's just as fun as this was.

Game review: Rock Band

Generally, I don't play a lot of console games. However, I really loved playing the Karaoke Revolution series on our PS2 and my husband loves the Guitar Hero series. So when we first heard about Rock Band, we knew we had to have it. My husband and my daughter went to the midnight release Monday night/Tuesday morning in order to be fully prepared for some Tuesday morning jamming. For those of you unfamiliar with the game, I'll try to explain it a bit. You and up to three friends play different instruments to form the perfect rock band. The game comes with a drum set, a guitar and a microphone. The guitar controller from Guitar Hero can be used to fill in for the bass. You don't have to physically be with your friends to play either. The game has online capabilities so, for example, my husband and I can play with our friends who live in Mississippi.

I got to play a bit last night. As I already said, I like karaoke games. Immediately I was dubbed the singer of our band, which is fine with me! My husband took the guitar part. (My five-year old daughter wanted to play the drums with us but she'll have to wait until she practices some more.) Together, we toured a couple of different cities and performed a bunch of songs. I absolutely love this game. The songs are kickass, the controllers are easy to use and it's just a really fun time.

After a few band performances, my husband took a World of Warcraft break. I decided to give the drums a try. Under normal circumstances, I'm not very coordinated. That's why I don't play the guitar in any musical games. Most of the games leave me frustrated and unwilling to learn how to use the controllers properly. While it was a little difficult starting the drums due to my inability to move my feet and my hands at the same time, I still found it to be extremely enjoyable. I actually want to practice more so I can be a real Rock Band drummer!

If you really love music or have always dreamed of being in a rock band, this would be the perfect game for you. Yes, it is on the expensive side but I think the game is worth the high price tag.

Game review: Hidden Relics

Hidden Relics is another hidden object game at Big Fish Games. This one is slightly different though. You are flying around the world to find antiques that have been stolen. Besides the regular hidden objects in each picture, there could be special hidden objects which require special equipment to find. There were a lot of things I liked about this game. I liked being able to choose which city you could fly to and I enjoyed the regular hidden object game. However, I did not like having to complete puzzles in order to obtain the special equipment in order to find the special hidden objects. The puzzles weren't particularly difficult, they were just tedious and you had to complete the puzzles multiple times to get all of the equipment.

Overall, the game was pretty fun. This is another one that I'd recommend you try but I don't think it would be worth buying.

Game review: Trivial Pursuit - Bring On The 90s Edition

Doesn't everyone love a good game of Trivial Pursuit? I don't get to play the board game very often so I was really excited when I saw Trivial Pursuit - Bring on the 90s Edition on Big Fish Games. The game plays like any typical Trivial Pursuit game. In the one player edition, you play against a teddy bear. I chose to play the Intermediate level but it was still really easy. I managed to win two full games before the 60-minute trial finished. While the game was enjoyable, it was pretty boring by the second game. Every move has an animation that you are unable to turn off or skip past. The teddy bear throws a little tantrum every time you get a question correct or he gets one wrong. These aren't really enough to make you want to quit mid-game but you definitely get your fill of them by the end of the first game. At least the questions in this version are good. They are perfect for those of us that were too young in the 80s to full enjoy that edition of the game.

Give the game a try. That first round is always entertaining. Just don't expect this to be a game you'll play over and over again.

Game review: Val'Gor - Dark Lord of Magic

A couple of days ago, I played Val'Gor - Dark Lord of Magic. This is a Spot The Differences game with a couple of mini-games tossed in. Some of the mini-games include putting a puzzle together and word searches. I really did not like this game. As a matter of fact, I disliked it so much that I didn't even finish the 60-minute trial version. I quit at about the 30-minute mark. Some of the Spot The Differences parts aren't too bad but some of the levels are almost impossible. There are "cursed" levels where Val'Gor shows up and makes both pictures pitch black. While this makes a hidden object game a little more difficult, it makes trying to find differences between two pictures impossible. You have to memorize the pictures in order to figure out where the little tiny difference is. And since the difference is usually a shadow, the blackness of the level makes it frustrating to play. There must be some other way to make this type of game fun and exciting without driving the player away.