I've always been a big fan of the Diner Dash series. It pretty much started the whole time management genre and it still managed to stay interesting after all this time. However, the Seasonal Snack Pack version is much too difficult. As a matter of fact, it's so difficult that I stopped playing around the third level. I keep going back to try to beat it but, no matter how hard I try, I just can't do it. The main problem lies in the table organization, which you cannot change. You are given one or two four-seat tables and three or four two-seat tables. A majority of the customers that come in are four-person parties, which means you cannot seat them until one of the few four-seat tables opens up. Then the customers get pissed off having to wait. Since it takes so long to do the "Make the waiting customers happy" thing, there isn't really a way to keep them from walking off. Well, there is, but it's difficult. Either way, the level is still too hard for the game. I can't imagine what the higher levels are like.
We can be heroes
Since our daughter was staying at her grandparents' house this weekend, my husband and I jumped at the opportunity to pick up City of Heroes again. Well, this time we're playing City of Villains but it's the same game. We've been playing with a few of his World of Warcraft guildmates and it's been tons of fun. I hope that I don't get too addicted to it again! (Don't worry, I still take care of my daughter. It's the mundane things like washing dishes that get pushed to the side.) I forgot just how fun the game was!
Game review: Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends
On a whim last night, I downloaded Mystery Chronicles: Murder Among Friends. I found myself growing tired of time management games. Perhaps a hidden object game was what I needed to get me out of my funk. The game takes place in 1899. While on your way to visit your cousin, you find out that he and his wife have been killed. Police currently believe that she shot him then killed herself but you don't believe that. Not to mention that the children are missing! You decide to do a little searching on your own to try to track down the killer and find the children.
I am so amazed by how much I like this game. Everything in each location has a place in the scene so there isn't anything "odd" like a duck in the kitchen or anything. Some of the objects you need to find are difficult but they aren't so difficult that you find yourself getting frustrated. There are also mini-games that you need to solve to do things like opening safes or reading a ripped up letter. Even these mini-games are fun! I think this was just what I needed to take my mind off crappy time management games.
Game review: Wild West Quest
Wile West Quest is a western-themed hidden object game. Besides the normal hidden object objectives, there are other mini-games to play as well. Of course, those are western-themed too. Sometimes you'll have a shoot-out in the center of town; sometimes you'll need to wrangle some horses; sometimes you'll need to ID brands on cattle. None of the mini-games are particularly difficult but they do change things up just enough to keep the game from getting boring. Overall, the game isn't all that bad. The hidden object parts are fairly typical but the game shines a bit more in the mini-game areas. Since either the camera or the objects you are dealing with are moving in those games, you need a little more skill to get through them. Not that this makes those pieces of the game difficult, just interesting.
Game review: Jewelleria
In the Jewelleria time management game, you are the owner of a jewelry store. You need to sell your jewelry in order to advance the family business. The game takes us back to very standard time management game play. Each customer tells you exactly what they want. You pick the pieces from the cases and customize them as necessary. Unfortunately, instead of making the game interesting, it feels stale and boring. This is the exact template for Cake Mania and Ice Cream Dee Lites, just to name two of the many games that play this way. I found myself stopping the game frequently because I found the game dull. Perhaps next time, there will be a little more oomph.
Game review: Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas
Last year, I enjoyedForgotten Riddles: The Mayan Princess. While I want to call Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas a sequel, it doesn't quite fit since there isn't a combining story arc. The basic game play is the same but with a completely different storyline. Like last time, you have to solve riddles in order to find many of the objects. Some of the riddles are very easy and some of them require a bit more thought. Either way, I still find this an ingenious way of spicing up the hidden object genre. I also find myself looking forward to the next incarnation of the game. They've tackled Mayan history and music - what will be next?
Game review: Baby Blimp
There are tons of baby-related time management games out there. Baby Blimp makes a few changes to the typical "taking care of baby" type of game. You play a crew of storks who are preparing babies to be delivered to new parents. First, you decide the sex of the baby that will pop out of the machine. Then you have to give it a toy, feed it, clean it and put it down for a nap before it is ready for delivery. Once all of the babies are prepped for delivery, you go over to the blimp door. Each house below you will tell you what type of baby they want. It is your job, as the stork, to deliver the proper baby to each house. There are various types of storms that will get in your way so be careful!
Originally, I thought this was a cute idea. Once I started playing though, I realized that the gameplay is kinda broken. There are times that you will need to click on an object multiple times before the stork will do that action. Since the stork will only do one action at a time, it makes playing the game annoying. For example, once you change a baby's diaper, you need to throw the dirty diaper in the trash before you can do anything else. However, the game won't always register the trash can click. So your stork will just stand there stupidly until the game finally registers the trash can click. Of course, by this point babies are crying all over the place and you need to get them taken care of. The same thing happens in the delivery mode as well. So, while the game could have been really cute and fun, in the end, it's nothing but aggravating.
Game review: Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen
Quite often, my daughter likes to play hidden object games with me. I usually let her pick which game we're playing. Her choice this time around was Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen. In the game, you are trying to find the name of the Fairy Queen. Each of the Queen's Rose Court fairies has a hint. Put these hints together to guess her name. This game was actually well suited for my child. It not only had the hidden object part but there were also find-the-differences and puzzle parts as well. None of them were particularly difficult. (Though the puzzle part was based on matching shapes so younger children may need help with it.) The graphics were bright and colorful and each level was themed to a specific fairy's flower. Obviously, this was no geared toward boys but I think any fairy-loving girl would enjoy the game.
No PS3 for me
Oh, the lure of a PS3. It is the only current generation of gaming consoles that we do not own. We have two Xbox 360s and a Wii. We also have a PSP and a Nintendo DS. Yet we just can't bring ourselves to buy a PS3. There aren't many games for it that my husband is interested in and we aren't really ready to convert to Blu-Ray. (I'm sorry but we have a ton of DVDs, I don't want to re-buy them all in Blu-Ray format.) The Xbox 360 is dropping in price, perhaps Sony will drop the price on the PS3. We might consider it then.
Game review: The Race
The Race is another hidden object game that tries too hard. The premise is that you are one in five pairs of competitors racing around the world. However, the problem with the game does not lie in the premise. It's the execution. In order to make the game "difficult," they cram each location full of a variety of objects. I really wish game designers would learn that this does not make a game difficult, it makes it annoying. Since there are so many items in the picture, it is impossible to see everything. So the item you are looking for might only be seen as a bicycle handlebar or a smudge on a window. There are many ways to make a hidden object game fun and challenging. This was not one of them.