Game review: Monster Mash

While Monster Mash is listed as a time management game, it doesn't really fall under that genre. If anything, it's a strategy game. You are presented with a small village that is about to be attacked by various monsters. It is your job to set up different towers to destroy the monsters before they reach the village. Generally, I'm not very good at strategy games. For some reason, I have a difficult time figuring out where to place troops in order to defeat my enemy. However, I had a wonderful time playing this one. Each tower type shows you a range circle so you know exactly how far their guns will shoot to kill the monsters. The game challenges you by giving you more than one type of monster, which may require more shots before it falls dead. Some of the monsters even give power-ups. Sadly, I can't get past the level where there is a constant stream of monsters. Perhaps one day I will figure out the magic combination to pass the level but, until then, I will keep fighting the good fight!

I think this game would be good for people that enjoy puzzles. Since the focus of the game is based on not leaving any gaps between your towers' ranges so you get the maximum shots at the monsters, it definitely fits within a puzzle genre. I also think that people that enjoy strategy games like Starcraft might like it as well

Game review: Vogue Tales

Vogue Tales is a wacky fashion-themed time management game. You play fashion designer Wendy. Her grandmother sent her a mysterious gift but before she could open it, a thief stole the gift and her favorite dummy. Wendy must raise enough money to go to London to get her stuff back. Once again, this is a game where the customers choose the type and color for the piece of clothing they want. Wendy takes the design to the fabric, where it is magically sewed, then hands the clothes to the customer. There isn't anything particularly difficult about the game. Though it can be a challenge to keep the customers happy. You can buy upgrades for help you keep their hearts full.

Personally, I'd like to see a little more variety in the time management genre. While the general themes are slightly different, the gameplay is exactly the same. I'm ready for something amazing to come along and make me love the genre all over again.

Game review: Turbo Subs

Turbo Subs is a time management game where Rebecca and Robert from Turbo Pizza decide to open a sandwich shop. This time the shop is in New York City and is located on a train. The game plays much like every other time management restaurant game. You make food and serve it to customers. However, the restaurant is laid out a bit differently. Instead of having straight counters, these ones are in a circle. It makes it a little more difficult to click on the actual customers since now they stand sort of behind each other. Also, it's a little annoying that some of the food takes so long to make. The customers can request a toasted sandwich but then they start getting angry when the sandwich takes longer to make.

Overall, it's not a difficult game. Though it's not particularly interesting either. There isn't anything that sets it apart from any other time management restaurant game. A good game but not a great game.

Game review: Fashion Rush

It seems that fashion based time management games are becoming extremely popular. I've already talked about Fashion Fits! and Fashion Craze. Now we've been presented with Fashion Rush. Fashion Rush is similar to Fashion Craze in that your character has to pick fabric colors and clothes styles instead of just handing out pre-made clothes. However, this game steps it up by making you keep track of how much fabric you have available. Each color has a set amount of fabric and each time a piece is cut to make a garment, the roll gets smaller. When the roll of fabric runs out, it is up to you to put a new roll on the holder. (Hm, that makes it sound like toilet paper!)

You also get to choose which styles of clothing you are going to offer to your customers. There is a limit of four styles per level but it is up to you to decide if you will sell four styles of dresses or one pants design with a jacket, a shirt and a dress. I found this part to be the most exciting. If you don't like a certain style that is offered, you don't need to offer it to your customers. Of course, the problem is that a lot of the designs are cute and you can only have four designs at a time!

While I'm not a fashion mogul, I do like the direction that these games are taking. Instead of forcing the gamer into an already determined path in the game, there are a ton of choices that are being offered. Considering that these types of games need to follow a "work your way to the top" type of theme, it is really refreshing to have at least a little bit of say in the storyline. I hope that more time management games pick up on this. Maybe one day we'll see a Diner Dash where Flo gets a say in what goes on the menu!

Game review: Pizza Chef

It's very difficult to classify Pizza Chef into a type of game. There's a little bit of time management in it but not a whole lot. There's a bit of three-in-a-row but that's not the entire game. It's almost like a mix between Cake Mania and Bejeweled with a shape puzzle tossed in. The basics of the game are simple. You try to match three objects in a row on your board as customers at your counter order pizzas. The pizzas are in various shapes and sizes. As you match the objects on the board, you open more spaces for you to use. In these spaces you fit the shape/size/type of pizza that each customer wants. For example, if a customer wants a rectangle-shaped pizza, you need to open a space that is 2-squares wide by 4-squares long. Then you place the customer's pizza in that space to "bake."

The bizarre combination in the game makes it interesting for awhile. However, when the levels start to get more difficult, it just gets annoying. It gets difficult to find matches in the shapes that you need them before your customers get angry and stomp off. I really think that the game designers should have picked one type of game and stuck with it instead of trying to mix two very different genres together.

Game review: The Office

Yes, there is a downloadable casual game based on the hit television show, The Office. I've never been a fan of the show myself but I decided to give the game a try. Sadly, it is a terrible time management game. You play a member of The Office team and your job is to hand out assignments to other team members. Over and over again. The game designers decided to dress it up as a competition against other Office characters but there is no real competition in there as your 'competitor' just stands around most of the time.

I was really hoping for a decent game along the lines of Miss Management but with some Office humor tossed in. This piece of trash isn't even close.

Game review: Farm Frenzy

Farm Frenzy was a really fun game. You start out taking care of some geese and move into harvesting their eggs to sell at market before moving into other animals and products. Once you get sheep, you can harvest their wool to sell at market. Beware of the bears though! They will throw your animals off the screen, which forces you to buy new animals. Luckily, you can cage the bears and sell THEM at market. I didn't think I would like this game. It sounded like a lot of work with no real reward. Instead, I found the game exciting. I kept looking forward to making more money to buy upgrades for my farm. This is definitely a game you should try.

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: Fashion Fits!

I wasn't planning on playing Fashion Fits! based on just the name. It sounds like some sort of fashion designer game. Well, it's not. I decided that I had to jump into the game and if it turned out to be terrible, I'd at least be able to warn you about it. Fashion Fits! is a time management game based on the exciting world of retail. Your heroine, Francie, gets a job selling clothes at a big box store. You get to do thrilling things like stock the floor, empty the fitting rooms of leftover merchandise and ring up customer purchases on the register. Unlike a normal retail peon, you do get to make choices on upgrades for the store. However, some of the upgrades seem to give you more work to do.

While this isn't a bad game, it isn't particularly exciting either. It's basically the same annoying jobs you can get in real life without getting money in your pocket. There are different types of customers which, obviously, require various levels of service. A lot of the customers leave clothes in the dressing room for you to clean up while a few of the customers pick what they want and try to get out as soon as possible. It's your job to try to make sure that you, as the only employee of the store, can make everyone happy while keeping the floor stocked with product. I found it rather difficult to juggle absolutely everything. You can upgrade the floor displays to hold more stock and you can add more fitting rooms but that really just leaves you with more displays to fill and fitting rooms to clean. None of the upgrades I was offered included hiring an extra employee. You can make Francine walk faster but that doesn't accomplish a whole lot when the sales floor is filled with demanding customers.

You might want to give the game a try if you like time management games. It is possible that I just hate retail so much that it has seeped into my opinion of it. However, I don't think I've ever had to work a busy sales floor on my own without any help from anyone. That would completely suck and this game proves it.

Game review: Diner Dash: Hometown Hero

Everyone's favorite waitress, Flo, has gone back to her hometown for some rest and relaxation. While driving around with her grandmother, they find out that the places from Flo's childhood are falling apart due to lack of funds. It's up to Flo and her grandmother to save the day! Diner Dash was my first time management game so it has a special place in my heart. This sequel doesn't disappoint. There are some changes to the gameplay to make it a bit more difficult than the earlier editions but the changes are good. Now you are able to slide two 2-seat tables together to make a 4-seat table. I absolutely love this. Before, you always got screwed when you had a lot of parties of 4 coming in. Moving tables together alleviates the problem.

Another change is the 'competition level.' In the demo that I played, there was one level where Flo got to hire a new waitress. To "train" the newbie, you had to beat their score by at least ten points. This wasn't difficult at all since the new waitress seemed to just hang around waiting for you to miss something. She was really good at handing out drinks though.

The restaurant design part of the game is still there too. I think the design part makes the game just a little bit different from other time management games. And, of course, you can still upgrade just about everything.

Diner Dash: Hometown Hero should be a hit with any Diner Dash fan. Let's tie on our aprons and get to work saving Flo's home town!