Hunks galore! - a review of Coconut Queen

You might have played the Build-a-lot or Be Rich series. But what if the levels were much larger, and you could put buildings anywhere you wanted to? Throw in a cartoony style, lots of subtle humor, an interesting story, and a tropical setting, and you've got Coconut Queen!

What I liked Humor Hawaiian flavor Cartoony graphics Building and economic mechanics Lots of levels Decision-making freedom What I didn't like I found one game-stopping bug

Quick Plot

Make Lui-Lui Island a successful money-making tourist attraction with the help of some muscly hunks.

Mechanics

Time Management: Each level has a timer bar. Once the bar fills up, your time is out. Your task is to accomplish all of your listed goals before the timer runs out. As opposed to other similar games, there is no "Expert" goal to work for on these levels. And, you know, I actually didn't miss this feature. The time limits seem just right. Some are more challenging than others, and if you fail, you'll probably have an idea of what to do differently next time. Building: This game is about construction and money-making. You'll build 3 types of buildings:

• rental
• commercial, and
• outdoor goods.

Rental buildings house tourists and make money, commercial buildings just make money, and outdoor goods make rental buildings more attractive. Many buildings can be upgraded to be more valuable and more productive.

Constructing a temple next to a hotel. The dock makes both buildings more attractive.

Highlights

Theme: The tropical island theme permeates every part of the game, from the interface to the music to the dialogue. There's a distinct Hawaiian flavor that makes me want to go to the Tiki Room at Disneyland. In fact, that's exactly what the trophy room in this game is called - the Tiki Room. Features: By "features," I mean the little things that keep the game interesting. This includes

• 5 locations with 10 levels each, and 1 location with 5 levels
• 14 tikis to work for
• Lots of upgrades and unlockable items
• A good variety of buildings
• Interesting plot
• Clever and humorous dialogue
• Unlockable free play mode for every area (no time limit, no goals)

The Tiki Room, with 2 tikis left to earn

Humor: This is one of the best parts of the game. The voice work and graphics help to give the humor a wonderfully entertaining presentation. The main thing that cracked me up were the hunks, and more specifically, the head hunk - Kane. (Strangely enough, they don't pronounce it "KAH-nay" as with the Hawaiian deity's name. Instead, they just say, "CANE" like the thing you walk with.) As you play, you receive your instructions and feedback from Kane. He's the one keeping a strategic overview of what's going on, while your job is to successfully accomplish the construction, buying and selling, hiring workers, clearing forests, and making the place attractive to tourists. Kane never fails to say things in the most amusing way. The game is jam-packed with subtle humor. The same applies to the workers that you send running around to do your bidding. Every time you assign a task to a worker (a hunk, that is, a muscly dude wearing nothing but a red cloth around his waist), he'll respond with some comment like

• "More work! That's what I'm talking about." or
• "I need no rest." or
• "See these muscles? I made them myself."

The delivery of the lines is great. Whoever they got to voice this did a great job. Kane and the other hunks are pretty much clones of Kronk from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove. They look like him, and they speak in a similar manner. During the game, you'll have to deal with yuppies, surfers, and monkey infestations. Story: This game has a story. Every so often, you're given a cut-scene to show you how things are developing. And the story is actually interesting, and funny. Let me warn you though: you're left with a cliffhanger ending, which suggests that a sequel is coming. I'll talk more about this in the Issues section below. Cartoony Style: I mentioned before that the hunks look like Kronk. Well, the rest of the game has a cartoon style that also reminds me of The Emperor's New Groove. Fans of the movie should appreciate the art style here.

Liz and Kane

Issues

Progress-Stopping Bug: I figured out how to break the game, unintentionally of course. You see, at the Yippi Kai Yeh Temple, you are allowed to clear the forest in the first level. But in the rest of the levels, the game doesn't allow you to use that tool anymore. This is the only time in the game where this happens. The reason is plot-related. So, on the first level, I cleared out some trees and built a cabana down by the water. Then, when Kane told me to plant new forest after that, I closed in my cabana with trees, not realizing that hunks can't access a building that is closed off in this way. But, by this time, my ability to tear down trees was disabled, so I was stuck. I could never get to that cabana to salvage it, sell it, or shoo the monkeys away from it. Therefore, I couldn't accomplish the assigned goals, and therefore, I couldn't proceed with the game. There is no fix for this. I had to start the game from the beginning. And Yippi Kai Yeh Temple was the 5th of 6 areas to complete. I was almost done with the game. Needless to say, the second time through the game, I cleared every single spot of trees off the map on the first level of Yippi Kai Yeh Temple. I recommend you do the same. You'll need the space. Story Ending Confusion: As it turns out, there are only 4 required areas for finishing up the storyline for this game. So, once you play Kaba Lui Park, don't expect more from the story, like I did. Having viewed the final story sequence, I went on from Kaba Lui Park to unlock the two optional areas: Yippi Kai Yeh Temple and Blue Moon Lagoon. I didn't realize these were "optional" levels, so there I was, eagerly plugging away, waiting to find out what happened with the rest of the story. I finished the final level of Blue Moon Lagoon and waited for the big closing scene...which never came. No, friends, we have to wait for the sequel to find out what happens. So, just remember, Kaba Lui Park is the last level of the game that matters for the story.

What a level looks like after some development. Upper left corner: Kane, your advisor Lower left corner: You, Liz, the Coconut Queen

Suitable for the family?

My wife hasn't played it, so I don't know if she'll like the game. She's not much into building games. My kids liked the game because of the cartoony cuteness. And they liked hearing the hunks saying their numerous funny lines. We would snicker together as the hunks bounded across the screen from one building to another. The kids also liked pointing out crabs and butterflies for me to catch in my net, hearing the monkey sounds, and watching the hunks beat up sharks.

The family man's final ruling

Of all the building/real estate games I've tried, this is my favorite so far. The humor, the story, and the polished delivery made it a very enjoyable experience, even two times through! Build-a-lot or Be Rich fans are might really enjoy the freedom you have in this game. You can build anywhere you want, and the levels are much larger than a single screen. This open-endedness allowed greater creativity in arranging your buildings. And because the story drew me in, I'm all ready to play the sequel now. What's going to happen?!

You'll like the game if... You like real estate and building games You like a tropical resort theme You like subtle humor You want more freedom than other building games give you You won't like the game if... You don't like having to race the clock (time management) You don't like having to constantly track buildings, workers, and earnings

My rating:

The Movie's About to Start! - a review of Megaplex Madness: Now Playing

Want a straightforward time management game with intuitive gameplay? Megaplex Madness: Now Playing might be just the game for you. Hopefully I can help you decide in today's review!

What I liked Intuitive drag-and-drop gameplay Adequate game length What I didn't like Repetition Lack of features Mediocre production quality

Quick Plot

Provide good customer service, and make enough money to restore all the broken-down movie theaters in Movieville.

Mechanics

Time Management: Every level consists of the few minutes before the movie starts. During those few minutes, you need to serve as many people as you can. Each customer comes in with a good attitude (5 hearts), but their attitudes grow sour if you take too long to serve them (they lose hearts). You make more money from customers with lots of hearts. Arcade Games: During the game, you can buy arcade machines for your theaters. You can visit the arcade in between levels to play the games you've unlocked. These games are old-school arcade games with new names. You can play these to make extra money.

Highlights

There are very few highlights to mention for this game. The game is very simple. But there is one feature worth mentioning. Drag-and-Drop: In many time management games, you click-click-click to make things happen. In this game, you actually click the customer you want to move -- this picks them up -- and drag them to their requested stations (popcorn stand, ticket booth, bathroom, etc.). The developers even built in physics. The limbs of the little people will flail if you move them quickly, as if they're really being picked up and thrown around. It's pretty cute. This is the first time management game that I've played that used this sort of person movement, so it's worth mentioning.

Other than that, the game is very basic in its mechanics, which should be comforting to those of you who don't like complicated games. Each level consists of the following:

1. Look at the balloon above each customer's head. This tells you what the customer wants to do.
2. Drag the customer to their desired station.
3. Continue this until each customer has gone into the movie.

You will have

• 4 colors of characters: Blue, Red, Green, and Purple.
• 3 customer types: Patient, Normal, Impatient
• 3 degrees of success: Target, Expert, and Master.

You must earn the Target amount of money to move onto the next level. Earning the Expert amount of money does nothing significant. Earning the Master amount of money allows you to make a repair on the theater. These repairs, as far as I can tell, are visual only. They don't affect the gameplay. In between levels, you spend your money to buy useful upgrades, such as new workers, new concession stands, or new services. The more upgrades, the better your service. Each of the 5 theaters seem to get a bit more challenging than the previous one. There are 10 levels per theater.

One thing I was thankful to discover was that, even if you fail a level, you get to keep the money you earned. This allows you to buy additional theater upgrades before you try the level again.

Issues

Lack of Features: The only added feature of the game is the optional arcade games. But there are problems with these games.

1. It takes way too long to earn good money from them.
2. They are difficult old-school games (like Frogger, Galaga, and Breakout).
3. They don't have keyboard controls.

So, I spent very little time in the arcade. It just wasn't fun. Many time management games include a trophy room with various long-term goals to shoot for, or new upgrades and unlockables as you play and improve. You won't get any of that in this game. You'll just be doing the same thing over and over for each level. This will either be just right for you, or boring, depending on what types of games you like. In the Farm Frenzy series, it is fun to keep playing the level, trying for the Gold medal (the highest challenge level). In this game, there was nothing very fun about trying for the Master level, so I usually just moved on, regardless of how successfully I finished the level. Also, I would have liked more variety in the way customers look. But no. Each person is one of 7 or 8 models. It's a city of clones!

Suitable for the family?

Sure. The kids watched me play some of the time, but there is nothing inherently interesting for the weefolk. Also, the adult female customers all have bare midriffs. Why? As usual, the answer is simple: male developers. Would every female in town really wear stomach-revealing shirts?

The family man's final ruling

I've played various types of time management games, and I found Megaplex Madness: Now Playing to be unlike anything else I've played. The drag-and-drop method of moving people around was fairly unique, but nothing else really stood out. Is it worth playing? Sure. It was more fun than some other time management games I've tried. It was fun enough to keep playing to the end. Still, nothing about the game really shined. The music, graphics, and story are nothing special. This was just your everyday amusing casual game that anyone could pick up and play. I almost gave it a full 3 stars, but there are too many other high quality games pushing my rating lower. That said, if you can find the game for a good price, don't miss it.

You'll like the game if... You like simple games with few mechanics You like time management games You won't like the game if... You like complex games You like time management games with multiple features or layers of depth You like games with high production values like good music and graphics

My rating:

Mirrors, mirrors on the walls - a review of Princes Isabella: A Witch's Curse

In recent months, beginning with Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, we have seen a handful of casual adventure games hit the market. Princess Isabella: A Witch's Curse is one of the pioneers in this new genre of games. So how does it do? Read on to find out!

What I liked Lovely graphics Very nice music Nice combo of adventure, hidden objects, and puzzles Fairy companion Easy to figure out what to do What I didn't like Too easy?

Quick Plot

Restore the cursed kingdom to its former glory, save all your friends and family by reconstructing their mirrors, and deal with whatever villain is behind the curse!

Mechanics

Adventure: The interface and mechanics of the game are predominantly characteristic of point-and-click adventure games. You walk from room to room and do things in each room of the castle. Puzzles: You'll face a wide variety of puzzles. Hidden Objects: Hidden object scenes are a common task you'll encounter. These give you the inventory items you'll use during your adventure.

Highlights

Graphics: The visuals in this game are beautiful. I would have liked more animations in the scenery, such as moving water, but overall, the environments are pleasing to the eye. The character art is pretty good too. Music: One of my favorite parts of the game was the music. I didn't see who composed it, but whoever it was did a great job. From orchestra to medieval instruments, the score contributed a nice backdrop for the journey. I especially liked the jingles that played each time I solved a puzzle or removed a curse from a room. Expect to keep the music on for this game. Fairy: A small fairy floats in the upper corner of the screen talking to you every so often, and offering abilities that help you with your tasks. For instance, she can use her rock ability to smash vases, or her water ability to water flowers. She also has hints for those times when you find yourself stumped.

Variety: I liked that this game had so many different types of puzzles. There's always something new to solve. I'm burnt out on hidden object games, but I can stomach a little bit of it when it's thrown into an adventure game like this. There is also marble popping, tile flipping, tile swapping, puzzle piecing, and many other types of brain-teasing tasks.

Issues

Too easy: The game felt a little short, but I don't think it's because the developers skimped on story or player objectives. Rather, I think it's because the puzzles are just not very challenging. Most of them can be solved in seconds. For the seasoned adventure gamer, this will be frustrating, but for people who see casual games as nothing more than a pleasant diversion, these puzzles might hit the spot. Nevertheless, I will mention that this simplicity was welcome when it came to the hidden object scenes. The objects were relatively easy to find, so I felt like they didn't stall my progress. I much prefer this to the sort of terribly challenging hidden object scenes found in Luxor Adventures. *shudder* So, you'll find that the game sails along at a steady clip, which is nice in principle, but you might find the puzzles less than satisfying. Don't expect a brain-burner.

Suitable for the family?

Wife: My wife loves these puzzle adventure games, so she's been having great fun with this one. Kids: The kids came over to watch from time to time, but there isn't a whole lot here to interest them. There are some ghosts in the game, which might spook some kids out. The ghosts are just wispy, glowing forms floating around, and you do get rid of them. My kids watched the ghosts and didn't seem to be bothered. Other than that, I can't remember anything scary, disturbing, or thematically inappropriate.

The family man's final ruling

If you thought Return to Ravenhearst or Dire Grove were too difficult, this game is probably just right for you. On the other hand, if you like challenging puzzles in your adventure games, this game probably won't be very stimulating for your mental processor. In my opinion, this game is a fun romp with enough variety to keep it interesting from start to finish. I wouldn't mind playing it again some day, just for kicks. There is nothing tedious or frustrating (except the fact that you can't ever look at the castle map for more than a few seconds at a time). This game was well-designed in every respect, and I think you'll find it to be worth your money.

You'll like the game if... You like hidden object scenes You like adventure games with inventory items and puzzles You like high production quality in your casual games You like games involving castles and fairies You won't like the game if... You only like adventure games with complex and challenging puzzles You want a long, involved story

My rating:

Will I ever get home? - a review of Wandering Willows

What do you get when a casual game developer combines roleplaying with adventure and simulation? You get Wandering Willows!

What I liked Cute, colorful graphics Good game length Odd and witty cast of characters Great music Task-driven gameplay What I didn't like Too many unused items Scarcity of some important items Repetitive and potentially tedious gameplay Short, unsatisfying ending

Quick Plot

Gather items, make things, and train animals to fulfill all of your friends' requests, so that you can escape the mysterious island.

Mechanics

Items: You spend most of the game wandering around the land gathering items, with the help of a pet. You also collect recipes and patterns. Once you know a recipe or pattern, you can use the items you've collected to make something, such as an item of clothing, foods and drinks, or flower bouquets. These items are the driving mechanic in the game. Everything you do involves gathering, making, and delivering items to the other inhabitants of the area. Animals: Animals roam all over the landscape, and you always have one animal tagging along with you. Each animal has 3 stats:

• Toughness: the ability to dig up holes
• Climb: the ability to climb trees
• Charm: the ability to get other animals to give you stuff

Additionally, each animal has some particular skill that helps you. For example, a Zeepzop is more likely to dig up metals for you. There is an animal storage building where you keep the animals you've collected. Here you can incubate eggs to acquire new animals, and you can change which animal will walk around with you. Every time your pet climbs, digs, or charms, his relevant stat will go up. This continues until his skill levels reach a maximum limit. You can also make collars to equip on your animals. These collars give skill boosts to the animal. Animals are an important part of the game because they do all the work for you. Once they've retrieved some item for you, all you have to do is pick it up off the ground. As they work, their energy bar runs low and you need to give them food to restore their energy. Tasks: This is a task-driven game. You will complete more than 120 tasks before the end of the game. These tasks are assigned by the other people living on the island. Whenever one of these people has a question mark above his or her head, it means they want to talk to you. Once you talk to them, they'll give you a task. Once the task is completed, you'll receive something from them, and your friendship level with the requesting characters will increase. The friendship level doesn't seem to be anything more than a statistic. It doesn't affect gameplay, from what I can tell, other than earning medals. Goals and Medals: As you reach certain benchmarks in the game, you will receive medals. These are rewarded for things like training an animal until his stats are maxed, and gaining a friendship status of "Best Friend" with another character. Additionally, you have a set of long-term goals laid out for you at the beginning of the game, which must be fulfilled to complete your main goal of escaping the island. These goals are completed simply by playing through the game and finishing certain tasks.

Highlights

Controls: Walking around the island is simple. Click your mouse (or hold the mouse button down), and your character will go to that location. Another feature I loved is that, when picking up items, there is no limit to how many you can click in a row. So you can click on 8 pieces of wool on the ground in quick succession, and the little hand icon will remain on all of them until your character picks them up. While you do earn the ability to warp to specific locations later in the game, I wish the developers had included some kind of Fast Forward feature, allowing you to travel more quickly from place to place. Sometimes, I just didn't want to wait for my guy to walk. I also wished they would have built in keyboard controls for scrolling the camera or moving the character. But basically, if you want to do anything in the game, just click on it - whether it's a tree, a person, a digging pile, or a shop. So, the game is easy to control. Interface: The developers were kind enough to offer a small overhead map in the corner. Clicking any spot on this map will make your character walk to that location. Stars on the map indicate the locations of the other characters. Mousing over a star will tell you which character it is. A gold flashing star means that character wants to talk to you. These little indicators are very helpful. Your animal has a spot for himself in the upper left corner, where you can see his picture and his stats. Mousing over his picture will show you his abilities and description. Mousing over a character or animals will show you what they like and don't like. This is helpful when giving gifts to people or food to animals. Another helpful feature is the bar at the top of the screen. It constantly cycles through your currently assigned tasks, reminding you what needs to be done. There are arrows on the bar that allow you to manually scroll through your tasks if you prefer. And if you want a detailed view of all your tasks, there's a button in the lower left corner that brings up all your task information. Music: Because there are a host of fair composers out there, and only a handful of really good ones, I always have to highlight any score by Sean Beeson. This friendly fellow has composed another great soundtrack this time. While I wish there was more music in the game, the few tracks that repeat are very nice and fit the mood of the game perfectly.

Game length: You're going to get plenty of play out of this game. If you wanted to, you could choose to postpone your tasks and just go around collecting items, leveling up your animals, and working for those hard-to-earn medals. Humor: The characters in this game are just.....weird (or quirky, if you prefer). I did laugh out loud a few times at the comments made by the characters. Each character seems to be a witty caricature of a very specific type of person you might meet in our world - strange old man, health freak, or geek for example. But, the humor might not appeal to everyone. It seems to be written primarily for folks in their 30s or late 20s.

Issues

Repetition: If you don't like wandering around collecting things, this game might get tedious for you. And your frustration might be amplified by the fact that

• the items you get from digging or charming are somewhat random (an animal might drop 3 or 4 different items, but you never know which one it will be), and
• some items that you really need are scarce, while items you don't need show up in abundance.

Is this enough of an issue to ruin the game? No. It wasn't for me. It irks a bit, but that's all. Too many useless recipes: You will frequently collect new recipes and patterns for making things. This opens up all kinds of options for the kinds of objects you can make as gifts, or cook up for your animals to eat. Unfortunately, I rarely found use for any of these recipes or patterns. For the fun of it, I did make a pirate hat, pirate coat, and ruffed shirt to give my guy a pirate outfit (at my son's request). I also made a kung fu outfit for my guy. And hey, you can even choose what colors the clothes are. But still, all those things you collect just waste space if you don't do anything with them. That was a letdown. Your character is likely to end up a pack rat like mine did. But, you don't have to look at your recipes if you don't want to. It's the concept that bothers me. It just feels like wasted space, time, and energy. That said, you will actually need a handful of recipes and patterns for you assigned tasks.

You get to customize how your character looks!

Suitable for the family?

My wife wasn't interested in playing the game, just from watching me play. Then she sat down and tried it herself, and now she's well into her own game. She's enjoying the task-driven play. The kids loved watching this one because the characters are cute, and even more importantly, there are furry little fantastic creatures walking around everywhere. They were always eagerly requesting that I switch to a different pet to take around with me. While nothing in the game is visually offensive, I made sure not to read all the character dialogue out loud for my kids to hear. Some of the conversations would be inappropriate for kids, both in terms of language, and some insinuated themes (homosexuality and cross-dressing included). But these themes are subtle and pass by very quickly. And in case it is likely to offend you, there is also one character who frequently says (out loud), "God! Don't sneak up on me like that!".

The family man's final ruling

This game stands out in my mind as unique. There is nothing else like it on the market as of now. It has a way of keeping you playing. There's a sense of development that is often found in roleplaying games. There is always another new item to find, a new person to befriend, a new animal to train, a new area of the map to unlock, and a new task to work on. Add in cute, colorful graphics, top-notch music, and humorous characters - and you've got yourself a very good game. Sure, I had my complaints, but that didn't seem to damper my eagerness to play. The only other thing that would have made the experience more rewarding is a longer, more robust ending. But I always say that. I recommend this game, even if the humor goes over the head of some people younger than 20 and older than 40. You might get more hours of play out of this game than any other casual game in your collection.

You'll like the game if... You like task-oriented gameplay You like gathering and collecting stuff You like cute, colorful graphics You like witty, subtle humor You like roleplaying/simulation elements You won't like the game if... You get burned out by constantly exploring for random items You're hoping for some fast-paced action or time management

My rating:

The magic of art! - a review of Drawn: The Painted Tower

Every so often, we get to play a one-of-a-kind casual game that raises the bar and leaves us wanting more. Big Fish Studios' Drawn: The Painted Tower is this kind of game. Interested? Read on!

What I liked Whimsical art style Adventure game mechanics Fitting music Good game length Built-in hint system Fun puzzles What I didn't like Technical issues Vagueness in the story

Quick Plot

Save a magical artistic girl from a looming threat!

Mechanics

Inventory: This is an inventory-based adventure game, like Monkey Island or Grim Fandango. You'll encounter puzzles along the way, and there's a story driving it all, but you spend most of your time traveling around the environment collecting inventory items and using them. Exploration: Some games, like the Nancy Drew series, are more heavily driven by conversations with characters, and often include lots of text to read. This isn't the case with Drawn - for which I was thankful. This game is more in the style of Myst, where you're wandering around trying to figure things out as you explore various areas. Hints: Unlike most adventure games, Drawn has a built-in hint system that slowly refills after each use. So, you don't have to leave the game and look up a walkthrough when you're stuck. Fortunately, the game wasn't difficult enough to require frequent use of these hints. But for those of you who like them, the hints are there. Similarly, after a certain amount of time on a puzzle, you are offered a "Skip Puzzle" option.

Highlights

Art-style: The development team for this game put in lots of work to create beautiful environments. The dreamy and cold look permeates everything. The style is whimsical, with odd curves and unbalanced lines throughout. Rarely will you play a casual game with this much beauty. A sense of direction: If you've played many adventure games, you know the sinking feeling that comes when you reach a point in the game where you have absolutely no idea what to do next. Drawn pleasantly avoids this flaw. Everything you need for a task is usually nearby, or somewhere else obvious. The times when I felt like I didn't know what to do next, it was because I hadn't tried something relatively simple in my current surroundings. You shouldn't ever be stumped for long in this game.

Music: The music in this game does what any good adventure game music does - it matches the theme of the game, and enhances the mood of each scene, making the experience engaging and memorable. This music team did well. Game length: Very often, I find games to be too short, and therefore a waste of money. I think you'll find that Drawn has a very reasonable length. You accomplish a good number of things before the final resolution of things arrives. Puzzles: I love puzzles. An adventure game without good puzzles is like a movie without any memorable scenes. Solving interesting puzzles is what makes adventure games so fun for me. This game has a good variety, requiring different types of mental processing and analysis. Sometimes, you simply need to use you mouse to trace lines or paint a picture. Sometimes, you need to make sense of a more complicated arrangement of things. I would compare the variety and difficulty level of these puzzles to the puzzles found in Nancy Drew adventure games.

Issues

Technical problems: The main problem I had with the game was surprisingly a technical one. Usually, the games I download from Big Fish play just fine, but this time I had a big problem where the game quit every time I reached a particular scene, and it happened for my wife too. We just couldn't advance. The good news is, once I contacted Big Fish's tech support, they were incredibly kind and helpful, and gave me troubleshooting steps to try. The steps worked and I was up and running soon after! If you ever have trouble with a Big Fish game, contact customer support right away. Theirs some of the best I've seen, right up there with Dell computers. Still, I don't understand why the game seems to require so many system resources. There are more intense mainstream games that have quicker load times than this game. Wait, what's going on?: It might just be me, but I wasn't ever entirely sure I understood the story in the game. With my wife's explanations, I was finally able to better understand what was going on. Personally, I dislike vague storytelling, or unexplained elements in tales. I want everything clearly communicated and every detail explained. Drawn doesn't do this. I was left with some questions about How, Why, Who, and such. Most people, I think, are fine with this kind of story, so don't take my word for it. I'm just picky.

Suitable for the family?

The kids seemed to like this one. While I can see the general lack of light in the scenery as being potentially spooky to little ones, it didn't seem to bother my kids too much. I asked my kids what they liked about the game. Kid1: The animals. Kid 2: The little girl. Kid 3: (Too young to have much of an opinion.) My wife also liked the game. She and I both wish more casual games were being produced with the strengths and features of Drawn.

The family man's final ruling

This is one of the best casual games I've played. It did almost everything right. And I was so glad they kept hidden objects scenes out of this game. These days, the industry seems to be trying to drown us with HOGs. But I say, bring on more adventure games!

You'll like the game if... You like adventure games, especially inventory-based ones You like nicely painted environments You won't like the game if... You don't like exploration and puzzles You prefer fast-paced repetitive type games

My rating:

Merry Christmas!

Merry CHRIST-mass to all of you, from the family man! Have a blessed day, and thanks for keeping up with A Game For Everyone!

Bring in the ostrich! - A review of Farm Frenzy 2!

You might remember my review of Farm Frenzy. Today, I will share my thoughts on the second game in the series: Farm Frenzy 2!

What I liked The same excellent gameplay from Farm Frenzy Improved 3D-looking graphics Lots of levels More upgrades than the first game Unlimited mode What I didn't like I still wished there were even more upgrades Still no ending to speak of

Quick Plot

Once again, manage the chaos of feeding animals, producing goods, and making money, with the additional task of sending an airplane into town to purchase necessary ingredients!

Features

• 6 types of animals to buy (chickens, pigs, cows, ostriches, dogs, cats)
• 4 types of goods to develop (eggs, pork, milk, feathers)
• 19 items to build and/or upgrade in the shop
• 19 awards to earn
• 90 levels
• Unlockable "Unlimited" mode
• You control everything from a first-person perspective, rather than controlling one character from a third-person perspective (as is common in many time management games)

The map. The dots are levels.

Highlights

Like the first Farm Frenzy, this is an economic time management game. Gameplay The gameplay is just like the first Farm Frenzy game, with one new addition. This time, in addition to your truck, you also have an airplane that flies into town. Some of the items you make require additional ingredients which can only be shipped in from town. This is what the plane is for. Like everything else, the plane can be upgraded in the shop to go faster and carry more cargo. You might think this will add more headache to the game. I thought it would. But, like everything else, you get used to it, and you learn to incorporate it into your farming routine. Music This time, some of the music has a plucky bluegrass style. The level music was repetitive, happy music, as in the first game, but with a new melody and country style. Graphics This time around, the graphics are improved. They have more shading and such, giving it a more 3D look. I don't mind this new look at all. It's quite nice. Moar stawf! I was pleased to discover that this sequel gives us more stuff to do. There are more

• levels
• upgrades, and
• animals.

The game has almost doubled the number of levels. And since the developers included one extra animal (the $70,000 ostrich), there are more buildings to purchase and upgrade. The ostrich is extremely expensive compared to every other animal (Not surprising really - have you ever seen the price on ostrich eggs? It's ludicrous.), but it also drops feathers that yield huge profit as you process them in your plants to make fans, hats, and dresses.

The hat-making factory.

Nevertheless, the one area where they didn't give us more is in the number of times you can upgrade each item in the shop. Being somewhat obsessive, I insist on getting Gold ranking on each level before moving onto the next. This leaves me with a constant supply of big money. As in the first Farm Frenzy game, you get to a point when you've purchased every upgrade in the shop and your wealth no longer does you any good. This is why I think they should have super pro upgrades for people who save up the huge wad of cash. It's just a letdown to have no reward for nailing the Gold reward on every level. One other little feature they added to this game is some little bonuses. These show up in the form of animals who pop into the scene for a brief moment, and then leave. You want to click on these animals before they disappear. Clicking on all of these animals that appear in the game should earn you an award in the awards room. Don't worry if you miss one. They show up multiple times. And finally, this game offers an Unlimited Mode. After you complete almost all of the levels in the game, you unlock a second mode of gameplay which, as the name would indicate, has no clear end goal. You jump in with nothing. Then, as you send bears into town and start buying chickens, you have a list of goals in the bottom corner. As you complete these goals, you earn stars. You use stars to make upgrades available. Then, with money, you purchase the upgrades. This goes on and on, with new goals appearing every time you complete another one. This mode is clearly for the enthusiasts who like the gameplay enough to put their skills to the test in such a manner. That includes me.

A level in progress.

Suitable for the family?

The kids, of course, had a great time watching this game, as with the first game in the series. There are cute animals romping all over the screen constantly. Dogs bark at bears, bears trash your work, and cats pick up all of your goods. There is nothing disturbing or weird in this game. It's just cute and colorful.

The family man's final ruling

I liked this game just as much as the first game in the series. The graphics are improved, and there's even more to track and accomplish. This is a great time management game for those who like producing, buying, and selling goods. Everything about the game is polished. Let me warn you though, if you're going for the Gold ranking on every level, like I did, you're bound to run into some stumpers. I played some levels over and over without discovering a possible method of achieving Gold. I had to look up answers online for two levels, I think.

You'll like the game if... You liked the first Farm Frenzy You like strategic time management games You like cute games You like farm-themed games You like economic games You won't like the game if... You prefer less strategy in your time management games You prefer to control a character who runs around serving food You don't want to track a whole lot of simultaneous activity

My rating: