Review - Simplz Zoo!

Early this year, Reflexive Entertainment released a match-3-based zoo-building game called Simplz Zoo. As you may know, I don't usually enjoy match 3. Intrigued by the glowing feedback others have given for Simplz Zoo, I took a risk and purchased the game, then played it all the way through. It's review time!

What I liked Significant and practical match 3 Zoo development Optional time limit for match 3 Upgrades and bonuses What I didn't like Art style Music "Indoor" animal exhibits No ending?

Quick Plot

Develop your zoo and rise up to become the #1 zoo in the world!!!

Mechanics

Match 3: This game uses your generic swap-style match 3. But one really nice feature is that they allow diagonal swaps. (Thank you, Reflexive). Your goal is to swap 2 pieces on the square grid and make straight matched strings of 3 in a row or more. The biggest match you can make is 9 pieces - and you'll actually earn a trophy for accomplishing this in the game. Each match you make earns you resources. A level ends once you've

• collected all of the required resources, and
• directed animals along a path to an exit square, and/or
• moved some pieces all the way to the bottom of the puzzle border.

Resources include things like materials, food, money, personnel, and research. Each time you make a food match, you earn food, and so on. As you go on, levels get more difficult by adding locks on some squares, which are broken by including them in matches. Also, certain squares will have pathway pieces behind them (these are used for building paths in your zoo). Clearing these squares is required to finish a level. Early in the game, you just need to make one match on such a square to clear it. Later, you might have to clear 2 or 3 pathway pieces from a square. Whenever you make a match of 4 squares, a bonus will be added to 1 square on the board. That might be something like extra money or zoo points. When you break that bonus square, you get the bonus. So matches of 4 are good. Matches of 5 don't give bonuses, but I think they get you more resources or something.

The zoo development interface. Clicking the big PLAY arrow starts the next match 3 level.

Zoo-building: After a level, if you have enough resources, you can build or upgrade buildings and exhibits in your zoo. The zoo-building feature serves the following 4 purposes:

• it can be fun to look at, and it's somewhat educational (learn scientific animal names),
• it allows you to be creative with your own personal zoo design,
• buildings give you upgrades and bonuses for the match 3 levels, and
• adding animals to your zoo is what takes you up the ranks to become the #1 zoo in the world.

To build buildings, bring in new animals, or maintain your zoo, you need resources, which I explained earlier. Each time you upgrade a building, or add something new to your zoo, you'll get some extra feature in your match 3 levels. This includes things like

• better versions of a resource (Example: Each materials match will bring you 9 materials instead of 3.)
• tools (Example: If you click the monkey tool, it will randomly rearrange pieces on the board.)
• 3-in-a-row bonuses (Example: If you get 3 research matches in a row, a number of locks will break.)
• special effect pieces (Example: If you move the water piece, the bottom two rows of the board are cleared. The water piece appears randomly once you've purchased a hippo.)

You're given objectives before each match 3 level.

Highlights

Meaningful and practical match 3: What bothers me about most match 3 games is that all of that work swapping squares, or dragging the mouse across a chain of hexes, serves little purpose. It's just a tedious exercise in finding possible matches. Simplz Zoo gives significance to the match 3 levels. As you make your matches, you have goals in mind. You know that making 3 matches in a row, of the same resource, will offer a beneficial effect on the board. You know that you have powerful board-changing tools charging up to be used at the right time. You have meters at the top of the screen showing you how many more of each resource you need. Sometimes, you need to clear a path for an animal. Sometimes you need to get pieces to the bottom of the match-3 frame. All of this makes the match-3 experience practical. You are maintaining and expanding your zoo by playing the levels in a particular way. As the game progresses, more and more features are added to the match-3 levels. This provides variety and makes the levels more interesting.

Zoo development: I liked that this game had something secondary to work at, and not just an unbroken string of match-3 levels. The developers were clever in giving you goals to work for. The ultimate goal is to become the #1 zoo in the world. The problem is, you start off way at the bottom, working to make it into the top 1000. If you want to become the #1 zoo, you've got your work cut out for you. And if you want to develop your zoo, you need exhibits and other important zoo facilities. To build those, you need to gain resources. To gain resources, you need to play match 3. So that's how they make the game interesting. The zoo development is the driving force that gives significance to everything you do. Optional time limit: If you prefer the challenge, you can decide before each level if you'd like to have a time limit. If you don't finish the level's objectives before the timer runs out, you lose and have to try again. If you finish the level with time left, you get bonus points of some sort. I kept the time limit on for a few levels, but then it quickly became too difficult to beat the levels. I preferred taking my time and working to gain lots of resources, rather than racing the clock. So I turned off the time limit for most of the game. I'm so glad they made this optional.

Upgrades and bonuses: Bonuses are to games what sauce is to food. The right sauce can bring any meal to life. Similarly, a game may have swell mechanics, but if you can get helpful boosts in the form of upgrades, it enhances the gaming experience to make it all the sweeter. This game is loaded with such add-ons. As I've explained already, these bonuses exist in both the zoo-building and match-3 portions of the game. They serve as both goals and helpers. They make the game dynamic, and that keeps us playing.

Issues

Production values: This is a game that manages to get away with low-detail graphics and merely adequate music because the gameplay is good. I don't mean the graphics are grainy or poorly crafted. I just don't like the art style. It's too "simplz" for me. The cartoony style lacks depth. It gets the job done in a cute sort of way, but doesn't dazzle on any level. The best graphics in the game are those in the match 3 levels. The pieces look cool, and when you make matches, little purple lights shoot all over the place. The music is just.........mediocre, like most games on the market. The composer obviously understands some things about music, but like the graphics, the soundtrack is too simple. I think this is the first game where I actually turned the music completely off for most of the game. But, hey, it's a matter of taste. You may like it, but don't say I didn't warn you.

That's a musk ox. And he's chewing bubble gum.

Indoor exhibits: Part of the fun, when buying a new animal for your zoo, is seeing the animal walking around. You want to watch the beast you purchased - it seems a fair reward for the work you did to earn it. But for some reason, the developers didn't want to go the extra mile and actually animate every animal in the game. So they created a huge list of exhibits that house 4 animals each. These exhibits show up in your zoo, but the animals don't. You can see images of the animals on the screen where you buy them, but you don't get to watch them moving around their environment. This was disappointing for me, but even more so for my kids, who wanted to observe each animal in action. They were asking me to "go in" to the Carnivore Cubbyhole exhibit, and I had to inform them that I couldn't. Was it really that complicated for the developers to make all animals observable? No ending?: If you've read my reviews before, you know that I like good endings. I feel like developers owe it to the player - a final payoff for completing the game, a 5- to 20-minute closer for the story. I don't think this game has an ending, but I'm not certain. I achieved the #1 zoo rank after 85 levels of match 3, and then played a few more for no particular reason. That completed my bulletin board (which serves as a sort of trophy room). I had nothing else to work for, but I could continue playing levels and decorating my zoo with flowers and benches and such, should I care to. So, if I played 100 levels, would I get an ending then? I may never know. If you discover an ending, please comment on this post and let me know.

You get to see your zoo ranking after each level, as your resources are tallied.

Suitable for the family?

If you're looking for a game that kids will like, this game fits the bill.

• Animals galore - check!
• Cute - check!
• Educational - check!

There is really no story here, but plenty of light-hearted, zoo-themed, family-friendly gameplay.

The family man's final ruling

I'm not a fan of match 3. And yet I liked this game. I had fun each time I sat down to play, and the kids gladly stood by. They were pleased with each new animal I freed on the match 3 board, and each new animal I added to my zoo. The audio and visuals were nothing special, but the gameplay was clean, and professionally delivered. Multiple goals kept the game interesting. This is probably the most fun I've had with swap-style match 3.

You'll like the game if... You like cute games You love animals and zoos You like swap-style match 3 You won't like the game if... You're opposed to all match-3 games You avoid cute, happy games

My rating:

6 new games I tried . . . but didn't buy

One of my goals is to find the best games on the casual market, and then to share them with you in reviews. To find games worth playing and reviewing, I have to try a lot of games. Much of the time, you don't hear from me about the games I don't like, or the games that were only kind of fun. So, occasionally, I like to catch you up on some games that weren't worth buying for one reason or another. In order of release date, here are 6 recent releases that I tried but didn't buy. Ranch Rush 2: When I saw how much love this game was receiving from the casual game community, I decided I had better try it. You play a farmer girl who has to run around planting seeds, and loading up boxes with harvested plants. You will also need to deliver your harvested goods to the barn and water your plants. There are a few other time management games that have very similar mechanics. I'm glad that I tried this game because it reminded me that there is great variety within the time management genre, and not all types are equally fun for each person. Many of my favorite games are time management games. But this game confirmed that I don't enjoy this particular brand of time management. I'm not sure why. Thinking about it, I realize that my pattern is to avoid time management games in which you send some character dashing about. I almost always prefer a 1st person perspective (I did enjoy Mystic Inn, for example). Ranch Rush 2 didn't offer the type of challenge that I like. The planting, harvesting, and delivering, as presented here, felt boring. You might love the game, but I bailed after a short time. World Mosaics 3 - Fairy Tales: This is a puzzle game. And I wish I could own it . . . without paying for it. The "mosaics" you build are "paint by numbers" (or nonogram) puzzles. You have to use your logic skills to figure out which squares in the grid are filled, and which ones are empty. When I first played this sort of puzzle years ago, a completed puzzle ended up with a random array of filled squares at the end. But this game manages to make a picture out of each puzzle by adding a bit of color to the completed image. This plays just like the previous World Mosaics games, but this time, the theme is fairy tales. I love this sort of logic puzzle, and I had a great time playing through the first chunk of this game. But I just can't bring myself to pay for it. The presentation is attractive, and the soundtrack was surprisingly good this time around (if short in length). But at the end of the day, it's just a collection of paint-by-numbers puzzles, and the miser in me doesn't want to throw cash at a puzzle collection. But if it was free, I'd grab it right up! Midnight Mysteries 2 - The Salem Witch Trials: Here was me playing this game: "Hmm. This looks interesting enough to try." [downloads game and begins playing] "Okay, let's see. I need to find all of these items..." *yawn* [plays through the first scene] "Hey, a ghost showed up to talk to me." *yawn* [bails and uninstalls game] My opinion is that if you're going to design a HOG these days, it had better be pretty special. This new entry in the Midnight Mysteries series offered nothing to keep me interested. If you want more of the same mundane gameplay found in almost every other recent HOG, then you should try this game. The graphics are nice, and the interface is pretty good, but zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..... Little Space Duo: We get very few space-themed games in the casual world, so I pay attention when such a game is released. When I saw the intriguing screenshots for this one, I downloaded it right away and dove in. Not only were the controls and interface a bit tricky to get used to, but I couldn't even figure out how to pass the first level. I know I'm not a genius, but assuming the game gets even more complicated in later levels, one would hope that the first level would be relatively easy. The story was fair, as were the graphics. So I'll just keep looking forward to the day when some clever developer releases that superb space-themed game I'm waiting for. Be a King 2: Now this is a game that I would gladly nab, if the price was right. This is a building/strategy game. I typically really enjoy this sort of game (my favorite being Coconut Queen). It has a little bit of that Warcraft III flavor (with shooting towers and invading hordes). The graphics are very nice, the music is fair, and the production is nice overall. So why didn't I buy it? It doesn't seem to offer anything.....special. It was released on the heels of Royal Envoy, which is similar, but has something special to offer. The game is good, but not necessarily worth buying, until you've finished the other games you're more interested in. Still, this is an incredibly good production, considering the tiny development team. Would I buy it as a daily deal for $2.99? Maybe. Probably. Flux Family Secrets - The Rabbit Hole: This is a weird one for me. On one hand, the interface, graphics, and gameplay are all very nice. On the other hand, it violates one of my personal values, namely, the objectifying of women. This issue is rampant in the world. Everywhere, the image of the female form is used as a tool and a marketing gimmick. Within the first several minutes of this game, the female form was used twice - once in the form of a character drawing, and once in the form of a statue. Otherwise, the production is very good, and would like to see more games in this style. From what I saw, it included hidden objects and puzzles. I didn't see anything particularly innovative, but the presentation was on the high end of the quality scale. So there you have it - 6 new games I tried but didn't buy. You may wonder if I've liked any new games. Yes, I have, and you'll be hearing about them before too long.

Review - Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife!

A while back, I reviewed the Egyptian-themed marble popper game, Luxor 3. The game had many outstanding features, and it remains one of my favorite games to this day. When approaching the next game in the series, I wasn't sure what to expect. It could be better, the same, or worse. But which? That's what I'll tell you today in my review of Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife!

What I liked Amazingly polished production Soundtrack Graphics/Scenery Upgrades Theme/Setting Good momentum What I didn't like No clues for obtaining treasures Uninteresting story Different balls are only for looks

Quick Plot

An Egyptian lady is worried about something having to do with canopic jars and she's trying to figure out who is behind her troubles. She's worried about the afterlife, I think. (I skipped the story segments after the first couple because they just didn't interest me.)

Mechanics

Marble popping: As with all other Luxor games, this 5th entry is a sphere-shooting game. Your shooter slides back and forth across the bottom of the screen. It always has marbles of two colors to choose from. You right-click to switch between these two marbles. A chain of marbles comes rolling onto the screen. Your job is to launch marbles into these chains to create groups of 3 or more of the same color. When you fire, say, a green marble into a group of 2 or more green marbles, that whole group breaks and the chain automatically fills in the gap. If a chain enters the temple (exit) at the end of the marble path, you lose the level. So you need to destroy each chain completely before it enters the exit. When you make 3 breaks in succession, "drops" fall down. These are power-ups and treasures. The power-ups and treasures in this game are exactly the same as those in Luxor 3. (I wrote about them in detail in my Luxor 3 review, so look there if you would like to know more.) Power-ups give you a special one-time ability like a fireball that destroys all marbles in one area, or a color sorter that puts all marbles of the same color together. Treasures give you points. A certain number of points are required to unlock several items in the store. One type of treasure - ankh coins - are what you use to pay for items in the store.

Bridges level. The marbles look smaller as they get deeper into the chasm. Awesome!

Really, this game does almost everything exactly as it was done in Luxor 3. The only slight differences I noticed were:

• New levels
• New map travel feature
• New music
• Slightly different ball physics
• Different ball sounds

There are two ways to look at the similarities to Luxor 3. You can either gripe that there is nothing new or innovative in this game, or you can rejoice that there is more of the same goodness. Personally, I sit solidly in the second camp. I think that Luxor 3 nailed marble popping to something like perfection. And so, I can think of very few areas that could be improved. Let me list the few areas that I think could use improvement. These are very minor and nitpicky, but I think they could be beneficial.

• Marble types: You can unlock and purchase 3 additional styles of marbles in the store. But these offer a different look and nothing more, and I don't think any of them look as cool as the standard set. I wonder if the developers could think of a way to make these alternate balls somehow more powerful? Maybe when they hit, they shoot lightning out and destroy other balls? I don't know. But unlocking a new "look" doesn't do much for me.
• Shooter types: The same thing applies here. The unlockable shooters offer nothing but a look. Although the sci-fi shooter is so sweet-looking that it is a satisfying purchase.
• Treasure room: The treasure room is the same thing as a trophy room in any other casual game. In Luxor 3, you could mouse over the empty treasure slots in the treasure room and at least see the name of the treasure. This gave some clue as to how to earn them. For some reason, in Quest for the Afterlife, they give you no hints at all. So your only option is to play more, I suppose, and hope that your skills earn you those elusive treasures.
• Puzzle mode: Luxor 3 had a longer puzzle mode, as I remember it. For this newer game, they seem to have cut down the number of puzzles, and they are easier to figure out this time around. I would have liked more puzzles. Puzzle mode is a great feature where they set up a few stationary chains of marbles and you have to figure out how to destroy all of the chains with a limited, pre-ordered set of marbles. Some of them require you to actually time your shots just right, which is fun and challenging.

The treasure (trophy) room.

Highlights

Production quality: Expect the best here, folks. Games are rarely this fine in quality. While most recent casual games are like McDonald's or Jack in the Box in quality, Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife is like fine dining. The graphics are all very shiny and professional. The soundtrack, by Somatone, is very nice, as usual. The controls are easy, the physics are slick, and every element of the game is delivered with care. This is the sort of game I look for, and enjoy sharing with you.

Unlimited lives: One of the things I don't like about the Luxor games prior to Luxor 3 is that you have a limited number of lives, and you lose one each time you fail a level. To my delight, they removed this unnecessarily stressful feature for Luxor 3 and Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife. Features: There is lot to this game. You travel to many cities, with the difficulty always growing. But even on Hard difficulty, the game isn't too challenging for practiced marble shooters. As you travel around, you find pieces of artifacts. These artifacts, once completed, offer you some in-game benefit. The game also has, as I mentioned before, a puzzle mode that you can unlock, as well as an Insane difficulty. There is a treasure room, where you earn rewards for feats of marble-popping skill. There are many power-up upgrades to purchase in the store, as in Luxor 3. There are some great levels in this game, and as you progress, more new scenes show up. Some levels are more challenging than others, while other are more beautiful, or have interesting marble paths.

There are a few level modes as well, including:

• Classic: Standard level where you have to completely destroy a set number of marble chains.
• Statues: Marble chains go back and forth, slowly heading for the exit at the bottom of the screen. Statues pop up to impede the marble chains, shortening their path. You can destroy the statues.
• Swarm: A whole bunch of short chains race in and try to overwhelm you. You have to be quick.
• Crossing the Nile: The one chain you need to destroy travels around in a circle on the other side of a river. But there are several long chains of marbles floating back and forth on the river, blocking your line of sight to the other side. You have to break gaps in the river chains to reach your target on the other side.
• Battle: This is a new mode. When you track down a thief in the story, you have to fight him. Another marble shooter shows up on the top of the screen and you both try to quickly complete as many breaks as you can. Whoever is most successful, wins.

The map. Each blue dot is a level. Completed artifacts appear at the bottom.

Momentum: The game keeps you playing. I found it really hard to get up from the computer. The game beckons me to play "just one more" - you know the feeling. There is something so inherently fun about the mechanics of this game. And the more fun, the better the game.

Suitable for the family?

My kids watched me play some of the time. My son especially liked when I made a big deal out of catching good power-up drops. I can't think of anything that would frighten or disturb children. I didn't watch all of the story scenes, admittedly, so I can't comment thoroughly on the content. But I do know that the story involves Egyptian deities and theories of the afterlife, if that bothers you.

Luxor history

Here is the entire list of Luxor marble games, just so you can see the history leading up to Quest for the Afterlife.

1. Luxor
2. Luxor Amun Rising
3. Luxor 2
4. Luxor 3 (This is where the series turned awesome.)
5. Luxor: Quest for the Afterlife

And now they have a Bundle Pack, which includes both Luxor and Luxor Amun Rising. If you want to play these early games, save money by buying the package. If you like HOGs (difficult ones!), you might like to try Luxor Adventures, and if you're a mahjong fan, why not check out Luxor Mahjong?

The family man's final ruling

I'm amazed with this game, as I was with Luxor 3. It makes shooting marbles feel like something significant and important, as if you're part of something big. I don't know how those geniuses at Mumbo Jumbo do it. It's like magic. The game is dripping with ancient Egyptian theme (romanticized as it may be). The music is as good as it gets, and very fitting. The sounds and sights are excellent. Everything is polished and shiny to a high degree. Let me also mention that you'll get plenty of game hours out of this. I think the game clock was at something like 8 hours when I finished playing through story and puzzle modes. Most newer casual games can't boast that kind of play time. And each hour was fun. If you like marble popping at all, you won't find a better product, friends.

You'll like the game if... You like a fantastical Ancient Egypt theme You like quick action-packed gameplay You like bashing marbles and catching drops You are hungry for a high quality production You won't like the game if... You don't like shooting marbles

My rating:

Review: Burger Shop 2

If you've been following the recent casual game releases like I have, you're probably feeling let down. It is obvious that the standards for new games have been lowered. I have tried several of them, looking for something to review for you, and I just can't find anything good enough to play all the way through. Fortunately, today I (finally) have something worth reviewing for you - a tasty little time management game from 2009: Burger Shop 2!

What I liked Simple interface and controls Variety of features First-person perspective What I didn't like Not enough bonuses/upgrades Music

Quick Plot

You wake up in a dumpster. Someone has screwed up your life and burger business, and you're going to track down the dirty fiend while rebuilding your burger empire!

Mechanics

Time Management: This game is a very simple, straightforward, multitasking, time management game. Here's how it works:

1. Food and drink components come out of the BurgerTron machine on a conveyor belt.
2. Customers come in asking for menu items.
3. You pick up components off the conveyor belt and piece together the customers' orders.

Personally, I think the developers (GoBit) got off pretty easy here. They just had a clever programmer who came up with an algorithm for increasing difficulty (by means of more demanding customers, and an always increasing number of menu items). Then, they just throw 120 levels at you with 3 extra modes of play and their job is done. Genius. The game's mechanics are simple, but it keeps you playing. (Don't get me wrong, these developers are brilliant. I certainly couldn't code something like this. But I can see the game design for what it is.)

The interface. This is a standard breakfast level.

Your goal in the game is just to keep your customers happy by serving them quickly. As they wait, their patience meter goes down. If you serve all customers with 5-star happiness, you get a "Perfect" rating for that level. If you do pretty well, but don't satisfy every customer, you get "Expert." If you make too many customers ticked off, you get "Level Up," which just means you can go onto the next level, but with no honor. There are two reasons to push for Expert and Perfect.

1. That is what makes the game fun and challenging.
2. That is how you earn a number of trophies in the Hall of Fame (just your standard trophy room, as in other games - but this game has way more trophies than most games).

I was determined to get Perfect on every level, like I did with the Farm Frenzy games. But the last two restaurants were so stinkin' difficult, that I finally abandoned my Perfection Project in the name of finishing the game and getting it reviewed. But I did manage Perfect on every level before the final two restaurants, so that was cool. Also, you can replay any level, if you want to try for a better rating.

The stats screen after finishing a level.

Highlights

Interface and controls: Everything in the game is controlled with the mouse, as with most casual games. What's cool is how intuitive the controls are. Want to pick up 2 or 3 parts of the same food item? Just click them in succession and they automatically join up. Then, to deliver the food, you click it on the intended customer, or right-click, and the food will automatically deliver to the person who got there first. Need to get a waffle in the toaster quickly? Again, right-click the waffle, and in it goes. It is very easy to keep track of what's going on. You never have more than 3 customers at once. Breakfast always has the same types of foods, as do lunch and dinner.

One of 15 pages of trophies. You certainly won't run out of things to work for!

Variety of features: The game gives you lots of variety within the simple framework. For example, you'll get the following:

• 20 types of customers with different levels of patience, and different food preferences
• 120 levels
• 4 modes of play:
• Story (this is the standard one)
• Challenge
• Expert
• Relax
• Multiple bonuses you can add to your restaurant, including
• Freeze (temporarily freezes all patience meters)
• Speed (makes all food machines, such as ice cream machines, produce instantly instead of slowly)
• Traffic cone (puts a traffic cone at one customer seat, so only 2 customers can order at a time)
• Lollipop (adds more lollipops to your tray - these help to raise patience meters)
• Money (gives you extra money when you deliver the attached item), and
• BurgerBot (he quickly fills customer orders for you)

The Ninja. This guy orders stuff from breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus at every meal. Check out how I captured the screenshot right as one ninja was appearing from out of nowhere. w00t!

Perspective: This is a small thing, but it can make a difference. Many time management games show your character running around throwing things into ovens or serving tables. I find that I actually like games where I don't see my character, but rather, I see everything from a first-person perspective. I like this perspective in the Farm Frenzy games as well.

Issues

Not enough extras: I already said that this game is brilliantly simple. The downside of this is that the developers can only go so far before the basic mechanic becomes repetitive. They mitigate this repetitiveness by increasing the challenge. That works well for a long time. But, by the end of the game, I was glad to be done. Those last couple of restaurants were so mentally and mouse-handingly exhausting that I just wanted to be done with them. They weren't quite as fun as the easier levels. And if the fun level diminishes, what's the point?

The level map, showing your road to all 8 restaurants.

What I think they should have done was to introduce more bonuses or upgrades. Why stop with BurgerBot 2? Why not 5 levels of BurgerBot sweetness? Or longer-lasting bonuses? Anything to help ease the pain of those later levels would be welcome. This would have really helped the game I think. The developers piled on the complications, but didn't match it with numerous upgrades. It's not a big problem, but it would have helped. Music: The music was fair. It got the job done, but the few short tracks were repetitive and nothing special. I am continually dissatisfied with the way developers skimp on music to save money. I think music is among the top few features that keep me playing a game, or bring me back for a second play in the future. I can say that the Burger Shop 2 music is something I'd gladly forget.

The Clown. Probably my favorite customer because he orders completely random and odd dishes.

Suitable for the family?

There is nothing here to offend. The visuals are cartoony and everything about the game is diner-ish and bright. My kids liked sitting with me and telling me what they thought I needed to do. My wife likes the game, too. Count this as one for the whole family.

The family man's final ruling

This is one of the best time management games I've played. I was almost done with the game when my computer ran into issues and I had to reinstall the OS, and somehow didn't transfer my save games for Burger Shop 2. I had to start at the beginning, and still had fun going all the way through the game again. It's a light game loaded with strange humor at every turn. I think the Challenge, Expert, and Relax modes really aren't valuable offerings from the developer. I think these modes were easy to program and so they threw them in so that it would look like you're getting a lot of bang for your buck, but really it's just more of the same, and not really fun to spend a lot of time on, in my opinion. But just playing through Story mode is a great quick-mousing experience. If you're a time management fan, make sure to get this one.

One of the more colorful customers in the game.

You'll like the game if... You're a time management fan You like restaurant-themed games You like light, simple games You won't like the game if... You don't like fast-paced games You get frustrated trying to keep track of multiple orders at once

My rating:

Review - Tiger Eye Part 1: Curse of the Riddle Box

When I was asked to review Tiger Eye Part I: Curse of the Riddle Box, and was told that it was designed by the same team who developed the Nancy Drew Dossier games, I jumped at the opportunity. I finished the game a few weeks ago and I've been eager to share my thoughts with you. Today, Big Fish has released the game on their site, and so I will now give you my official two cents! Well, maybe three.

What I liked Mechanics Music What I didn't like Story/Writing Art Themes/Content

Quick Plot

Solve a bunch of puzzles as you work at figuring out what kind of deadly conspiracy you've unwittingly gotten yourself into, with the help of a genie-like hulk from the past.

Mechanics

Puzzles: This game is very puzzly. Azada fans should be pleased. You'll play a wide variety of puzzles, none of them very difficult. I never needed to use a hint on a puzzle, and I don't think you will either. HOG: When you're not solving puzzles, you'll spend most of your time looking for hidden objects. Usually, the objects have a related theme like "weapons" or "vegetables." The hidden object scenes were probably the most difficult and time consuming portions of the game. It always comes down to that last one pesky thing you just aren't seeing. Minigames: The game will throw a number of minigames at you, including but not limited to

• match 3
• puzzle pieces
• matching similar items, and
• word games.

Puzzle: Hang the weapons.

Highlights

Mechanics: The three mechanics I mentioned above were actually my favorite thing about the game. It was the only thing that kept me from running away from the computer to barf (more about that later). The HOG scenes were pretty fun, and usually made some kind of sense with the scene. A lot of times, you are looking for pieces of things. I remember liking the scene where I had to find a bunch of scattered pieces for a bicycle in an alley. Usually, you have a list of scene objectives at the bottom of the screen. You can carry them out in any order. Sometimes, you need to solve certain puzzles. Other times, you may need to collect a number of items, or put something back together. My favorite element was the puzzles, simply because I enjoy puzzling my way through brainteasers and such. You'll get a broad variety of puzzles in this game. You're given very good instructions for solving the puzzles, which is nice. There's a drag-chain type match 3 game you'll have to play several times, and it's just boring. The graphics are mediocre and the whole thing feels like a waste of time (to me). Every time you complete scenes and tasks, your hint ball fills up. It fills pretty rapidly, too. Once you save up 50 hints, you unlock the game's bonus material. This was very easy to do, and the reward was minimal. I think it allowed me to play "Dress-up Hari" all I want! And maybe one or two other little features that I didn't bother to remember.

Music: This is the other element of the game that I was able to appreciate. While I think Matt Sayre's work for the Nancy Drew Dossier games was more interesting than what he produced here, it's still better than most casual game music on the market. My only beef is that I really think a composer with his talent should upgrade his sample libraries. He could be pumping out high quality orchestra music instead of the more synthy sound you'll hear in this game. And I'll give the audio team one more thumbs-up: the voice-over work is actually pretty good. Not great, but it's believable.

The main character: Delilah, or Dela for short.

Issues

Plot: This, of course, is merely opinion, but I thought the story was . . . lame. I know the game is based on a supposedly well-known fiction series, but it just didn't draw me in at all. In fact, it seemed amateurish to me. It's primarily a romance, with a significant amount of paranormal weaved in. The "romantic" scenes between the two main characters made me sick to my mental stomach. I wanted nothing more than to be done with the lengthy cutscenes, and get back to the puzzles. And I don't think it's just because I'm a man. I really think it's a poorly written and unbelievable romantic relationship. You can decide for yourself. Artwork: A huge chunk of the game plays out as cutscenes, which advance the story. These are done in the same manner as the Nancy Drew Dossier games. A series of hand-drawn images depict the story events, timed with the voice-over and music. The problem is, the artwork isn't very good compared to some of the high quality casual games on the market. When I looked at the concept art, I was surprised to see that it actually looks much better than the finished and colored art in the game. I'm not sure how this happens. But heck, who am I to complain? I know it probably took those artists hours upon hours to finish their work, and it's better than what I could do. On a more positive note, I will say that the artwork for the scene backdrops is actually pretty good. It's about the same quality as the Nancy Drew Dossier scenes.

Hari - Dela's burly dream man from the ancient past.

Themes/Content: This is my main gripe, which I'll develop more in the section below. To summarize: I wouldn't play this game with kids around. The themes and visuals are more "mature" (as they say) than most casual games I've played.

Suitable for the family?

This really depends on how you feel about exposed male buttocks. (And that's probably the last time I'll use the phrase "exposed male buttocks" in a review.) As is often the case with game companies, the developers seem to be pervs, as evidenced by the repeated shots of Dela in nothing but a towel. I found myself actually laughing as there was one scene after the next of Dela heading for the shower. And then, to top it off, Hari goes to take a bath, and then hastily runs out naked to save Dela. This is where the male buttocks come in. Yes - you are actually forced to behold Hari's full hand-drawn moon. Twice. *shudder* He spends a good chunk of time with his shirt off, too, so that you can admire his muscles. And, of course, so that Dela can hug him. And she's always wearing small, stomach-baring shirts for good measure. And if that weren't enough, you'll get a chance to see Dela's unmentionables scattered around her hotel room at one point. Gagging yet? If not, then maybe you will be, after a number of other random sexual innuendos pop up from time to time. I don't remember the exact words used now, but I know the language was also family-unfriendly. I don't remember if it ever got worse than "damn" or "hell" and the like, but I remember thinking, "Whoa! Back off, game!"

The family man's final ruling

I really, really wanted to like this game. I wanted to see what the Nancy Drew Dossier team would offer this time. But what makes the Nancy Drew games so fun was missing here. I think that missing element is primarily a good story, and of course the object-matching mechanic that is still unique to the Dossier games. Curse of the Riddle Box was like a drippy romance novel with a casual game forced into it. And even though I'm not a fan, I think the popular Twilight stories do a much better job with this romance/paranormal genre. But the weird thing is, despite the crummy story, I found myself interested enough to keep playing, not because of the story, but because the puzzles and other mechanics kept me playing, as any casual game should. If this game had been published by a high-polish developer like Big Fish Studios or PlayPond or MumboJumbo, and had a good story to go with it, this could have been a great game. As it is, I don't know whether or not to recommend it. I liked playing the game, mechanically, but I didn't like the game in terms of story and themes. In terms of fun alone, I would have rated it a solid 4. If only the puzzles were a little bit more challenging, I may have rated it higher. Will I play the next game in the series? Probably, but I might skip the cutscenes. (NOTE: I have made many references to the Nancy Drew Dossier games in this review. Let me make it clear that Curse of the Riddle Box was developed/published by PassionFruit Games, who, if I understand correctly, did the development work for Her Interactive on the Nancy Drew Dossier games. Her Interactive produces all of the Nancy Drew-themed games on the market. I think Her Interactive's involvement in the Dossier series is what made the games come out so good. That's my suspicion anyway.)

Dress-up Hari.

You'll like the game if... You get shamelessly into mawkish romances You like paranormal stories You like the art and music style from the Nancy Drew Dossier games You like lots of puzzles and hidden objects scenes You won't like the game if... You don't like sappy romance in your games You only like top-notch graphics You want thoroughly challenging puzzles

My rating:

Review - Penny Dreadfuls: Sweeney Todd

According to Wikipedia, a penny dreadful "was a type of British fiction publication in the 19th century that usually featured lurid serial stories appearing in parts over a number of weeks, each part costing a penny." It appears that developer Playpond is bringing some of these old serials to the casual game format. The first of these is the story of Sweeney Todd. This story has previously been made into a Broadway musical, and you'll get a good dose of this in the game's cut-scenes. Today, I'll tell you what I thought of this penny dreadful!

What I liked Uncommonly high production quality Sung interludes Combination of HOG and adventure Grading system What I didn't like Twisted story Not enough puzzles

Quick Plot

Investigate some recent strange goings-on involving a priest, a young lady, a young man, a boy, a cook, and a barber.

Mechanics

HOG: You'll spend most of the game hunting for items in hidden objects scenes. They sparkle, so it's easy to locate them. The game plays out very much like Return to Ravenhearst or Dire Grove, mechanically.

Rooms like this will offer puzzles and hidden object scenes.

Inventory: As with other adventure games of this type, you will pick up a sizable collection of random items, which can be used in various places to help you advance. Puzzles: You'll get to solve a brain-teasing puzzle from time to time, but not frequently enough for puzzle enthusiasts like me.

Highlights

High production values: The Playpond team did what every developer should do: They polished and polished until everything was shiny. To be more specific, you can expect to get a return on your investment in the following areas:

• Slick visuals
• Orchestral music
• Well-planned hidden object scenes
• A plot to drive things
• Correct English
• Convincing voice-overs
• Good game length (approximately 4+ hours)

I'll expand some of this below. Visuals: Boy, they sure made things look good. That was what initially drew me in. Fonts, scenes, and interface - all very professional looking. The designers gave adequate attention to these little nuances, making their game look better than most others on the casual market. Audio: Being a composer myself, I'm attentive to the goings on in the music section of the market. Right now, with the economy being what it is, developers are skimping on music. As you might guess, I think this is a bad idea. Many of my fondest gaming memories relate to the music and the mental images it can stir up. One way for a developer to cut music costs is to hire a less-experienced or less-talented composer. You can almost always tell when they do this. Another way to cut costs is to provide fewer minutes of music. In this game, you'll hear the same few tracks repeated frequently (that's how they cut costs), but I'm glad to say that they at least hired someone who knew what they were doing. The orchestral score is quite nice, and fits the mood of the game very well. It was pleasant accompaniment for the gaming experience. And to make things even better, they hired voice actors, and good ones at that. Not only will you hear speaking, but you also get singing in this game. That's right. It's a video game musical! Between plot segments, you watch montages of still images depicting the characters and the topics about which they sing. I thought this feature was unique, fresh, and I was glad to have it. One voice worth mentioning is the unseen British detective who accompanies you through the whole game, offering regular doses of commentary. I really liked this voice. It added to the immersion and gave a human element to the gameplay. Hidden objects scenes: I've been weary of HOGs for a while, as regular readers will know, but despite this fact, I found this game worth my time. Primarily, this is because of the production values I've been speaking of. But, I will say that if I have to play hidden objects scenes, I like them to be done they way they were done in this game. You have a very manageable list of objects to locate, and they look really cool when you find them. And, of course, it helps to have the British guy talking to you as you search. There are three more things worth noting.

1. The HOG scenes will have you searching for a number of things that Americans won't be familiar with. Some of the terminology seems specific to English culture or history. So you might need to look a few things up.
2. I found that the developers were very good about making sure that the thing you are looking for is obviously that thing. So you shouldn't have to do a bunch of "guess" clicking. A snake, for instance, will very obviously be a snake, once you look in the right place.
3. The hints use a slow-refill system. Once you use a hint, you need to wait a while before using another.

One of many musical interludes.

Grading system: This game features a grading system. After each segment of the story, you are graded on

• how long you took to finish that story arc
• how accurate your searching was (it measures wrong clicks)
• how many puzzles you solved (as opposed to skipping them), and
• how many hints you used. (I think I'm right about this last one. Recall faculties...failing...)

This grading threw that bit of challenge in there for the serious gamer. If you want to "show your stuff," you can work at achieving a high grade. I got an A ("Nighthawk" ranking). I made it through without using any hints and I solved all of the puzzles. But, at one point, I forgot that it was measuring accuracy, so I was impatiently clicking on things for the heck of it - you know - "just in case" it's the thing I'm looking for.

Issues

Twisted story: I suppose I'm in the minority, but I'm just not into these twisted stories. The whole plot, which I won't spoil here, is just wrong on so many levels. It's just not the sort of thing I want in my mind. I'll talk more about this in the Family section further down. More puzzles please!: Looking back, I think I would have liked the game more if they had replaced some of the hidden object scenes with puzzles. The puzzles that were in the game were enjoyable, for sure. I just wish there were more of them!

Standard put-the-picture-back-together puzzle.

Suitable for the family?

Some of the imagery could definitely spook a little kid. The whole game takes place at night, and everything has a dark and ominous atmosphere, so this isn't a game I'll recommend as a family event. My wife stepped over to do some hidden object scenes with me, and enjoyed them, but I don't know if she'll ever play through on her own. She liked what she observed, which was very little. But, in case you're concerned with messed-up stories, I've spoiled some of the disturbing plot features below. Click and drag over the white text in the box to read it.

Sweeney Todd is a barber who ends up killing people with his razor, to take their valuables. The baker woman is using the dead bodies to make meat pies, and business is doing well. The aged priest character is corrupt, and he is determined to force young Johanna to marry him against her will.

The family man's final ruling

This game was fun. The whole production was well-done and kept me interested. The rainy atmosphere and dreary music have a way of pulling you into the story. There are hints for those who want them, and a high grade to work for, if you like a challenge. I would gladly exchange the story for one that isn't so disturbing, but they kept things pretty mild, for which I'm thankful. I recommend playing this game. The only thing that could have made it even better would be more puzzles instead of so many hidden object scenes. And, if you like bonus features, there is a Collector`s Edition, which costs more, but includes, according to Big Fish,

• Exclusive hidden object scenes
• Original puzzles to challenge and confound you
• An interactive strategy guide
• A new “theatre mode” to replay cut scenes and movies
• Spectacular full orchestral soundtrack

Beautiful (and chilling) scenery at every turn.

You'll like the game if... You like hidden object games You like adventure games You like inventory-based tasks You like dark stories You won't like the game if... You don't like finding hidden objects You want a bright and cheery game

My rating: