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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Farm Frenzy 2
Farm Frenzy 2 is the second in the Farm Frenzy series. It's a fast sequel; Farm Frenzy was first released in February 2008.In Farm Frenzy, you plant grass to feed your animals (hens, pigs, cows) and collect their goods (eggs, milk, meat) by clicking on them, sending them to your warehouse. You can sell the products at market, or build new buildings where you can process the product into higher grossing items such as egg powder or pie crust or desserts.
To earn money, you must load up your truck to the city to sell your goods. It's worth upgrading the truck and plane so they travel faster, so you can get the money back sooner (they must return before the money becomes available for use).
Adding to the fun, bears drop in and attack your animals. The bears have received an art upgrade for FF2, and I'll leave it as a surprise to the player how they now look. There is now more than 1 type, and I'll leave the teaser that I chuckled over them. You can trap them so they don't kill your animals and either sell them at market, or let them escape and run off your farm.
Farm Frenzy can be a lot to manage! If you run out of water, and don't have enough money to replenish the well, your animals will die. They all make very funny sounds as they perish. Sometimes the pace is a bit hectic, especially when 3 or more bears drop into your little space!
Each level will have specific goals (for example, amass 15 chickens or make 15 crusts). There are time bonuses to reach a gold or silver level, that gives you bonus stars.
Stars are spent to upgrade your buildings (upgraded buildings take more raw items and produce more output), pets (dogs can help with trapping bears; cats collect items on the ground), vehicles (can store more and go faster), wells (larger well, fill faster) and storage space. Smart use of upgrades goes a long way in this game! For buildings and vehicles, players may want to note that the upgrade only unlocks the upgrade for that level. The player must earn enough money during the level to upgrade them.
There are 19 awards available for both the goal-based levels and survival modes (which is unlocked by finishing half of the goal-based game). They range the gamut for breaking your own time record, finding the gags in the game, collecting products, or playing 10 consecutive levels without losing an animal.
What they did well: While similar to Farm Frenzy, the graphics are improved and are very cute. Levels are pretty challenging, especially if you're trying to get gold on all of them. There are 19 awards to unlock, including ones from survival mode. The UI (user interface) is much improved, and it's easier to track how much money you have and what goals need to be accomplished. Levels are quick and it's easy to jump in and out of the game. Some levels have the gold level goal as 1 minute 30 seconds!
What could've been better: Both the original game and Farm Frenzy 2 had only one song that plays during the levels. However, I enjoyed the original song, and did not like this one.
Recommended for: people who want to jump in and out of a game quickly, time management aficionados, and Farm Frenzy fans.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Azada: Ancient Magic
Azada: Ancient Magic is the next in hit series Azada ™. Created, produced, and currently only available from Big Fish Games, Ancient Magic is another puzzle game.Before writing the review, I replayed Azada. At the end of Azada, you free Titus. He says to keep in mind the words "Magic Book." Indeed, that is the trouble he calls you to solve. His great-grandfather Angus noticed that book characters had come to life, complete with bad and good personalities. They were complaining about not being read recently, or wanting more story lines. You are called in to help decipher what evil has brought the characters to life.
This involves flipping through pages of each storybook and solving the puzzles that arise. Some are search and find; some involve deciphering code. The answers aren't always apparent, such as when you bury a bottle of wine so it can become vinegar. When the puzzles are solved, the icon at the bottom right of the page will indicate that the page is complete. One of the items that must always be located is a card (almost like a Tarot card) that will 'free' the character from the book.
When the series of books are complete, the cards are collected in another book, and you analyze them for secret symbols to decipher which character is causing mischief. Symbols appear on the card as you look through the magic decoder ring. As in Azada, there are hints available for a time penalty, and orbs are earned to skip puzzles.
What they did well: You will be introduced to many childhood favorite characters. To name a few (but not give too much away), there is Rapunzel, Robinson Crusoe, one of the 3 little pigs, a character from Secret Garden.... It's fun to flip through the pages, and the satchel is handy for having the items from previous pages. There is more inventiveness in the puzzles, and I actually found them more fun than the first Azada. The story line also works well as a mystery, since the player is trying to figure out who is behind the evil. New music is an added benefit and also an improvement over Azada. Additionally, the puzzles are not as repetetive as in Azada. I giggled over how the garlic that was hidden in Dracula's kitchen had a BIG poison sign over it. The art is good for a puzzle game.
What could be better: While you do actually get to move from the library, which is an improvement over the first Azada, it's just to work the machine. Every time you finish with a set of books, it tells you to go use the machine. I found both the linearity and the reminder annoying. Why couldn't I wait to check the cards until I'd completed 2 sets of books? The cut scenes where Angus is explaining things have two buttons: a forward and a back. The forward button does not work. So I either had to skip through and miss the information, or wait the set amount of time before the text moved on to the next point. Unfortunately, the back button *does* work, but it meant I had to wait for the next few screens of text (that I'd already read) to complete their timer again. I also got pretty frustrated with one of the puzzles where you had to put things back in their original place from a hazy, black and white image. Finding where to put a necklace took me an annoyingly long time.
Even given the negatives, Azada: Ancient Magic is definitely a different and enjoyable take on the puzzle genre.
Recommended for: fans of Azada, puzzles, or brain teasers, or people interested in checking out the puzzle genre.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Road to Riches
Road to Riches is a large, 40MB download that is a business simulation.You're John, a loyal and hard-working trucking employee who is let go ("retrenched") by a boss only interested in lining his pockets. Through your friends' and families' encouragement, you start your own trucking business.
You start with one truck that is leased. The goal of the game is to take orders, indicated by an orange dot on a purple background. The truck drives to the dot and see what the order is (what's the load, how heavy is it, the delivery due time, and where it must be delivered). The player must make decisions and only choose deliveries that can be made within the timeframe, as late deliveries only pay half, and deliveries after 6 pm (18:00) are free.
At the end of the day, the game takes you to a balance sheet where you see revenue (what you earned) and then the costs associated with the business, including "fixed costs", gas (petrol), vehicle maintenance and depreciation, and a "mishap". A reputation bar is displayed on the screen. Reputation is built by delivering jobs on time. You can also choose different ways of advertising through the business tab. Both a good reputation and advertising work to bring in more orders. As the game progresses, you can both purchase additional trucks and drivers. (You can also "retrench" them for some karmic balance.)
Pick-ups and deliveries can be moved around as it makes destination sense through manipulation of the 'i' button from the main screen. Multiple trucks/drivers and managing the routes well will increase the profit margin.
You also have a pager that will buzz with additional immediate jobs, if you answer in 10 seconds. Other freelance jobs appear as well. In order to advance, there are objectives to meet, such as earning $5,000 with a positive account balance, or have 5 contracts, or own multiple trucks.
What they did well: it's a good simulation of many of the costs that are involved with trying to get a business off the ground. The story is fun and it is a challenging sim. It's nice to have a fast forward button when the truck is full and is driving around doing deliveries. The pause button is invaluable when trying to organize multiple truck deliveries for efficiency.
What could be better: the graphics. It's a top-down view on the city, and it gets boring to look at. The music is the same jazz-style song played over and over. Since there isn't much need for sound in the game, you might want to use your own soundtrack while you play the game. I found it difficult to determine what the drive time is from one point to another, so I recommend timing it the first few times you go from one location to get a sense of whether you can make the deliveries that you pick up after 4 pm.
Recommended for: fans of sim games.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
The Great Chocolate Chase
A new title from PlayFirst games, The Great Chocolate Chase is a Time Management takeoff of the popularChocolatier franchise.The player is Evangeline Baumeister, and start your first chocolate shop in Iquitos, Peru. The playstyle and strategy is similar to Turbo Pizza or Cake Mania, two successful time management games. Evangeline serves chocolate bars and chocolate sauce to customers who line up at the bar. The customers get a menu, take some time to decide, place their order, and Evangaline delivers it, then takes their money. Chain bonuses are available through multiple menu delivery, chocolate delivery, or money collection. There are 3 types of upgrades: decoration (nicer place makes for happier customers), machines (make them faster or produce more), and power-ups. The power ups either improve Evangeline's speed, increase the amount that can be charged for chocolates, or improve customer tips.
Of course the main goal is to keep the customers happy. The happiness level is indicated by color and lines of the box around the picture their order. I found this to be a little more difficult to interpret than the typical shaded hearts. As with most time management games, the more satisfied the customer, the bigger the tip. Angry customers will leave the store. Each level has a minimum amount of money the player must earn to move on.
What they did well:
Each level begins with a short journal entry written by Evangaline. Some of these entries contain important information about customers and their level of patience. Other entries are "quests" where a certain goal must be met (such as serving 3 people in a row or earning master level dollars on the level) in order to unlock ingredients. This is similar to the Chocolatier games, where the player runs across characters who give recipes and ingredients once the player has met certain goals. In The Great Chocolate Chase, however, the player only has that one level to meet the goal and unlock the item. While a player can complete the level without earning the ingredient, that ingredient will never become available. The story line is a very fun part of the game.
There are many achievements to unlock, and the player starts earning them very quickly. There is even a dubious achievement for discarding items! This system is very rewarding to players who like to earn achievements.
For fans of Chocolatier, players create all different types and flavors of chocolate, starting with plain dark chocolate bars. In later levels, other types of chocolate (light, medium) are added, as are fruit flavors and infusions.
They scale the levels well - the intro levels are easy to manage, and the later levels have just the right amount of hectic action to be fun.
What could be better:
I found that I had a difficult time telling the banana from the Amazonian spice in the dark chocolate. That was the most frustrating part of the game for me. Also, the system of showing the customer satisfaction wasn't terrific, and the background music was mediocre.
Otherwise, The Great Chocolate Chase is a decent time management game that players of Turbo Pizza, Cake Mania, or fans of Chocolatier will like.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Go-Go Gourmet, Chef of the Year
Go-Go Gourmet: Chef of the Year is the second in the Go-Go Gourmet titles. In this one, Ginger is competing for Chef of the Year against 7 of the world's best chefs.The play style is exactly the same as for Go-Go Gourmet - a mixture of hidden object and time management styles. The added twist is a like reality cooking show, where judges score the recipes (based on speed). Final point totals given each chef a placement. Chefs can even be eliminated! Go-Go Gourmet, Chef of the Year differs from the first one in that items no longer move around the kitchen like they did in Go-Go Gourmet. Each country's kitchen has a different layout, but the items are fixed.
Collectibles are plentiful. Every time the player places first, there is a bonus. Either an upgraded item (fry pan, chopper, etc), a collectible (vases, teddy bears, etc), or a bonus chef's outfit are added. The bonus outfits give different boosts - one makes Ginger faster, one adds bonus points to each delivered dish, and and one makes the judges more patient. There are even printable recipes that can be unlocked.
At each stage in the game, Ginger starts off with the basic kitchen, and must place first to get the bonuses for each country. In between the addictive, fast-paced finding and cooking, there are cute cut scenes where Ginger interacts with the other Chefs. There are also bonus rounds, which might involve placing items in their correct locations, collecting all of the items on a list, or picking up all of a specific type of item.
Go-Go Gourmet, Chef of the Year is similar to the original game (even the music is the same), but it is enlivened by the judging aspect. Its fast-paced levels are very addicting.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Jane's Realty
Jane's Realty, the third time management game in the Jane's Hotel series, has the player moving on from being a hotelier to developing an entire city.For each new level, the player must first purchase a water and electric power station. Based on the buildings being built, these stations will need to be upgraded. The building system works very similar to Build-a-lot. Land is purchased, cleared if there is junk on the land, and the houses are built. The interface system is also similar to Build-a-lot, where the player gets to pick what buildings to raise on the lot.
Once a house is built, the player furnishes the house. Each item has a heart level; the heart levels increase the amount of rent that a renter will pay. The longer the player takes to decorate, the "rent meter" goes down, so place the items quickly!
There are 25 levels. The interface is much better than that of either of the Jane's Hotel games, but is, in my opinion, too similar to Build-a-lot. However, I found Build-a-lot to be much more engrossing and challenging.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Restaurant Rush
Restaurant Rush is a sequel to Burger Rush, where the heroine, Heidi, wants to open a cooking school. Unfortunately for her, the dastardly World Culinary Federation believes burgers aren't sufficient to teach "fine cooking" and require her to open new restaurants and create world dishes. The profits Heidi earns will how she will earn approval.Restaurant Rush offers new and exciting opportunities. The most exciting one to me is that there are different endings based on the level of profit earned. So player skill and determination will make a big difference. There are new upgrades, including a Farmer's Market, where Heidi can improve the quality of the produce and meats, increasing the value of a recipe.
Upgrades occur via tokens. Tokens, as in Burger Rush, appear in the match screen, are earned by meeting level goals (extra tokens are gained by passing the Expert level), via bonus rounds (cook-offs, where you match items to make recipes against the clock), meeting specific goals for a level (such as serving 5 iced teas), and bonus items like a cash register in the match screen.
There is a lot of opportunity for strategy to figure out which is the most important: new recipes, upgrading side dish items such as tea and soup (players can upgrade both the quality and the number of matches it takes to unlock the side dishes for delivery), food quality (at the Farmer's Market), treats to keep the customers happy, desserts, and upgrading the Jukebox, which has different songs.
It also is fun because there are various cuisines. This means the player must choose recipes for each cuisine type as well as invest in cuisine-specific treats. I know my customers have been very happy munching away on some fortune cookies when Heidi is serving Chinese.
There are more than 50 recipes to purchase and 80 levels (via both gameplay modes). Restaurant Rush is a fun, engrossing match three game, and is highly recommended.
Happy cooking!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Forgotten Riddles - Moonlight Sonata
Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas is a hidden object game, but is a bit genre-bending, similar to Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate™. Currently, Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas is exclusively offered from BigFishGames, and is a top download.In Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas, you are an investigator assigned to solve the mystery of the Opera House, which used to be the home of famous composer and child prodigy Francis von Amadeus. People have reported seeing a ghostly, gaunt figure and to hear music playing at odd times.
Fans of hidden object games will feel right at home. Instead of giving a list of objects to find, there are musical symbols at the bottom of the screen. Players select them to get a clue. From that clue, they locate the object. For example, one of the clues reads "On a pedestal golden I'm Earth recreated; I display every country whenever I'm rotated." The player finds a globe and clicks on it.
When starting the game, players can choose two levels of difficulty: archaeologist (harder) and apprentice (easier). Interestingly, players can not read through all the clues, then click on the items in succession. The correct object is the only one that pertains to the current riddle. There are no points given or special rewards for fast selection. Players advance from one chapter to the next by solving the correct number of riddles(finding items).
The chapters have sufficient amounts of time, even in the archeologist category. Time wise, they provided 45 minutes to solve 40 riddles. There is a hint compass that starts with 5 hints. Random clicking results in a 40 second penalty.
One of the ways Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas is different from most other hidden object games are the puzzles that must be solved to unlock rooms. For example, on the first chapter, there is a stage scene, with items underneath the scene. The player must place the items in the correct places for the scene to change. Not all of the objects can be placed immediately, as the scene will dynamically update. Once the puzzle has been solved, the objects to be found will be located in the unlocked room or on the previous scene. There is a button at the right hand screen corner to switch back-and-forth. Another difference is that the hidden object, once found, does not become removed from the picture.
I found Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas to suffer from some repetition, primarily because of the setting. Using only one location (the opera house) was a bit limiting. Also, the story felt almost like an afterthought, as it wasn't well integrated into the game itself.
Overall, Forgotten Riddles: The Moonlight Sonatas is a good game and should please fans of hidden object games.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Fairy Jewels 2
Fairy Jewels 2, recently released for download from Big Fish Games, is billed as an marble popper. I found the play style to be more like Peggle than Zuma.In Fairy Jewels 2, you are a powerful sorceress who luckily manages to come along at the time that a fairy city has been destroyed. Your job is to free the fairies from their bubbles, which you do by shooting colored stones to clear the stones that surround the faries. The levels are timed. Shooting stones that do not connect with any other surface subtracts points from your score.
Of course, there are bricks and metal that block your way. You have to use angles off the bouncy side walls in order to free all of the fairies. I confess that I ended up playing through the 3rd level twice because I ran out of time!
Another task is to collect coins to help rebuild the destroyed cities. You "collect" the coins by shooting a stone at the coin and hitting it. Coins left on the level when the last fairy is released count as 25 points towards your score, but do not count for your coin total. There are also bonus rounds to collect additional coins.
Upgrades are available as the levels progress, including color rockets that you hit with a stone and change the color of the rows in the direction of the rocket blast (use these to get rid of bricks in the way); bombs, which blow up bricks (but not metal); and morphers, which become the color of the stone you shoot.
Overall, the music is well-done, especially compared to the world of most casual games. The dialogue left something to be desired from my standpoint, but I see this game becoming as addicting as Peggle.
Enjoy shooting!
Azada - 99 cent special!!
So, what do do now that McDonalds is upping their price on the dollar menu?Quick, act fast! Big Fish Games is running a special for Azada ™, the puzzle game, for just 99 cents! Yes, for less than the cost of a Double Cheeseburger or the same as a Frosty, you can have hours of fun! The special runs from August 8th to the 15th.
Azada ™ has been around for some time, so, if you haven't tried it, I highly recommend this game as one of the best puzzle games I've played. If you like crossword or logic puzzles, sudoku, or point and click, Azada ™ is for you.
The story starts out where you are in a strange room that looks like a library. A voice instructs you to investigate a specific book to help free an old man from his endless prison. Little bits and pieces of the story unfold as you solve the puzzles. There are 12 chapters, each of which has a unique puzzle to solve. Each chapter has a point-and-click puzzle to solve where you have to figure out how to use the elements you find. For example, in one room, you find a match, then a matchbox. You must strike the match on the matchbox and set a fire. While that may seem pretty easy to figure out, there were a few times I needed some hints on the point-and-click portions.
I occasionally found the instructions to be a bit unclear, but overall, the game is well designed and interesting. The puzzles are unique with no repetition.
So get it now, while the special lasts! Click on the Azada ™ link and enter "AZADA99" to get the discount pricing.
Happy solving, everyone!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Baby Blimp
Baby Blimp, by Youda Games, is a cute time management game. There are two alternating levels: one where the babies are "produced" on an assembly line, and a delivery level where the storks bring the little bundles of joy to the homes.In the "assembly" levels, requests come in for a specific baby type (girl, boy, no preference), and you pull the slot lever at the correct time for the correct baby to come out from the machine. You control the main stork, who is responsible for making sure they don't fall down, get a toy, fed, cleaned up, washed, a nap, and get sent back on the "assembly line" to be put into a chute and sent off. The more babies you can send off at one time, the bigger your bonus. You also get bonus points for completing the same action more than once. If the babies get unhappy, you lose points.
For the stork delivery levels, you can earn bonuses for delivering the same gender babies in a row.
Like most time management games, upgrades are available, both in the production and in the air force delivery levels. The production allows for additional help with the clean up, upgraded toys, more beds and washing stations, and more bottles produced at once. The delivery upgrades involve making the storks faster (for happier parents and more points) and adding to their strength so they can carry more than one baby. This will come in handy when the twins, triplets, and quadruplets start to appear! For extra dramatics, weather conditions sometimes cause a quandry for delivery - and the storks must be properly equipped to handle the weather.
There are also achievements to be unlocked. Each achievement is shadowed out, but you can hover over the shadow to find out what steps you need to take in order to earn the trophy.
I found Baby Blimp cute and fun, with the one complaint that I prefer time management games where I can hold and do more than one thing at a time. I found that I often forgot to throw the dirty cloth in the laundry, which made me fall behind schedule. Once I got the upgraded attendant, it was a lot easier.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Yummy Drink Factory
Yummy Drink Factory, by Amaranth Games, is a time-management, make-a-recipe game.The story behind the game is that a rude youngster gets lost in the woods. To teach her humility, a witch banishes her to a magical kingdom to work as a barista. She must learn recipes and serve the fairies the proper drinks in order to gain her freedom.
There are 3 main story modes from which to choose: Easy, where you learn 20 recipes, Medium, and Hard, where you learn all 36 recipes.
In addition to story mode, you can play just using recipes to earn gems with which to decorate your shop. The more pleasantly decorated the stand, the more patience your customers will have. You also can create your own drinks and play free-form with them, as well as share your drink recipes with other people who have the came.
The playstyle feels like a hybrid of Chocolatier and Burger Island. The music is Zeldish and cute, although I did get tired of hearing Scarborough Faire.
You can consult the menu at any time during making the drinks. You can prepare drinks in advance for customers. Kids may like the option of using slug slime and warts and fairy dust in their drinks.
Warning, though: instead of having profiles as many casual games do, this one has "save game slots" which means you can accidentally save over a game. Unfortunately, you can be in free-style mode and save over your story game, so be cautious.
"The Race"
The Race, a hidden object game, is available from the BigFishGames website today. The Race is developed by Gogii games.As the game starts, you choose from one of 6 teams. The appearance of the 6 teams are: muscles, hicks , "euro" couple, mom/daughter, grandparents, or Ken and Barbie. I wondered if the team choice influenced any of the play, but it does not appear to.
There are 3 venues: Country, Continental, and World championships. Starting out with Country, you begin in Canada. There are 3 sites where you locate 10 hidden objects, and "race" against the other teams to see which team can find the objects fastest. For each site, you get a magnifying glass that allows you to zoom in on the objects. There are 3 tools that help you to locate objects: a hot/cold cursor, a compass, and a time bomb that will send the team closest in time back.
The teams that finish first through third receive points. The points are talleyed for each country, and an overall winner is declared.
Like most hidden object games, there is a penalty (5 second) for random clicking. There are no bonuses for finding items in quick succession.
The music at the intro screen heightens excitement, but the music during the play is mediocre. Overall, this is not the most challenging or pretty hidden object game I've played, but it wasn't terrible. I found that the resolution of the magnifying glass was very grainy and unlikely to help me locate small or shadow objects. I was disappointed that a choice of teams had no effect on the outcome. Also, one of the things that keeps me replaying a casual game is having "achievements" I can unlock (such as getting 100% accuracy at 10 locations, or placing 1st 10 times.) This game did not have achievements.
I think this game would be great for kids, or people new to hidden object games, as it wasn't that challenging. It seemed to me that if I took a long time to find my first object, the other teams also got off to slower starts.
Happy hunting!
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