Features

Flo can’t get enough of working in a diner as she returns for her third dining adventure. Actually, she’s ready for a vacation and goes on a cruise, but loses her luggage and needs to get some cash. Sounds like a scene from my busy family life only without the vacation.

The game comes with two modes of play, one where Flo works endlessly serving customers and the other with goals and levels. The week I played the game was a long one between the kids having Monday off in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and then having another day off thanks to sleet that appeared unexpectedly. So it was good to take a break with Flo.

Having played a few variations of these games — the only differences being the job and locale — Flo and I got annoyed when we had nothing to do but wait for the diners to finish their meals. The tables were full or no one was waiting to for a table and no one needed help. The other games had a way to keep me busy.

A few levels thwarted my attempts to meet the goal and move on to the next level. It got irritating when it took more than five times to reach the goal as I’m an impatient gamer with little time on my hands. I know the game needs to challenge me so I don’t reach the goal easily every time, but over five times of repeating the same level makes a player crazy.

I liked the variety of customer types (nine) from families and couples to young kids and moms only. The restaurant also gets upgrades every couple of levels, but some upgrades like the pool and umbrellas don’t help with the game play. Adding special drinks was a nice touch giving Flo a way to turn angry customers into happier ones. The upgrades should contribute to making customers happy.

After 10 levels, I earned a change of scene from ship to train. Once again, Flo left her baggage in the cab — back to work on the choo choo. 13 is usually a lucky number for me, but not this time having done level 13 over 10 times with no success. I started to feel like those customers who express their anger, and switched to Endless Mode for a change of pace. All in all, it’s a challenging game and Flo fans should relish this third edition.

Other editions

• Diner Dash 2 Restaurant Rescue

• Diner Dash

System Requirements
Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
700MHz or faster Processor
128MB RAM
DirectX 7.0 or later
3D video card with at 4MB video RAM
13.1 MB of available disk space