Archive for January 2008

Yeah, yeah… this game has been out for a while. Having played the preview, I didn’t play it again since I moved on to other games that needed reviews. Flo is so popular that she hardly needs reviews for attention, but when I play something — I review it. Flo doesn’t disappoint as Diner Dash: Hometown Hero (DDHH) adds new buildings, twists, and features to keep the series from becoming more of the same.

But I also wonder why some things don’t get better with the newer releases. The customers still come in crudely drawn monochrome (by today’s standards) colors — blue, green, brown. Wedding Dash proved it’s possible to create interesting looking customers without looking like stick figures.

Diner Dash games continue to be the hardest ones to play in its genre and it doesn’t stop here. I don’t get very far before they have me banging my head on my desk. I can’t be that lousy of a player at these games since I manage to get through other tough diner games including Turbo Pizza — an insane one.

Flo returns to her hometown to find it in near ruins, so she and Grandma help at the restaurants to try to drive up attendance at a variety of locations. She starts working at the zoo and makes her way to the ballpark, museum, and amusement park. Customers also don’t always order, eat, and tip since some order more food.

Beware the game comes in two different versions for PCs. Diner Dash: Hometown Hero Gourmet Edition, which comes with online multiplayer mode, new restaurants for purchasing, and other features that require connecting to the Playfirst server. The Mac version only comes with the basics — no connections or extras.

This game is the first to have meta-transactions where you can purchase more diners, waiters, and restaurants from the boutique. A restaurant costs $4.99 in real-life bucks. Items like clothing, accessories, and décor mostly cost less than a buck. Unfortunately, it requires having the Gourmet Edition to take advantage of these features.

Online multiplayer mode lets players compete against one other player by racing around taking orders, picking up tips, putting away dishes, and all that. Or for those jumpy about competition, try cooperative mode where both of you work together instead of against each other.

Flo also gets an assistant who is more of a pain than helpful. You can’t help but feel like you’re racing against the assistant. Plus, you don’t know what the assistant will do that you start to head to a table only to have the assistant beat you there.

As usual, players earn bonuses by chaining, seating customers by color, keeping customers happy, and placing customers at the right tables so they stay far away from customers at nearby tables who like to chat on the phone or having crying babies.

I’m not into changing outfits, but many others enjoy the feature and this one comes with plenty of new outfits. As you progress in the game, you get to choose the style for upgrading the counters, floors, tables, walls, plants, and so on. However, sometimes the game might only provide two choices instead of three if you don’t reach the Expert score.

If you haven’t played other versions, it’s not necessary to play those before this fourth release. Those who buy the regular edition will feel like the game hasn’t changed much other than new locations, different story, and taking care of customers with reservations. Though most of the new features come in the Gourmet Edition, the regular edition keeps the Flo franchise going strong.

Gamezebo has tips and tricks as well as a walkthrough guide for DDHH. Thank goodness. I went bonkers trying to get through a few levels and these came to my rescue.

Download and try Diner Dash: Hometown Hero

System Requirements

Windows OS

• Windows Vista, XP, 2000
• Pentium III 700 MHz or faster processor
• 128 MB RAM
• 800 x 600 minimum screen resolution
• DirectX 7.0 or later
• 30 MB available hard disk space
• Internet connection required for Together features (multiplayer, sharing content – PC only)

Macintosh

• Mac OS X 10.4 or newer
• G4 800 MHz or newer processor
• RAM: 128 MB
• Minimum Screen Resolution: 800×600
• Hard Drive Space: 50 MB

• Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles
• Top 100 Social Media Sites
• English Pronouncing Dictionary with sound
• How to Write a Thank You Note: This is a wonderful article from the late Leslie Harpold tat’s right on target.
• Already break a resolution? Sick of that co-worker in the cube next to yours? Messed up with your kids? Threw away a recyclable item in the trash? Confess! TrueMomConfessions. TrueDadConfessions, TrueBrideConfessions, TrueOfficeConfessions, and TrueGreenConfessions give you places to do it.
• Words to avoid: See the surge of words and phrases that popped up post-9/11 to avoid. Webinar is not the new whatever. It is what it is.
• Wacky Warning Labels: <begin sarcasm> What a great idea! Remove the child from the stroller before folding it</end sarcasm>.
• Top 101 City Lists: Rankings for cities, zip codes, and more.

Considering the numerous releases of casual games this year, it’s tough to put together a list of the best ones. I shared my top 10 and others share their thoughts.

Also, Joel of Gamezebo does an excellent job of capturing the life of the casual game industry in 2007 and what the future holds.

Sites with best casual games of 2007 lists:

• Gamezebo
• Blogcritics nominees: Part I and Part II series on a year of gaming in review.
• MSNBC (click “Next” at end of introduction to see the games — or save clicks and see list below.)
  • Planet Puzzle League
  • Picross
  • Nervous Breakdown
  • Prism: Light the Way
  • Peggle
  • WarioWare: Smooth Moves
  • Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
• The Adrenalin Vault
• Gametunnel
• JayIsGames
• USA Today picks for best kid games

Some of the award winners won’t be announced until later in the year including the Zeebys presented at the CGA conference.

Ted Demopoulos and I had an interesting conversation about blog names back in 2006. He delves into the topic again with the following posts:

• My favorite blog name: His favorite is Escape from Cubicle Nation.
• He asks Seth Godin what he’d name his blog today if he were starting a new blog.
• Three blogs that won’t change their names.
• Treating blogs like book titles reflects on an excellent entry from Wordrider.
• How a blog name changed a person’s life.
• More blog name discussions and three that won’t change.

I honestly don’t know what I’d call my blog if I started it today. I don’t discuss one specific area of anything, which is not a good thing. The most successful blogs focus on a single topic.

What can I say? I’ve always been a Jane of all trades and it hasn’t hurt me — thankfully. I did come up with a name I liked better than Meryl’s Notes — but it still doesn’t reflect the blog’s topics or keywords — “Meryland.” The domain was taken (I did get meryland.org), but this blog was too established to make a change.

A few folks suggested Meryl’s Pearls, but it does not work. Meryl is two syllables and rhymes with beryl not pearl or Merle. Meryl’s Perils would be the right one, but who wants such a term for a name?

If I were into fashion, Apparel Notes from Meryl might work. Kind of bland though.

Conclusion: Naming children is far easier than naming blogs, sites, and books!

One of my favorite gigs is doing game reviews for here, The Diamond Games, and Gamezebo. It means playing games without feeling any guilt. Plus, when I can’t focus or complete work tasks — I go to the games knowing that I’m working on a review since it doesn’t require focus (well, most don’t).

The casual games industry has come out with many entertaining and absorbing games this year. Most of these games are responsible for those nights where I stayed up past my bedtime.

Rather than sorting the best ones by category, we simply pick the top 10 and list them in alphabetical order.

1. Build-a-lot: One of the more original games that also hooked Paul.
2. Chocolatier 2: Another original game that is even better than the original Chocolatier.
3. Cradle of Rome: A match three where you do more than quickly make matches and score enough points. You also have to try to “find” the towns people by making specific kinds of matches.
4. Dream Chronicles: A hidden object and puzzle game with a nice story, beautiful scenes, and great puzzles.
5. Farm Frenzy: Old MacDonald’s farm was never more entertaining.
6. Gemsweeper: I never liked Minesweeper, but this one reeled me in.
7. Miss Management: The cartoon graphics, character dialog, humor, tasks, everything makes this one stand out from the management games.
8. Peggle
9. Wedding Dash: I like Diner Dash, but I liked Wedding Dash better because the customers are drawn better and the game is more doable than Diner Dash, which is too hard.
10. ZenGems: A different twist on match three with gorgeous visuals and great sounds.

Worthy noteables

• Azada: Challenging puzzles.
• Virtual Villagers 2: Play G-d to the adorable villagers who have their own personalities. The ending knocked it out of contention. While games are about the experience, not the ending… this one tells a story and it feels like it ends abruptly without giving all the information.
• Fairway Solitaire: A creative solitaire game that takes Golf solitaire to another level.
• Mortimer Becker and the Secrets of Spooky Manor: Awesome graphics and fabulous puzzles. Too short.
• Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate: Engrossing story, superb graphics, and clever puzzles. Missed top 10 because of a strange ending.

Love to hear your favorites and why.