I raved about Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year. When the Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe started showing up, it both thrilled and worried me. It’s a marvelous game, but how could it be better than the previous? HipSoft succeeds to take the game to another level. I can’t wait to see how the company manages to make #4 better — if that in the works.

We get to go to Europe and work in its beautiful countries including England, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. While I love the varied locations, I would like to see more of the culture and architecture appear in the locations next time.

It has the distinction of being the most difficult Build-a-lot game of all. I have to replay a few levels especially one many times before I can finally conquer all the goals before time runs out.

The game comes with new features of including services buildings. These being fire department, police department, post office, and hospital. House catch on fire, people get hurt, and robbers break into homes. When you don’t have these services, you have to click the houses as soon as you can to prevent the crisis from getting out of hand.

Landmark buildings also enter the landscape in the form of clock towers, hedge mazes and two others. Landmarks not only add character to your neighborhood, but also up the appeal. With workshops and sawmills, and banks affecting the appeal of houses, the landmarks help make up for that.

When I read all the details of the new features, I freak. The details sound overwhelming, so I fear the game’s interface will finally become cluttered. Miraculously, the information / data screens stay clean despite all the things we need to track. We track workers, materials, goals, rent, and more.

Also new in this edition is the weather factor. When it’s freezing or wet, we all slow down, right? OK, those of us not born and bred in ice cold weather or wanna be mermaids. When bad weather hits, the workers slow down.

We also see run down homes. You can either upgrade them or smash ‘em to make room for something bigger ‘n better. It also gives us an opportunity to buy homes for less money.

The levels vary greatly to prevent boredom. One level may focus on money while another requires increasing the appeal big time. Rarely, does a level provide just one goal.

Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year could easily fall into the trap of your applying the same strategy to all levels. That won’t work in Build-a-lot 3. You must change your strategies to get through the game.

One thing that amazes me is casual mode. This would be the “endless” mode for the typical game with two modes: story and endless. Campaign mode is the main one. Casual mode has no clock requirements, but it’ll motivate you to better your scores time-wise. I never like endless mode, but find this one actually enjoyable. This extends the game play beyond story mode.

What can I say? I’m impressed with Hipsoft’s ability to retain the things that make Build-a-lot so addicting while adding new features that fit without weighing us down. {Hearty applause}

Download it from Big Fish Games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

Alice Greenfingers introduces a concept many of us forget about when playing casual games: Taking your time to enjoy the game. Alice can’t die or lose anything. That same concept carries over to Alice Greenfingers 2 without seeing much improvements on the complaints regarding the original.

The game opens with a slow and inefficient tutorial. I don’t notice Uncle Berry, sitting in a rocking chair, is talking to Alice. The location of the uncle and the dialog appearing just doesn’t catch your eye when you’re busy with Alice. That’s probably a good thing as the uncle’s character doesn’t grow on me.

Having played the original, I go for the shovel and the game tells me not to do that. I accidentally pick up dandelions and discover that’s what I am supposed to do. Then Uncle Berry comes to life and gives me instructions to clean the dandelions.

When I finish, I see an apple fall from the tree and pick it up. Once again, the uncle gives me instructions after the fact. I get way ahead of him as I shovel four plant plots. Sounds like I need to boss the guy instead of the other way around.

In fact, I’d like to turn him off and send him inside the house where he won’t bug me instead of wait around for him to leave. Regardless how I feel about Uncle Berry (my real uncles are great folks, thank you), the tutorial needs help.

Usually, you can click the screen or dialog to get more dialog. In this case, an “X” appears in the dialog. My first instinct is that it will close the box and skip the tutorial. It turns out the “X” works like clicking the dialog box to get more dialog. Little things like this add stress to the game as players have to work harder than necessary in areas where they don’t want to do the work.

Alice Greenfingers 2 has no stress-inducing factors unlike the original. A round doesn’t end until you meet the goal whereas before, it ended when the day ended and you keep going until you meet the goal. You also don’t set the prices or worry about watering in the beginning.

The best new feature is the upgrades that appear between levels. These upgrades include more plants, more land, more market space, more popularity with customers and more supplies. Of course, we get new plants like sunflower seeds. Also available for the buying are bees, sheep, and other non-plant related items.

The dandelions and apples are new features to the game as they don’t involve digging and planting. The apples also add $2 in the bank for every picked one. No need to sell them in the market. Occasionally, you’ll do special assignments for Unc.

This game may be too stress-free – not counting the usability problems — is there even such a thing? This game may not qualify as a game, but rather as an electronic dollhouse where you can do whatever you want.

Who wants to garden aimlessly? Garden lovers have goals for their gardens. They don’t plant everything they find and then leave it. They also have to deal with upkeep. Perhaps, having two modes would work well here with a Free Farm mode and Goal mode.

The graphics in Alice Greenfingers didn’t stand out and this one shows no improvement. I know I’m not the only reviewer to complain about the graphics in the original. I do like the graphics on the game’s title page and between levels. Had the game itself had similar graphics, it coulda been sumthin’.

I believe players won’t want to own both games. You might consider playing the demo of both games to see which you prefer. People looking to simply have fun without an ounce of stress or speed will prefer Alice Greenfingers 2‘s slow and untimed pace.

Download Alice Greenfingers 2 from Big Fish Games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

The movie business has changed a lot since I was a wee one. Movie theaters showed two or four movies at a time, not 16 to 24 that you see today. In Cinema Tycoon 2: Movie Mania, Mr. Pickwick hires you to turn his run down movie theaters into mega-plexes. Of course, rivals nip at your heels by upgrading whenever they can.

Every stage contains several goals to meet before saving the next theater. Most goals require earning so much money and implementing one thing such as two ticket windows or installing 16 screens. Players start a new theater with $5000, a couple of screens, and not much else.

Whether you’ve played tycoon-style business management games or not, the tutorial will familiarize you with everything you need to know. The reports contain more information than you need, so don’t let them overwhelm you.

You’ll need to stock up on food and drinks, select movies to show, price tickets and food, select upgrades in hopes to attract more theater goers, and run promotions. You can’t do it all as you only have so much money available. Plus, you’ll need to prioritize. Do you need to upgrade the sound system or do you need to change movies?

After you set up everything for the day, run your day. You can watch the ticket booth, concession stand, and movie theater all at once or view them one at a time. It’s not required to watch the day go by as the excellent reports will give you all the details you need. Cinema Tycoon 2 has a 2x Speed option where you can watch the action two times faster or simply push a button to end the day.

You might want to watch it a couple of times as it’s fun seeing what the game puts on the movie screen. It also has movie posters in the ticket booth window reflecting the current selection. The concession stand also contains the latest items you have in stock as well as the video arcade (once you make enough money to buy and grow the arcade).

“Hot” and “Cold” appear in the list of movie genres to help you decide what to play and not play. Sometimes, you won’t get a hint and will have to decide for yourself based on what you know about the current locale. Movie titles will make you smile with a lampoon of real movie titles such as “Hair Gel,” an obvious copy of “Hairspray.”

Reports come complete with arrows showing up, down, or no change from the previous day’s showing. You can also view line graphs or look at the data in table format. The dashboard gives you a quick overview of the day’s news and the previous day’s sales. Sometimes, a window pops up with commentary from a resident or colleague giving hints on what you might want to do.

Kids can learn a lot about running a business from Cinema Tycoon 2. It contains profit and loss reports, balance sheets, and loan options. Short on cash? Borrow up to $3000 from the bank or $5000 from a loan shark with much higher interest rates. Sometimes, you need to resort to both.

I think the game moves along too easy until I reach Level 8 where I keep filing Chapter 11. But I eventually conquer the level and go on to finish the game. Hence, it would make a great game for a family to play together or let the kids try it on their own.

Cinema Tycoon 2 deserves to have “Blockbuster” slapped on its game posters as it captivates, entertains, and educates all in one.

Download the game from your favorite site:

• Big Fish Games
• Reflexive Arcade

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

When Farm Frenzy 2 hit the download stands, I couldn’t wait to install it and start running my farm. Ohh… big mistake. I can’t stop playing the game and I have games lining up by the day waiting for my eyes and hands.

Like Farm Frenzy, the sequel has me taking care of animals, producing goods, storing them, and selling them so I can buy more animals to make more products. The circle of life on a farm. The original contains sheep, ducks, cows, dogs, and cats. This one brings back the cows, dogs and cats. It uses chickens for eggs instead of ducks, and the expensive ostrich for producing feathers.

The first paragraph of my original review applies to this one: Its fun, colorful, and cartoon-style graphics easily catches my youngest child’s attention. For me, the game keeps me up late as I’m keen on earning at least a silver star in every spot as I work my way around town. Of course, I love the graphics style, too.

Instead of cupcakes and wool, this one cooks up cakes, meat dish (at least, the game doesn’t sacrifice the animals), cheese, fans, hats, and an atelier. An atelier is a workshop and I suppose we’re making dolls or doll clothes.

I wish the game would offer hints for the very difficult levels. Getting gold rarely happens. Just reaching silver feels like a huge accomplishment. I’ve played all the levels and still have some levels to replay because I haven’t earned the silver medal. One level gives gold for those who complete it in three minutes and ten seconds. I don’t even come close. Hints, please!

As I work around paths, houses and fences improve with every level completion. I guess not only do we work to accomplish tasks, but also improve the little country side. Not clear, but it’s rewarding to see improvements.

This comes with awards, but some of the trophies don’t come when you think you’ve accomplished them. I replay an easier level and add cats and dogs so they would pick up all the products and cage all of the bears. But I still don’t earn the trophy. Some trophies need more explanation. For example, “For expedient production.” OK, what counts as fast enough to earn the trophy?

One trophy — that I don’t figure out right away — comes when you find all the gags. On occasion, a bear will peak out from the top. Click them and you’ve found a gag. Well, gee, I don’t want to replay all the levels until I find all the gags. The game never says to click these gags, so I miss them early on not knowing I’m supposed to click them.

Players must unlock unlimited mode by playing career mode. The trophy room describes some trophies as getting X things in “Survival.” Not everyone will figure out Survival = Endless mode.

Farm Frenzy 2 has a few kinks. Every now and then, the game freaks out and spews out an error message. It may take a couple of reloads, but the game eventually works again. Its loading speed isn’t as good as it should be. Waiting for the game to load takes longer than expected of today’s games.

Gotta run. Farm Frenzy 2 teases me with the few remaining blue spots (where I didn’t earn a silver). Obviously, it’s addiction and a joy to play.

Download it from your favorite site:

• BigFishGames
• Reflexive

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Diner Games, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games, Time Management

Playfirst has a hit with its Dash series, so it makes sense for the company to capitalize on more Dashes. This time the action occurs on a farm. Even Diner Dash‘s Flo appears in Dairy Dash, but that doesn’t help Dairy Dash win me over.

Oh, Dairy Dash still entertains and adds a component few have: multiple characters. We’ll get to that later. In the meantime, we meet the Smith family consisting of Mom, Dad, Emily and Ethan. They’re not quite the farming family. In fact, they’re the opposite and enjoy technology as much as any other modern day family.

One night, they go out for a family dinner at — where else — Diner Dash Flo’s place. Dad hears from Uncle Bill who reports his farm could go under if he doesn’t get more help or buyers. After talking to Uncle Bill, Flo tells the family she knows restaurants in need of good organic produce. Being the supportive family they are, the Smiths leave city life behind for the quiet and hard-working farm life.

Dad Smith starts feeding the animals, milking them, gathering eggs, making cheese, and growing crops. Mrs. Smith joins him and the two work in sync. The action feels frenzied from the get go and chaining feels unnatural. A little practice helps, but chaining doesn’t work as well as the other games. Furthermore, the game won’t let you cancel an action. At least, you can click a few actions ahead.

They call Emily to help when they discover Uncle Bill has another farm, but she refuses. Mom and Dad continue working on their own. Eventually, Emily and Ethan join them. The later farms don’t change much — things shift a little, but not drastic. In fact, drastic describes the fourth farm, which looks like something from 2010. Oh wait, that’s less than two years away.

A mini-game enters every few levels for a break from running around. One uses match three to sell produce, another involves picking good apples before they fall, and another catching fruit in a basket. Nothing spectacular, but not boring as some mini-games can be.

Story mode works as expected — hearing a story and making your way around four different farms for 52 levels. To move to the next level, you need to reach the goal score before the rooster crows. You can also challenge yourself to surpass the goal score and aim for the expert score.

Also, Flo calls from time to time with a request, so you never know when the phone rings. Mr. Smith occasionally has to stop farming to fix the truck so they can deliver the goods. These factors keep the game from becoming predictable and repetitive.

Endless mode provides three levels of difficulty. This one’s endless mode should please plenty as it begins with a goal score. When you hit the goal, a new goal appears along with more elements to increase the challenge. I’ve never been a fan of endless mode, but this one has a good set up instead of having players play until they falter.

The Smiths can fill up on lemonade for a boost of energy to move faster. Unlike most time management games, you can’t bribe the animals to make them happier. The game requires little strategy as the best thing to do is click and act as requests come. Because of this, Dairy Dash might be an easier game for the youngsters than other Dash games.

The animals look pitiful when they’re hungry or thirsty and not much else. In other Dash games, the characters ooze personality. Dairy Dash doesn’t have the charm or personality that we’ve come to expect of a typical Dash game. Moreover, farm-themed games have been milked to death, so Dairy Dash feels ordinary by time management standards. Nonetheless, time management fans will find it a joy to play thanks to its multi-characters and variety.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Diner Games, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

My people have returned! My people have returned! I don’t play any Sims-style games except Virtual Villagers (VV). I do like Sims games, but they require time I don’t have. But when it comes to the tribal crew, I’m there.

A human year has passed since we helped the villagers through their trials and tribulations in The Lost Children.

Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City takes our people to a new spot on Isola. They moved on from the other part of Isola to seek more land for their growing tribe. In landing on the northern side of Isola, they find an previous lived-in place.

Unlike past VV games, the tribe doesn’t start from scratch considering this was an abandoned city. All doesn’t come easy as they have to repair run down buildings and figure out how to get more food than the occasional mushroom. The tribe can’t go fishing in the shark-infested ocean, so they must brush up on alchemy and research to find other solutions.

Like the previous two games, the villagers can gain skills in five areas: farming, building, researching, healing, and parenting. Healing has been a difficult area to master, but that has changed with this one as the game offers more opportunities to build up a villager’s medical knowledge. Parenting is probably the most difficult to master — as it should — and repeatedly pregnant and pairing up of the villagers doesn’t quite help them master parenting.

Building up tech points takes a long time, so we must have patience. I hate limiting myself to checking on my people to twice a day. However, checking them too often resembles watching a pot boil. In the early years of the game, you’ll need to check in more often because food is a challenge. You will come to a point when it won’t be, but not for a long time.

The biggest new feature is the factions. Players need to choose between Nature and Magic factions. Nature helps with food while Magic increases longevity. This feature will compel players to create at least two tribes — one from each faction.

Other new features include having a tribal chief with special powers, a medical area, a special plant that only appears based on the chosen faction, weather, collections (turtle shells, coral, tablets, and feathers), and areas of technology (restoration, alchemy, and leadership). Science and Medicine appeared in the previous edition and return in Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City.

Villagers again come with likes and dislikes that can make some tasks harder or easier for them. Sometimes, you have to give up on the idea of helping one become an elder (mastering three skills) because a villager refuses to try something no matter how many times you push. The kids also take on traits from their parents. This time, they have an opportunity to become a master before they’re 18 because the tribal leader can give lectures once a day, which makes the kids smarter.

Also new to Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City is the trophies-type screen with 10 awards you can achieve. However, when you earn an award, it’s a non-event. The only way you know your tribe receives an award is by going to the awards screen.

You have four speed options. Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City continues to be a persistent game. This means that when you exit the game, they tribe lives on. I use the fastest speed and it’s still not fast enough. Really, you should savor the game and be patient. However, some of us don’t have that luxury.

Maybe it would work to have a sliding scale that outlines the human time and tribal time. For instance, a mother won’t do anything except take care of her baby for two years — 120 minutes (time depends on the chosen game speed) in human time. Or perhaps, add options to stop the game when food gets to zero. What do I know? I’m not a game developer.

The hardest part of the game — for me anyway — is leaving my villagers alone. I try to cut down to checking them two or three times a day (keep the fire burning, at least), but I jump in more than that. After completing 10 of the 16 puzzles, I need level 3 for the remaining puzzles and that takes hundreds of thousand tech points as I need to upgrade all five areas of technology plus my faction’s level. Ay yi yi.

Adventure / strategy games don’t run long because of the involved programming considering they have little repetition (like hidden object and arcade games). Yet, Virtual Villagers 3: The Secret City lasts a long time and gives players their money’s worth. I dare you to try it for an hour, if you’ve never played. Whether you’ve played the previous two has no bearing on this one. You can start with this and play the others later or start with Virtual Villagers.

No matter — you can’t help but love them like children. They have their moments and give you plenty of laughs with an occasional, “Aw, man!”

Download the game from your favorite site:

• Big Fish Games
• Reflexive through Game Center Solution

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

It may be this blog’s birthday, but the presents will go to readers like you. All the birthday details here. Here are the games up for winning!

• Reflexive contributes a total of 10 copies of three games! Some are for Mac.
  • Big Kahuna Reef 2: 4 copies (2 Mac and 2 PC)
  • Ricochet Infinity: 2 copies (PC)
  • Airport Mania: 4 copies (2 Mac and 2 PC)
• One full copy of Orchidia PC game from Joyboost. See Meryl’s Orchidia review.
  • One full copy of Spinword PC game from Joyboost.
  • One full copy of Astraware Classic Collection, which includes Astraware Sudoku, Astraware Solitaire, and Astraware Board games. Astraware is one of Meryl’s favorite — if not the best — developer of handheld software.
• Two full copies of Magic Farm Game PC games from Oleg Kuznecov of Meridian’93.
• Unicorn Castle from PC game from Oleg Kuznecov of Meridian’93.
• One copy for a reader and one copy for a guest blogger. My Magic Farm review.
• One Alawar PC game package including full copies of Virtual Farm, Curse of Montezuma, and Alex Gordon.
• Full copy of First Class Flurry PC game from Chanon Sajjamanochai of Viquagames. Meryl’s First Class Fury review.
• Full copy of Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper PC game from Mark Kanter of Bang Out Games. Meryl’s Lex Venture: A Crossword Caper review.

Filed Under: Arcade Games, Card Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Diner Games, Game News, PC Games, PDA Games, Puzzle Games, Strategy Games, Word Games

We give the casual game industry credit for not going flower crazy. Flower Stand Tycoon doesn’t have the distinction of being the first flower-themed game, but it won’t be the last. At least, we don’t see flower-theme games come out left and right like other themes. Players and reviewers appreciate it when the themes don’t come out in droves.

Anyway, Flower Stand Tycoon reminds me of Fairy Godmother Tycoon without the wacky and quirky characters and comedy. Don’t let the fact Flower Stand Tycoon doesn’t quite measure up with Fairy Godmother Tycoon stop you from smelling the roses. Fairy Godmother Tycoon stands out from the tycoon crowd, so I don’t expect to see one come close to matching or surpassing the game.

In typical casual game fashion, the game starts off with the story of Uncle Potts who wants to grow a flower business. However, he has no business acumen as he specializes in bioengineering and would rather discover new flowers. He hands off what little he has of his business and lets you take over beginning with picking your avatar.

As you begin, the game guides you through the features and how to manage the business. Figuring out the game its controls involves a learning curve, but the competition doesn’t enter the game for a bit giving players time to feel comfortable. While you can build up to buy more stands, it’ll take time to get to that point as you need to upgrade, discover new flowers, and take over several areas of the city.

Stock up your inventory, set the prices, and let the day play it out. You can speed up the day (as you don’t do anything except watch customers, their reactions, and the profit numbers climb (you hope). So often, I just end the day and not bother waiting around. Is the game still playable when I do this? Yes. There are lots to do — I have to figure out which upgrades to buy, study reports, determine how much cash to invest in research and marketing.

I also study the areas to see where I want to sell next. The game provides population, demand, and popular item information. Reviewing this information makes an impact on your sales, one big plus about Flower Stand Tycoon. Make decisions do matter and you see the results of those decisions. News and reports also aid decision-making.

You have a say in how many of each product you want to sell. However, the numbers jump as they get larger beginning with 20, 40, 60, 100 and then 200. No 75 or even 150. At one point, I had customers buying an average of 70 to 80 of a flower, but 100 is a waste. Whatever they don’t buy doesn’t always carry over — a big problem in the game. While it makes sense for flowers to do before we can sell them, the game isn’t consistent in its handling of leftover inventory.

When competitors come to play, the neighborhoods receive different colors based on the company that holds the leading share of the market. Between competitors and all the information available, players have plenty to think about and decisions to make. The game’s strength is its ability to let you go in almost any direction. The only thing you can’t jump around on is buying certain items. Some items call for buying something else first.

Unlike many business games, you don’t deal with goals for every level. In fact, sometimes I’m not sure where I am going except to overtake the competitors and earn lots of profits so I can upgrade everything and discover new flowers.

Flower Stand Tycoon runs for a long time and offers many upgrades and other options. While it doesn’t win gold medals or green thumb awards, the journey of managing a business complete with marketing and reporting makes the game a worthy play.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

When you play as many time management games as I have (and many more exist that I haven’t tried), you wonder if it’s possible for a developer to come up with more undiscovered surprises. First Class Flurry answers, “Yes!” And, no it’s not an Airport Mania copy.

I don’t dream of becoming a pilot or traveling the world free as a paid flight attendant. Sure, I want to see the world, but I’ll have to do it the traditional way — shell out the bucks. Nonetheless, First Class Flurry satisfies — and way more than a Snickers bar.

Like the old airline, Braniff Airways, Starlink files for bankruptcy. But wait a minute. Like Braniff (as Braniff International Airlines, Inc.), Starlink comes back to life under a new owner. Claire, the flight attendant, happens to know the right people including the owner. The owner hires Claire as the lead flight attendant to ensure passengers are as happy as larks.

Not so fast — not as easy as you might think. You deal with sick, whiny, demanding, and honeymooning passengers of all ages. In typical time management fashion, players must reach the minimum score to move on to the next level. Time management kings and queens, challenge yourself and shoot for the expert score every time.

Claire starts working on a diddly economy flight, but play well — and she can move up to business class, first class, and finally royal first class. Her job involves making meals, fetching drinks, finding lost handheld devices and diamond rings, and handing out other comforts of the plane like headphones, pillows, and sleeping masks.

Claire tracks orders, recycles the trash, and somehow has to watch for annoying kids who cry because they can’t find mommy or they want to pester other passengers. After you earn enough points, you can buy a tray to carry three items and even four. Not often a game lets you carry more than two things and I like it!

Travelers also come with hearts for your monitoring their happiness levels. When the levels dip below unacceptable levels, you lose points. Quickly giving them what they want will keep them smiling. You also have the opportunity to simultaneously boost everyone’s happiness by spraying air freshener — can only use once per flight.

Another way — and you’re stuck with a captain who thinks too much of himself — is to quickly serve the captain whatever he (yes, “he” while the flight attendant is a “she”– don’t blame the messenger) wants. Once he’s happy, the whole flight smiles in adoration right back at the captain. The guy has an ego, but I love my job anyway.

The flights can fly in one of four locations: North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Pick any to start and fly for the duration of the economy flight. Finish that and you select another spot for business class. As you travel to new locations, you’ll notice some culture in the air. Plus, learn or refresh your knowledge of flags for different countries in the flight map.

Turbulence? Of course, there’s turbulence and it interrupts your work. Forget whatever you’re doing and make a run for the phone to warn passengers of impending bumpiness. Then help the lazy ones buckle their belts and get to your seat all within seconds or else enjoy a nice headache.

The game works beautifully with the mouse and its two buttons. Right-click anytime to cancel an action. Click ahead to get Claire hopping in doing a bunch of tasks in a row. It’s a lovely thing to have almost complete control over future actions. Although, the game occasionally gets me by having a passenger cancel his order and I keep trucking along unaware.

Upgrades and tasks can make or break a game. First Class Flurry aces the test. Upgrades change the look and color of the airplane, add features and décor to relax the passengers (hint: make them happier and more patient), and speed Claire’s movements. Some upgrades come with a few color options. With each flight class, you start over on the upgrades. You may or might not be able to buy all of them before the end of the flight class — just depends on how well you play.

Way past the game’s halfway point, the game continues to surprise with new dishes and features. So the tasks don’t feel repetitive especially in food preparation. On one flight, Claire makes burgers and fries. On another, she makes salmon (takes three steps) and sandwiches (also three steps). The station locations — such as the emergency kit and the magazine rack — also change around so you can’t get comfy.

First Class Flurry is almost perfect. Its wonderful all-around production values overshadow the few scrapes. For some, the pace can get frantic a little sooner than they would like. Some dishes are hard to distinguish especially the noodle family. That nuisance goes away after a little practice. Aptly named First Class Flurry is indeed a first class game. Take off and go play it!

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Diner Games, Game Reviews, PC Games, Strategy Games

I love games where they make me feel part of the story by letting me interact with the scene and its objects. Such stories contain puzzles where anything goes and you find them in Azada, Dream Chronicles and Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor. Artfully illustrated Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House comes with a game full of puzzles for solving and a few hidden object scenes.

As Natalie Brooks, players inherit her grandmother’s house only to find that the city plans to move or destroy the house to make room for its new road. Natalie starts a petition to help keep her grandmother’s house where it belongs and discovers the house has secrets of its own as well as some of the city’s citizens. Natalie learns she can trust no one.

Natalie’s story appears in comic strip format between scenes and in her conversations with people she meets in her unexpected adventure. The story captivates, but typos and imperfect grammar detract from the story at times.

Players need to pick up objects to add them to the inventory. These objects work together or with items in the scene to solve a puzzle whether it’s to open a safe or build something. Natalie also keeps notes in her notebook, but they don’t come in handy.

While the playing beguiles for a few hours — two sittings at most — the game has serious flaws. It feels like the developers wanted to make a deadline regardless if the game is complete. Solving the puzzles to make something happen almost satisfies though the story and some of the game don’t come together.

For example, scattered postcard pieces appear throughout the game. Nothing comes of them. Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House ends without a reference to those postcards. What’s the point? To offer a mini-game without purpose? No, it needs to have a purpose. Another time, I copy down a series of numbers for later use. The code never has relevance.

The incomplete postcard mini-game is one of many issues that caused the game to surprise me with its abrupt ending. It reminds me of Lost — more questions than answers, but everything in the TV show has a purpose (supposedly).

Natalie comments on things players click. That’s another annoyance – the first time she tells us, it’s fine. But she repeats it every time we click near the item in trying to find nearby things. I understand people miss the commentary on the first click and want to see it again. There has to be a more effective way to do this. Funny, I miss a few comments (because I accidentally clicked the screen to make it go away) and couldn’t bring the game to repeat itself.

Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House includes a few scenes that let you find hidden objects to gain bonus hints. These scenes appear in the first half of the game only to never be seen again. This makes the game feel uneven. The hidden object scenes should show up evenly throughout the game.

Some scenes come with a mini-game. For instance, one calls for a slingshot where you need to make all the circles light up to open the cage. I find the slingshot and look for something to use with the slingshot until my eyes hurt.

Stupid me. I click the slingshot and the target — the game automatically gives me what I need to shoot at the target. Yet in other similar games, I collect the “bullets” myself. So inconsistency is another problem.

Some scenes and puzzles are easy while a couple of them trick me. I think experienced gamers might call this one easy, but I’m glad I played the game despite its incompleteness.

Games in this genre tend to run short because of the work that goes in creating original puzzles as opposed to repetitive puzzles (hidden objects, match three, etc.). Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House isn’t the shortest, but it could stand a little more game play.

The “little faster than classical” and “slower than rock” sound fits the game’s atmosphere. It isn’t my favorite, but that’s a personal opinion and not a judgment of the sound quality. The attractive illustration engages and wows.

Flaws aside, Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House doesn’t feel like a waste of time. Its blending of wonderful art and a variety of puzzles prove entertaining.

Try Natalie Brooks – Secrets of Treasure House.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games, Strategy Games