Game review: Pizza Chef

It's very difficult to classify Pizza Chef into a type of game. There's a little bit of time management in it but not a whole lot. There's a bit of three-in-a-row but that's not the entire game. It's almost like a mix between Cake Mania and Bejeweled with a shape puzzle tossed in. The basics of the game are simple. You try to match three objects in a row on your board as customers at your counter order pizzas. The pizzas are in various shapes and sizes. As you match the objects on the board, you open more spaces for you to use. In these spaces you fit the shape/size/type of pizza that each customer wants. For example, if a customer wants a rectangle-shaped pizza, you need to open a space that is 2-squares wide by 4-squares long. Then you place the customer's pizza in that space to "bake."

The bizarre combination in the game makes it interesting for awhile. However, when the levels start to get more difficult, it just gets annoying. It gets difficult to find matches in the shapes that you need them before your customers get angry and stomp off. I really think that the game designers should have picked one type of game and stuck with it instead of trying to mix two very different genres together.

Game review: Dream Day First Home

Hm, I thought I had written about the Dream Day series of hidden object games but apparently I haven't. Well, you're in luck because a brand new piece of the puzzle has arrived. First we had Dream Day Wedding where you were preparing for your wedding. Then we had Dream Day Honeymoon where the newlyweds went on a tropical vacation. Now we have Dream Day First Home. I really love how each of these games progresses not only the overall storyline but also the playability. In Wedding, you have a very basic hidden object game with a bit of a Choose Your Own Adventure piece stuck in. When we moved to Honeymoon, the basics stayed the same but the difficulty got bumped up a notch. This time around, we are given more to customize - from the type of house the couple moves into down to what furniture they will put in their rooms. There is still a great hidden object game with a few little surprises but it's really the addition of the mini-games that makes it a blast.

Since the series is geared towards women, I'm not sure that men would find it interesting. Besides, there are enough games out there geared toward the boys, right ladies? So roll up your sleeves and jump into the wonderful world of home ownership!

Game review: Dirty Dancing

When I first saw the Dirty Dancing game on Big Fish Games, I shuddered. What sort of game could they make based on an 80s movie? Would it be any good? Despite my worries, I downloaded the trial to see for myself. The game is basically a bunch of mini-games thrown together in the Kellerman's setting. You go between the various cabins playing all sorts of games. There's a hidden object game where you have to not only find the objects on the list but also find keys for drawers because some of the objects are hidden are even more hidden. Another of the mini-games is a sort of matching card game. Instead of being a typical memory game, you have to figure out the pattern for matching the cards or you'll still have cards left in your hand. There's also a difficult time management game. You are given four employees that have to help the customers in all aspects of checking into the hotel. Everything from walking them into the hotel, checking them in, showing them their room, cleaning the room afterwards and showing the customer to their car. It's really difficult to keep everything going with just four employees and the flood of customers that walk in. If you don't get to the customer IMMEDIATELY, they get pretty ticked.

I think there are 10 mini-games total. While I played most of them, the games just aren't very interesting. You have to play each of the games over and over in order to "win" that particular cabin so you can move onto the dance lessons with Johnny. Unfortunately, the game just isn't as much fun as it should be. There's nothing dirty or dancing about it. They could have named it Camp Kellerman and the vibe of the game wouldn't change any.

Game review: Agatha Christie: Peril at End House

While I was never a fan of Agatha Christie's novels, I have found myself drawn to adaptations of her novels. It was Agatha Christie no Meitantei Poirot to Marple (Agatha Christie's Great Detectives Poirot and Marple), the 39-episode anime series, that first drew me into the world of Hercule Poirot. This time I found myself playing the Agatha Christie: Peril at End House video game. Peril at End House is the story of the attempted murder of Nick Buckley. As Poirot, you must unravel the mystery of who would try to kill the current owner of End House and why they would even bother as the estate is rapidly falling apart. Each of the main levels are basic hidden object games. However, in between each level, you are given different types of puzzles in order to find more clues to direct you to a suspect.

I really enjoyed this game. The hidden object levels are difficult enough to make you think yet still easy enough to keep you from getting frustrated. That difficult-yet-easy rating follows through to the in-between levels. Sometimes you will need to match a suspect to a clue, which means you need to pay attention to all of the clues you come upon in the main levels. Sometimes there will be a ripped newspaper clipping that you will need to put back together. Sometimes it will be trying to figure out the combination to a safe. All of these tasks have a hint of difficulty in them but they are still easy enough if you pay attention to the clues. I have to say that I can't wait for the next Agatha Christie game to come out. I hope it's just as fun as this was.