Hotel Dash: Suite Success

In the new installment of PlayFirst’s dash series, Hotel Dash: Suite Success, Quinn decides to expand her wedding business by offering honeymoons. But the hotel business can be more complicated than one thinks, with rundown estates, sabotages, ghosts, and guests who do not get along with each other. Why you have to enjoy this new game with a pinch of salt will be explained in this review.

Hotel Dash: Suite Success features two different modes: story and endless. Story consists of five different hotels with ten levels each, in which you always have to earn a specific amount of money to proceed, and an even higher amount to reach the expert goal. The point of the endless mode is to survive as long as possible. In each of those five hotels you can choose between three levels of difficulty and can afford to lose five guests until the game ends. More experienced players will be very glad about the endless mode, because the story mode lacks any challenge known from previous similar titles.

The click management gameplay resembles former dash games (such as Diner Dash or Wedding Dash), but features some interesting new twists. Guests will wait near the entrance for you to drop them onto one of the free rooms of your hotel. If you match the color of a guest’s clothes and the color of the room, you will earn bonus money that can be used to buy upgrades along with your other earnings.

On top of the money you can also earn stars by upgrading rooms. Let’s say you upgrade one room with one star – in this case you will earn one star each time when a guest checks out of this room. These stars can be used to upgrade one VIP-room in every hotel, but unfortunately those upgraded VIP-rooms have no influence on the actual gameplay.

Elevators connecting different floors are the main new feature of Hotel Dash: Suite Success, which Flo, Quinn and the other guests have to use to move inside the hotels. Different services, items, and rooms are on different floors, which simply means that the elevators are the key element in every hotel for handling the requests of guests. On top of that Flo is privileged when it comes to using the elevator, so that guests have to wait for it on a regular basis. Fortunately you can also upgrade a cart for Flo which enables her to carry up to six things at the same time to shorten her ways as much as possible.

Flo has to fulfill numerous requests for the guests, such as carrying their suitcases, delivering food, towels, or pillows, checking out, or making wake up calls. Apart from that there are also disasters to avert, which will be familiar from the Wedding Dash series, and those disasters are actually the only situations where Quinn is brought into action. I think it is a pity to include such an important character of DinerTown in a game, and then to barely use her.

The variety of guest types has even increased compared to former dash games, and this feature sets Hotel Dash: Suite Success game apart from other time management games. These guest types differ in their patience, their preferences and their behaviors, and it really takes some time to get used to those differences and to incorporate those in your own strategy. VIP guests won’t let other guests go past their rooms if they stand outside waiting for something, ghosts will spook other guests, don’t use the elevator and don’t eat, while the fashionista brings along three suitcases instead of one.

Particularly because of the large number of features, twists, guest types, and tasks I really don’t know why this game has become the easiest of all dash games. It is possible to breeze through the story mode easily and reaching expert goal at first try in every level, without developing any special strategy. Thus the reward of finally beating a very tricky level is completely lacking, which will be a great disappointment to many players without a doubt. However, the pace of the game is still quite fast, so that you will at least feel entertained despite the easiness.

Apart from this lack of challenge, the game delivers the usual dash experience, without irritating bugs, a charming storyline, and adorable graphics. When it comes to quality time management games with quirky stories and interesting twists, PlayFirst still is the company to look at. Hotel Dash: Suite Success is as polished as it could be and will meet the expectations of most dash fans. The endless mode somewhat compensates for the easy story mode, so that there is also a challenge for the more experienced players.

Review by David Becker

Gamezebo Inc.

Cake Mania Main Street

Basic Idea as I See it:
This Cake Mania is a time management game to the fourth power. Jill and have moved back to her home town of Bakersfield to find it mostly shut down due to the opening of a mall close by. So she brings in her friends to open their own shops to help raise money to spruce up the town and attract more people. Of course, Jill opens Evans Bakery, her new husband, Jack, opens up a burger joint, Tiny opens up a sushi restaurant, and Risha opens up a flower shop. All of the shops have 25 of their own levels and a different dynamic of time management play. The goal is to make as much money as possible – half of which goes to the town to buy other tourist attractions and to upgrade the shops as a whole, while the money the shops keep go into upgrading the equipment inside.

Graphics:
Cake Mania Main Street pushes the super bright and colorful envelope. The storyboard part of the game is comic like, which is entertaining. I would suggest taking the time to watch these the first time through, because once skipped, they’re gone for good. The shops themselves, products, and characters are all very distinctive and pleasant. There are even people walking by outside the windows. I also like that there is a proactive environmental aspect to the town view… no cars, only bikes!

Sounds:
The background music in Cake Mania: Main Street feels a little outdated, but doesn’t get in the way. I can’t really imagine different music while playing and I believe that it changes to create the appropriate environment. The sounds that are part of the game, such as when customers enter the shops, use their talents to affect others, or when items finished cooking/baking/growing are distinctive in the best way. They alert without distracting and add to the overall experience and entertainment of playing.

Controls:
Mouse controlled. The game creates a custom cursor while playing, which is pretty cool. The control concepts, click to move, click to create, etc. are easy to grasp, and thoroughly explained in the tutorial. The one thing I have to say here is that it’s not always effective. Either the clicking has to be precise in location or timing. I found that sometimes, for instance, Jill wouldn’t put the cake down, and since players can click ahead, mistakes happen much easier when one click in the chain is missed, causing slight frustration, but not failure.

Flow:
Players start with Evans Bakery to attract people to the town with Jill’s famous cakes. After playing through a number of levels there, the option to open Jack’s Burger Barn is granted. Once through a few burger-flipping levels, flower arranging becomes an option. And once some bouquets are made, it’s Sumo Sushi time. I appreciate both the ability to jump around to the different shops without having to completely finish one before playing another as well as the ability to get used to one mechanism before taking on a new one. The monologues before each “day” in the shops could be a little disjointed that way, but the flow to the actual game play is pretty seamless no matter what players choose. Hint* if it gets a little too difficult, start the level over and try different equipment upgrades.

Fun Factor:
I had a good time trying out all the different shops, meeting all the different characters, even buying up more tourist attractions for the town. Cake Mania: Main Street offers challenge to keep it exciting, variety to keep it interesting, quirky characters to keep it amusing, and quality game mechanics to keep it fun.

Female Aspect:
This game seems to be pretty geared toward females with the colors and types of shops involved, without being too overtly girly. The cast of characters and customers seem pretty balanced in both gender and personality. I will say that I was looking forward to the “girly”est one – the flower shop – the most. I like that the main character, Jill, is a strong female in that she’s a successful small business owner who is proactive in her community and stands up for what she believes in while still living a full life with a husband and a new house and… other things.

Replay Value:
Although opening different shops bring a nice variety to the time management aspect of the game, one time through might have been good for me, personally. I don’t feel the pull to compete with previous scores since I played to the “Supserstar Goal” the first time through each level (which does make the first playthrough last). It is possible and easily accessible to replay any completed level, though it is tough to remember which level is which just looking at the picture/map of each shop. Maybe with clever titles instead of the day numbers, it would be easier. Replayability might be helped in Cake Mania: Main Street with the addition of new specific time/ score challenges with limitations on equipment or space, the ability to try previous levels with different equipment upgrades, or with completely separate mini games. I think that some of the other tourist attractions might have served well as mini games.

Final Thoughts:
I like this game. I will say that there is a bit of mushy lovey doveyness, but that is balanced out by the edginess of some of the other characters. I like the concept, the story, the ending, and the overall positivity that came from playing it. While I do wish that there were a little more to it – like what do I do with all this money the town has earned when I have bought/opened/upgraded everything? – it will please Jill Evans fans to continue her life’s journey. If time management is your bag, or even if you are new to the genre, this is a good bet because of the variety it affords. It’s a pretty good collection of different time management opportunities all on one sweet street!

Review by Dawn,

Gaming Angels

Nanny 911

Nanny 911 is a time management game based on the reality TV show of the same name. You take on the role of one of three professional British nannies called to help parents learn how to discipline their children if the family is to be saved.

With Nanny Claudia your goals will be easy; Nanny Matilda will take you on a tougher challenge. Play on Hard mode and against clock with Nanny Betty.

Basic Controls, Goals, Discipline Meter.

At the bottom of the screen you have Dad’s and Mom’s Goals. You can tell parents to complete an action by clicking on them with a white cursor.  Check your goals often as new tasks may appear. Praise parents to reinforce good behavior or give them negative feedback if they are doing something bad or idle. To do it, just click on the thumbs up or the thumbs down button.  Each time you give mom or dad feedback, their discipline meter fills. Fill it up and their bad behaviors will go away for the rest of the day.

Changing Diapers, Nap Time, Stop Fight.

When you see a toddler crying and thinking about a diaper, it’s time to change it. Click the toddler and the changing table. Thinking balloon with “Z” over the toddler head indicates it’s time to bed.  When kids are fighting you can see a cloud with stars. Click on them to stop it.

Meal Time. Barbecue.

First set the table; get the food in the fridge and cook it. Then set mom and dad to the table. Once the meal is done wash the dishes.

It may happen that one parent is blocked and you can guide just one of them. There are Study and Family Time In the game. Playing with kids will down parents’ stress level.

Review from Awem com

Farm Frenzy 3

Farm Frenzy 3 is the fourth title in the Farm Frenzy series, a time management game where you have to meet different, and sometimes conflicting, goals like owning five goats or baking 10 cakes.

A new central character of the game is Scarlett, a country girl who’s as smart as she is pretty. She receives a letter from her African friend. His farming business has hard times. And the president of the Farmer’s Union Mr. Orson doesn’t want to help poor farmers. Scarlett sets out to win the presidency by helping the farmers get back on their feet the old fashioned way: working hard! So she travels to different continents to manage five farms and try her hand at penguin breeding and jewelry making.

You’ll sling hay in 95 outrageously fun levels, tend to 30 lovely animals (including walruses and llamas) and buy more upgrades than there are ears in a field of corn! What’s more, as you grow crops, feed animals, collect produce and manufacture goods, you’ll be treated to some of the zaniest animation to ever grace a casual game!

While challenging, Farm Frenzy 3 game is more balanced than earlier installments of the series. You can breed poultry instead of buying them, for example, and dress the bears you catch in silly outfits and sell them for more money.

If you’re serious about getting gold on every level, you can still dig down to the heart of the Farm Frenzy series: lots of strategy choices, and easy ways to test them as you work your way towards perfection. But I only felt compelled to keep playing this time because of my experiences with previous Farm Frenzy games. If this had been the first in the series, I don’t think I would have bothered replaying levels multiple times to get the gold.

Review from Squidoo

Cooking Dash – DinerTown Studios

Cooking Dash – DinerTown Studios tips

Celebrity Power-Ups

• There are three different types of celebrities who leave over three different power-ups when they have done eating. Take into account that all these power-ups are activated in the very moment where you grab the empty plate of the said celebrity. You have to work that aspect into your strategy how to use power-ups. If you grab celebrity plates when no one sits at the bar anyway, the effect of those power-ups will vanish without any worth for you. Leave those celebrity plates always until you have already seated and perhaps even served new customers.
• The Celebrity: This star has even two advantages. For one thing, customers seated next to him want to have taken a photo with him. Simply click on them if such a request appears and the customer as well as the celebrity will gain patience hearts. For another thing, when he has finished his meal, he leaves the speed-up power-up. This is the only power-up where it makes sense to activate it when no new guests have already been seated:

• The Starlet: You should know about her that she is very sensitive to noise, even more than other customers, so try to keep her isolated from the Director (in the waiting area) and the Cellphone Addicts (in the waiting area as well as at the bar). At the bar she not only increases the patience of the customers directly sitting next to her, she also leaves over the “hearts”-power-up. When you grab her empty plate, all customers currently sitting at the bar will gain hearts. This power-up should only be activated when you have already seated new customers, and it is particularly effective if there are rather impatient customers who have already lost some hearts in the waiting area:

• The Director: This short-tempered guy can get very noisy in the waiting line, so seat him as soon as possible, because he quickly gets on the nerves of all other customers. When he has finished his meal he leaves over the “instant-eating”-power-up, which is extremely effective when you activate it after seating Bookworms and/or Kindly Seniors. When activated, all customers currently eating will have finished their meals immediately.

By David Becker

Hotel Mogul

All is fair in love, war, and business. At least that’s the case in the time management and building simulation Hotel Mogul, where the unfortunate protagonist Lynette has just gotten a rotten deal in divorce court!

Lynette has only been married one month, and her husband Barry has just unexpectedly asked for a divorce. To make matters worse, she’s going to lose her business too, since her husband stands to win it all when they split. Who on Earth is responsible for that prenuptial agreement? Her lousy lawyer and best friend, who claims she must have missed that clause. Yikes. Determined not to give up (and not to hire the new lawyer she so desperately needs), Lynette decides to start a new business and find a way to reacquire her old company. I won’t spoil the plot, but there’s plenty of surprising twists.

The game play method is nearly identical to Build-a-Lot when you start. You are given a certain amount of cash, and a number of materials and workers when you start. At the top of the screen, you can also see your bank account, income, and guests, as well as your level goals. Essentially, you need to build up various properties as you play. You can buy extra materials and train extra workers as you go along, which you need in order to build, repair, and upgrade the different structures.

There are three types of structures you can build – hotel, commercial, and service. Hotels include any buildings where guests may lodge, ranging from cheap campgrounds to posh hotels. Commercial buildings generally increase the value of surrounding structures, like gardens that improve the value of whole rows, and statues which greatly improve the two adjacent properties. Service buildings include the construction mill, the real estate agency, and the museum. These give you powerful bonuses, like the ability to use the rapid construction power-up and repair all your buildings at once.

You can also buy available property by clicking on it when it goes on sale. Similarly, you can sell your properties by putting out a “for sale” sign. A cellphone will appear to indicate an offer, which you can accept or decline. Property is only available for a limited time, so you need to complete interactions before the offers expire. Property can also increase and decrease in value, depending on items you build, but also on random factors.

Buildings need regular maintenance, so you are frequently asked to repair or clean them. If you’ve built the wrong type of building, you can always demolish it. There are special conference checks, which you can earn by clicking on them when they appear over a hotel. In an interesting twist, you earn upgrade points as you play, which you can use to unlock new build types and facilities.

To keep things challenging, you have a basic income goal to meet, but also have the chance to earn the expert score and beat the expert time goal. You can replay levels to aim for these, adding some replay value to the game. While there is a timer, it’s optional. You need to beat the level within the time frame in order to earn the expert goal. However, you can still proceed to the next level even if you exceed the time limit, provided that you meet all the goals. In this sense, you really can’t lose.

The locations are interesting, including spots as diverse as Egypt, Hawaii, and South America. Despite these drastic localities, the game play remains the same in all. The production values are good, with suitable sound effects and music, and attractive graphics. It’s fairly challenging, even after just a few levels, and the pacing is very good. It manages to be hectic, yet attainable. The length is also fairly good, taking roughly 5 or 6 hours to beat, and that’s not including replay.

The tutorial is alright, but glosses over some concepts important in the game. If you’ve already played Build-A-Lot, this won’t matter much, but it might be tougher to follow if you’ve never played this sort of game before.

The biggest issue with Hotel Mogul is it’s lack of originality. It doesn’t add anything particularly unique to the building simulation genre, and lacks some of the greater depth of later Build-A-Lot titles. While the mechanics certainly work, and it’s fun to play, it doesn’t stand out as something innovative or particularly exciting.

If you love hectic building simulations, and can’t wait for the next installment of Build-A-Lot, then Hotel Mogul is definitely one to try. However, if you haven’t played many building simulation games, you might want to start with others in the genre first.

Review by Lisa Haasbroek

Gamezebo Inc.

Passport to Perfume

Join Sophia, an adventure-seeker and perfume extraordinaire from the 1940’s in Passport to Perfume as she travels the world to find the illusive scent of Marie Antoinette’s own fragrance. Mix, match, and create new scents all while managing your own shop in this new time management title brought to you by PlayFirst and Mean Hamster Software.

Sophia is running her own small perfume shop when one day a man named William gives her a mysterious parcel containing her late father’s diary. Inside he lists the mysterious ingredients and locations of their lifelong dream: to rediscover and create Marie Antoinette’s very own fragrance. Filled with a whole new motivation at the prospect of attaining their goal, Sophia decides to expand her own shop and fly to the various locations with the intention of recreating the secretive fragrance and stocking it in her own shop. But she must hurry, knowing she’s not the only one trying to find it.

Passport to Perfume is a classic time management title with interesting and original new twists. In addition to managing the Perfume Shop in three different locations, for a total of 48 combined levels and weeks, Sophia must travel to various locations around the world to find her ingredients for her perfumes. These locations are interpreted as hidden object levels, in which you must find all the ingredients on the list to complete and return to the Perfume Shop. There are 15 total.

Another original aspect is the ability to create and mix your own perfumes in three varieties: Floral, Asian, and Woody mixes. Ingredients discovered and obtained during outings (hidden object levels) will be added to your House Blends menu, allowing you to mix and match to find the perfect combination of filling speed and value.

Furthermore, players will be required, like any store owner, to stock items for their shop such as bottles for House Blends and other types of perfumes. Various upgrades are also available for purchase which will enhance your shop, machinery, and customer experience.

The gameplay for Passport to Perfume is very well done. Customers have a good patience level, and moving around and managing tasks is relatively easy to do even in the later levels. Everytime a new item or feature is added, the game will initiate a series of hints or a small tutorial. The difficulty level is also very forgiving, allowing newer players to be able to complete the days without too much hassle, however it’s not adjustable. The amount of money earned throughout the course of the weeks is really dependant on the unique House Blends the player creates. And the House Blends menu: well, let’s just say it’s a whole lot of fun.

However, there are also drawbacks to Passport to Perfume. The hidden object levels are extremely obvious and far from a challenge: a disappointment to hidden object fans. When playing on the actual time management levels, players will also have to be careful to click specific machine buttons instead of the machine itself: clicking on the machine itself to make it work, which tends to be second-nature in time management titles, will only make Sophia set the perfume there: the machine itself won’t do anything until the button is pressed. Sometimes this can hang up gameplay.

Furthermore the story, which started out strong and interesting, is very poorly wrapped up in the end and gives the impression of being very rushed and sloppy. The lack of voices and artwork accompanied by large dialogues without names makes you wonder what’s happening and who’s talking, and chances are even afterwards you won’t know. The dramatic developments near the end of the story are often just mentioned in the beginning of the ending levels, making it very anti-climactic and disappointing.

Yet that’s certainly not enough to write off Passport to Perfume, which boasts very fun time management play and a very creative perfume-making menu and feature. The game is set up in such a way that both new players and experienced ones can really enjoy the game without getting stuck. For those who’ve finished the game and want more of a challenge, there’s also an Endless Search mode available. Overall, a good game with a good length that time mnagement fans should enjoy.

Review by Tawny Mueller

Gamezebo Inc.

Youda Sushi Chef

If you want a sushi game that really teaches you about sushi, you’re about to get your wish. Youda Sushi Chef is a deliciously frantic time management game that has you rolling up maki and serving nigiri to an endless barrage of hungry customers. Aside from the rapid pace, it’s full of quirky originality, and definitely not your typical restaurant dash.

As a budding sushi chef, you’ve invested all of your savings into your new sushi business, and you have just one week to make it work. How’s that for pressure? As both the new owner and chef, you certainly have your hands full.

Customers come in and place their orders, which are shown in picture images above their heads. Your job is to create those orders as quickly as possible. There’s a recipe book full of ingredients which must be properly combined to create each sushi order. For example, you can make salmon sushi with two servings of rice, one serving of nori, and one serving of salmon. Once you’ve gathered the ingredients, click on the bamboo roll to make the sushi and set it on the conveyor belt.  Points for being authentic! If you create an item that isn’t on the menu, it turns into a brown blob (complete with eyes and a face). This isn’t edible, of course…

At first, it’s really tough to advance. However, you quickly start to memorize the sushi-making combinations, which allows you to move swiftly along through the game.

At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see how much cash you’ve earned in Yen. You can use this cash to order more ingredients. To do this, you need to click the phone, choose which item you want to order, and select standard (free) or express (Y50) delivery method.

You can also make take-away orders. You don’t have to accept these, but they can make you quick extra money. The dishes you make are then applied to the take out order with priority, so your seated customers may lose a bit of patience.

Customer patience is displayed in dots over each customer’s head. You can also tell by the customer’s facial expression. If they get too unhappy, they’ll leave, as is usually the case. You can cheer them up by playing with knives, and bribing them with sake.

A twist, albeit a complicated one, involves accepting reservations. Accepting reservations will earn you extra money and reputation points, provided that you can complete the transaction. Once accepted, drag the reservation signs to seats. You’ll earn more if you can manage to sit the parties next to each other. You have to get your timing just right, so that guests arrive when the right number of seats are reserved. It’s tougher than it sounds because you must juggle the customers carefully.

There is plenty of room for strategy. Because things go by on a conveyor, you can occasionally get a customer stuck at the end of the row who fails to get his order, if others ahead order the same thing. This sort of dilemma forces you to make a plan to serve everyone.

There are six restaurants to beat, each seven levels long. While that seems short, it’s truly not. Each level is long, and might have you serving upward of 50 customers at a time. You’ll also find yourself replaying levels in order to advance, since it’s a real challenge. You can expect hours and hours of game play.

When it come to production values, they are generally good. In particular, the character animations are impressive. The 3D customers actually chew their food, and have different heads and bodies, with lots of variety.

One of the only flaws in Youda Sushi Chef is that it’s very repetitive. The levels and music don’t change very much as you advance. This isn’t a problem in the beginning, but it can feel a bit stale after a few hours. As you move up, you also lose most of your upgrades, and some of your ingredients and sushi recipes. This is probably in order to make room for more recipes, since it’s pretty tough to recall all of the recipes in your head without a reference. The upgrades stay the same, though, only you must buy them again, which is a bummer. It would have been cool if there was a bit more variety in the levels, beyond just changing a couple recipes. Still, it’s not a major flaw considering that the game is still fun and unique.

With so many subtle twists being made to the time management genre, Youda Sushi Chef really stands out as something new and different. The gameplay is simple yet addictive, full of frantic clicking and plenty of challenge, which makes it a game worth recommending to time management fans.

Review by Lisa Haasbroek

Supermarket Management

With most of us having the chore of going to the grocery store at least once or twice a week, who wants to sit down and play a game taking place in a supermarket? Supermarket Management puts you on the other side of the store: management. Instead of figuring out what to buy, you help customers find what they need. Supermarket Management contains all the good ingredients expected in a time management game.

The hero of the game has finished college and needs a job. By chance, CEO of Superstore Bob meets her at a traffic jam. Impressed with her handling of the jam, he invites her to work for him in his grocery store. She starts with stocking shelves, checking out customers and giving them their orders in the deli and bakery. Slowly, she works her way up with her creative ideas to improve the store and gains a few helpers.

She opens new stores and when that happens, she is back at the bottom doing all the work again. At least, until the store earns more profits that she can use to hire employees and add upgrades. After a few stores, she runs into the union leader who requires that employees take a break. So any time she has employees, she needs to give them a break and do their jobs – a clever twist.

Though similar to Supermarket Mania in game play and graphics, this one comes packed with more features and variety. Like any time management game, your job is to reach your money and customers served goals as fast as you can. If you reach the expert time, you’ll get more coins for your shopping trip to upgrade your store. You need every coin possible as it’s hard to come close to buying everything before you move on to the next new store.

Almost every cashier asks, “Did you find everything all right?” Well, it’s true that customers can’t always find what they need. So they stand there with a bubble indicating their need. You need to drag ‘n drop them to the right shelf. This is the only drag ‘n drop in the game, something that bothers a few people. The rest is point ‘n click. Don’t you love it when the store hands out free samples? That’s in the game, too. When customers want a sample, you need to point ‘n click your way to make the sample match what they want.

At the deli, customers request seafood, cheese or meat. After selecting the item, they have four things from which to choose for each category. You must watch their faces to figure out what they want. In the bakery, different kinds of cakes and toppings scroll across the screen and you need to select the right ones to match the customer’s order. Actually, the bakery begins with one item and you’ll graduate to two or three items as you upgrade.

On top of all this, you still need to ensure shelves are stocked, customers checked out and carts filled up. All of these activities keep the game from becoming monotonous, and the game lets you multitask. If you click a shelf to stock and then make a sample for a customer, the employee will still go to the shelf to stock it while you make the sample. It keeps the game from ever feeling “slow” as so many tend to do.

Just before you think the game feels repetitive, you run into one of two mini-games, which are sales. In one game, people line up at different cash registers. You distribute the sale items to the customers based on their requests. In the other, you work the deli counter distributing orders of one, two, three or four items per customer. This can turn frenzied.

While the overall game’s production values are high, it contains a few annoyances. In the bakery, you can click and the game ignores you. So you have to wait for the cake to come back and click again. The people just don’t warm up to you. One guy always has his hand on his head like he’s looking for something. The young shelf stocker does this little Egyptian dance. Cute at first, but both get old fast. The female employees’ poses and celebrations feel stiff and stereotypical. Even the hero of the story never gets a name and acts as fake as Elle Woods does in Legally Blonde.

Sometimes you want to yell at the stock boy to “Stock the shelves yourself!” instead of have to click all the shelves he needs to restock. Supermarket Management has a nice help file (albeit one weird typo), but you can’t access it from the main menu – only from within the game when you pause it.

Nevertheless, this solid time management game is worth adding to your grocery basket of time management games, or at least sampling. But don’t expect it to be a best-seller.

Review by Meryl K. Evans

Gamezebo Inc.

Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love!

Some of you might think I’m nuts, but I prefer Wedding Dash to Diner Dash. Oh, I love that Flo, but I find her games too hard to play. Quinn’s world starts easy and builds up the challenge little by little. In Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love! Cupid joins Quinn plus Flo has a bigger role as she takes care of serving the wedding guests.

This one introduces a new mini-game for a cute change of pace that integrates nicely with the story. Cupid needs to shoot arrows at a male and female that matches the couple shown. You control where he shoots the arrow and how hard he shoots it. Oh, by the way, Cupid looks nothing like a cherub; more like a kind-looking grandfather. The mini-game occurs about halfway through each level.

Quinn also holds the weddings in unique locales beginning with an aquarium. Really — it’s a calming scene that looks made for a wedding. Then she moves to a barn and to the boardwalk, which has a fab background.

Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love! adds several twists to enhance the game instead of give us more of the same. In previous versions, players have to select three things that match the couple’s request. You can have different good answers in this one. Instead, Quinn has a budget and she has to pick three things to meet the budget or better yet, have some money leftover. For instance, a couple wants to reflect their trip to India and match its orange, white and green flag. So pick the items that are orange, white and green or perhaps as something related to India like curry.

We also meet new guests. No more weepy Aunt Ethel and Drunk Uncle Ernie. Quinn will take care of all the crises as usual, but we meet new ones. Meet a wedding crasher that you need to lead him to the exit and Rosie with her little puppy. Rosy cries whenever her pup gets away. Quinn needs to cheer her up, find the dog and return it to her. The twins who must do everything together including be served to at the same time return. We meet new handsome and sweet people like Brian, Jason and the three bridesmaid friends. They’re a nice change from Gloria. Then we have the mother of the bride — a very difficult customer to please.

Gone is the confetti machine and champagne bottles. Instead, Quinn has lovely cocktail tables to help the guests remain patient a little longer. Also new is the microphone that lets the guests say something to the happy couple. Quinn earns love tokens to use in shopping for upgrades. While upgrades appear in many time management games, Wedding Dash: Ready, Aim, Love! offers many upgrades instead of just three to make it more challenging and to change things up enough to add to the replay value.

This looks like it’ll exceed Wedding Dash fan expectations. The game release date is within a couple of months. No official date yet. Hey, even wedding couples don’t always have a date set right away. And it will be available for both Win and Mac computers. In the meantime, you’ll have to settle for Wedding Dash 2 until this one is ready for prime time at Playfirst.

Review by Meryl.net