Hollywood Tycoon

Have you ever watched a movie and thought to yourself, "Hey, I could do better than that!" Now is your chance. Hollywood Tycoon is a tycoon game that puts you in the shoes of a big league movie producer, managing scripts, sets, and actors in a whirl.

The plot is simple. When your uncle Irving Goldfish dies, you inherit his run-down movie studio. Can you make it a smashing success, or will your films flop?

As with most good tycoon games, the rules are simple, but the strategy is complex. If you want to succeed, you'll need to think on your feet and figure out a system that works best for your studio. The first thing you need to do when you start is to build a trailer for actors, a hub for writers, and a set department. Upgrading them is a huge part of the game.

Before you can make a movie, you need sets, scripts, and actors. Different sets have different attributes, and some are clearer than others. For example, it's easy to guess what would be filmed on a Science Fiction or Western Set, but more complicated to know what works on a New York City or Small Town set. If you're curious, small towns are associated with horror, comedy, drama, and romance. NY is similar, but swaps crime and action for comedy. It's not always intuitive, but you catch on eventually.

Once you've got a set, you need to pair it with a script. On the top of the screen, you'll see blue scripts scrolling by. Click one to view its attributes. If you find a script that matches your set and fits with your budget, drag it onto the film set. You'll earn more for matching these properly. If you've upgraded your writers, you'll have access to scripts that have more attributes and earn more cash.

Next, you get to cast actors. Actors also have attributes. Your goal is to match the actor with the script. The more they match, the more you'll earn. If you upgrade your trailers, you'll have access to better (but more expensive) actors.

Once you've got everything set, click the button to start the film. This takes a few seconds. When it's ready, a film strip will appear and you get to see how you did. As you'd expect, the goal is to get your profits to snowball into a whole lot of cash. If you want to take the chance, you can also ask for critic reviews (which are randomized), but negative reviews mean loss of profits.

At the end of each year, you'll be given the chance to buy wood (needed for upgrading the sets and studio), and film (needed to make movies). If you run out, you'll need to advance through the year to buy more.

One thing that isn't made clear in the tutorial is that you must continually repair your sets and studio. If you click on any area, you'll be shown the cost of doing this. Everything declines gradually, so there's no getting around it. If you fail to do this, things can break and cost more time and money. You can't tell by looking at a set how badly it's declined, and will only be prompted for repairs once it's totally broken.

What really stands out about Hollywood Tycoon is the pace. It can be extremely hectic if you choose to build many sets and film multiple movies at a time. However, if you aren't into fast paced action, you can slow things down by carefully selecting your sets and filming only one thing at a time. You aren't forced to move faster or slower than you like, which makes the game extremely flexible and fun, no matter what your skill level. The length is also excellent, offering hours and hours of gameplay.

The production values are also pretty high. If you're into sound effects and good music, there is plenty here. The 2D cartoon graphics and animations are nicely done. As for the user interface, it's friendly, and you should be able to figure things out quickly.

On the down side, the tutorial is a bit glib. You're left to figure out many of the finer details on your own, either by reading the help file, or by trial and error. This isn't a problem, but it means you need to think a bit as you learn to play. It can also be very repetitive, since you don't change locations over time. It's basically the same screen, and the same actions, over and over. Because there's plenty to do, it's not boring as such, but it's worth mentioning it if you like variety in your game.

On the whole, Hollywood Tycoon is fun and fast paced tycoon game that is suitable for beginners, yet challenging for skilled players. With lots of flexibility and plenty of strategies to employ, it's one of the better tycoon games out there, provided that you don't mind a bit of repetition as you play.

Review by Lisa Haasbroek

DinerTown Detective Agency

Oh, that Bernie the Bookworm. Don't be fooled by his meek appearance -- he has the goods to become a savvy sleuth. After reading an ad in a magazine, Bernie orders a detective kit and with the help of his friend Flo (of Diner Dash fame), he sets out to solve more than two dozen mysteries plaguing Diner Town.

Such is the premise behind PlayFirst's DinerTown Detective Agency, a new hidden object game (HOG) with fun deduction elements and many mini-games. If my weekend with this game (and my three kids) is any indication, this downloadable puzzler is worthy if your time -- and mouse-clicking finger.

The game is separated into two modes: Story and Freeplay. With the former, you can choose to play the game with a time element -- therefore you must solve the puzzles before the clock runs out -- or in a relaxed mode with no time pressure whatsoever.

Game-play in DinerTown Detective Agency is divided into four key components:

• Bernie arrives on the scene to solve a mystery, which begins in an indoor or outdoor location. You know the drill with "HOG" games: you must scour a busy scene to find a number of items on a list. These items are listed along the left-hand side of the screen and usually are cleverly related to the environment (which isn't usually the case in HOGs) so in a classroom you might be asked to find a hole puncher, marker, rulers and a broken door to a hamster cage (tied to the mystery). Click on the items and it's crossed off your list. If you click incorrectly too many times it'll cut time off your clock, and if you need a hint you can click to get one (but the button takes a couple of minutes to replenish). Players can also find a detective badge per level, which adds 5 minutes to the clock (or gives you bonus points in the relaxed mode). Most scenes you'll play through have two different rooms, so you can click between the two to find all the items listed. Sometimes you'll be given a picture to search for (such as three parts to a pair of scissors rather than the word "scissors") and you must also use the item in the scene when you're done, like an adventure game.

• The second game-play element is also tied to the HOG scene. Bernie also has access to special tools to help him find evidence, whether it's a magnifying glass, fingerprint brush, eyedropper, and so forth. These tools must be used to find certain items on the screen. This is a clever addition to the game, sure, but I found there was no hint as to where to use them, therefore I found myself clicking all over the screen (you won't be penalized for doing so) until I hear the "chime" that confirms I found a clue. Again, a good idea, but the execution is disappointing -- and logic doesn't seem to play a role either as I clicked on a locker, weights and other items you think would have fingerprints in a gym but they weren't there (but a CD was on the ground of an aquarium and cake frosting near an animal cage?)

• The third component is a collection of mini-games you can play to help solve these mysteries. They might be in the form of jigsaw puzzles, matching two similar pictures and other puzzles. One I enjoyed early in the game was a chalkboard brainteaser in the classroom, where you must drag and drop picture cards on the correct column and row based on their color and picture (e.g. all blue on one row and all animals go in the same column).

• The final part of the game is when you try to narrow down the suspect list with what you know so far about who was at the crime, coupled with info provided by informants. For example, you will get three facts -- such as the culprit likes pink, cares for animals and hates smoking -- and then you can click "yes" or "no" for three suspects given what the informants tell you (e.g. "Karma has a part-time job at a vet clinic," so you know she cares for animals, etc.). Once you think you have enough info you can peg the guilty one and see if you're correct.

DinerTown Detective Agency delivers a number of laughs as Bernie solves these wacky crimes throughout the city. Plus, fans of PlayFirst games will see many familiar faces including stars of other PlayFirst time management games or customers seen in Flo's diner (Diner Dash), at weddings (Wedding Dash) or driving into parking lots about town (Parking Dash).

While not perfect -- we already touched on the faulty "tool" mechanic, there are some signs the game was rushed such as spelling or grammar areas (e.g. "Coco has an surprising knack for...") and the deduction part of the game -- where you must click off "yes" or "no" for the three remaining suspects -- doesn't get any more challenging as you progress, therefore becomes a tad repetitive.

Overall, however, we found the game enjoyable with its multiple game-play elements, cute stories and characters, and few game modes. At the very least, fans of HOGs or adventure games should download and play the free 60-minute trial.

Review by Marc Saltzman