Soap Opera Dash

With all the Dash casual time management games PlayFirst has created, you almost have to wonder what the company could possibly come up with next. The answer is Soap Opera Dash, a frantic time management simulation where players have to help Rosie work with the residents of DinerTown to put on a successful soap opera. Unlike some of the other Dash entries, Soap Opera Dash basically throws you into a frantic situation with a few tutorials, hoping you pick up enough from the brief introduction to make it through frenzied episodes of a new series. It’s fun, but you better be ready to work and have a reliable mouse if you want to succeed.

Rosie wants the soap opera life

Rosie wants to create a soap opera, but can’t seem to find someone to give her a chance. Her prospective producer loves her script and ideas, but won’t help her out because he think she doesn’t have the star power necessary to make it work. As she’s walking away from the studio, she runs into Simon the celebrity, a high school friend she always idolized. He’s just been fired from the show he was on. Rosie sees her opportunity and uses flattery to convince him that he’d be the perfect fit for her show as the star.

She then starts a grass-roots operation to make her own soap opera, enlisting the help of Flo, Quinn and a number of other DinerTown residents to make her show happen. It starts out being filmed in a garage and shown on Dinertube and, with a little luck, could end up becoming a hit.

Frenzy on the set!

Rosie’s schedule in Soap Opera Dash makes Flo and Quinn’s jobs seem like playtime. She really goes to work. There is tons to do in each level. Rosie has to deliver scripts, take people to makeup, do their makeup, take them to wardrobe, pick out their clothes, take them to makeup, do their makeup, perhaps bring them ice tea, send them to a waiting chair while the scene is set up, place the proper props and get the camera man to start shooting a scene. Which means lots of dragging, dropping and then clicking people to get the actions at each station done. The bottom of the screen shows how many scenes must be shot, so you know how much longer you have to play. Plus, there’s a color-bonus for dragging similar colored actors to the right color stations. When an episode (level) is done, judges grade you on your performance.

Soap Opera Dash is a lot of work, even early on when you only have two colors of actors (red and blue) to worry about. Especially since you can’t just drop an actor at the next station and expect him or her to automatically get her hair done or so on. You have to drag them there, then click them, to make things happen. When you’ve got eight or more actors in play, and you’re trying to manage all of them, it’s easy to forget to go back and click on them while they’re at the stations. Which means you fall behind, they get mad and you risk producing a subpar episode. Especially when you have to take extra time to personally pick out the right hairdo, outfit or makeup for certain actors. It’s a very involved game that won’t tolerate slackers. This means you have to be familiar with time management games and the general Dash gameplay if you want to succeed.

What is neat is that PlayFirst really tried to add some elements to make it feel like Rosie is working on a show. Before each season starts, you place actors to cast them in certain roles. Each level is referred to as an episode, as well. And, for the season finale, you pick the two main stars and the theme for the episode. After a season is done, you can visit a town square area to see bulletins and ads advertising the soap. It’s a nice touch that makes things a little more fun and unique.

Fun, if you can keep up

Soap Opera Dash, despite being well organized, still manages to be one of the most complicated entries in the Dash time management series. Rosie has so much to do and players have to be constantly dragging, dropping, clicking and scanning the area to keep up with the constant flow of actors. It’s more difficult in the introductory levels than games like Diner Dash and Wedding Dash are around the halfway point. It’s still very well made and a lot of fun, but it’s the kind of game consummate Dash fans are going to enjoy most, since they’ll know right away how to play and keep up. It’s a lot of work for a casual game!

Review by Jenni Lada

Cake Mania: To The Max!

Jill Evans is back for Cake Mania: To the Max, the sixth part of this highly popular time management brand. But what can be done in a series that has already covered time-traveling, managing different shops, or building bakeries from scratch? Well, it’s time-traveling again, only this time around the player will get a glimpse into Jill’s past, namely, her high school days in the 1980s.

Cake Mania: To the Max features a whopping 100 levels, and can be played in both timed and relaxed mode. As with former titles the first couple of levels are somewhat boring and slow, but it is definitely worth it to keep hanging on. In contrast to the last two games in the series you are not managing different shops - in fact the whole game takes place in one single bakery. This might sound a bit monotonous at first, but veteran Cake Mania fans will surely appreciate the focused but more substantial gameplay resulting from this change.

Basically, all you have to do is prepare cakes for customers. By clicking shapes, frostings in different colors, varying toppings or fruits and creating multilayered cakes according to the incoming orders of your customers Jill earns money that she needs to pass the day successfully. This process of cake creation is complicated enough on its own, but not only do your customers lose patience rather quickly, they each have distinct personalities whose behavior affects the gameplay considerably.

The gypsy, for example, will show you the orders of other customers immediately; the oil baron will not allow you to serve other customers before his order is finished, while the wizard will turn all customers into cheerleaders, thereby changing their orders. Those special - and not always helpful - abilities are not the only interesting features about Jill’s customers, though. Some of them dislike each other, such as the bride and the business man. If they stand next to each other they will lose patience, which brings us to a welcome new feature of Cake Mania: To the Max: swapping.

Now you are able to swap customers to a different place, which adds a whole new level of challenge and strategy to the game. Not only do you have to plan according to the abilities of certain customers, but you also have to keep an even closer eye on their patience, because details like that can be neglected quickly in a game as hectic as Cake Mania: To the Max. It is also good to see that the game has kept interesting features such as the rush bonus, for which you have to do the same action three times in a row numerous times for it to be activated. The rush bonus then finishes every action immediately, which makes for a frantic but entertaining experience.

The upgrade system works as smoothly as ever and has been enhanced quite a bit. Besides the well-known upgrades for machines that include both speed boosts and new toppings, oven slots and fruits, the player is also able to upgrade the interior of the bakery in ways that actually impact the gameplay. In the beginning the upgrades seem rather expensive, but this impression is deceiving, and the whole system will surely please time management perfectionists. The ability to swap or sell machines only improves this already stellar feature.

What has always been interesting about this series, and matters even more in this latest sequel, is that the challenge of it never depended on the timed aspect, but more on dealing with the varying customer types and handling all those different shapes, layers, colors and toppings at the same time. While the first ten or twenty levels will be a breeze for experienced players, later levels get extremely challenging and at times even frustrating. Fortunately it is possible to choose between timed and relaxed mode at the beginning of each level, so that you will never really get stuck.

The graphics of Cake Mania: To the Max game are absolutely gorgeous and charming, and it is nice to see how much this game has evolved since the first part. The controls are flawless save for one glaring oversight: you are still not able to cancel actions, which is especially frustrating in a detail-oriented game like this, where one wrong cake can seriously mess up the player’s strategy.

But all in all there is no doubt that we fully recommend Cake Mania: To the Max to all avid time management game fans. The series goes back to its original roots, which might be disappointing for some people, but has been managed excellently nevertheless. A charming storyline, a complex upgrade system, proven gameplay with some interesting tweaks and a far above average playtime provide an entertaining experience for fans of the series and newcomers alike.

Review by David Becker

Mystery Valley

A rash of murders plaguing a small town brings an FBI agent back home for the first time in years. Haunted by memories of vague, unsettling nightmares that plagued her as a child, she doesn't suspect that she has a deeper connection to these disturbing incidents than she could ever imagine. Mystery Valley is a hidden-object adventure game with one of the moodiest, creepiest atmospheres you'll ever come across... and jump scares. A whole bushel of 'em. While it has its flaws, it's still a lot of fun. It also proves what I've always said; never trust a bathtub.

As Special Agent Yournamehere, you quickly discover the latest victim in these brutal slayings, a reclusive professor, had quite an interest in one place; Mystery Valley. As it happens, our Agent's hometown is none other than Mystery Valley, which is a bit less on charming tourist-trap bed-and-breakfasts, and a bit more on ancient, unspeakable evil. Much of the story plays out in cutscenes, so be sure not to skip them or you won't have any idea what's going on. Depending on your preferred level of difficulty, you'll have tutorials present throughout the game, and hint/skip buttons that recharge slower or faster. You'll still use your mouse to play, and the cursor changes to mark areas or items you can interact with. If you don't know where to go, click on the journal in the lower left corner; it keeps track of the things you find and usually points you in the right direction.

Analysis: I know I talk a lot about atmosphere. If I had to pay royalties every time I used the word, I'd probably be putting someone's kids through college. But friend, this is one creepy game. The areas are shabby and neglected, full of subtle ambient sound and environmental effects, and the soundtrack is lovely. It's actually because of this great moody pacing and quiet environments that the jump scares are all the more effective when they happen. Sure they're not the most elegant of methods, and not everyone enjoys them, but darned if they won't make you jump even when you see them coming.

The hidden-object scenes fare worse. Not only are they dull, they're out of place. They feel like they've been tacked on just to make the game longer, or maybe to appeal to a broader audience. It doesn't really negatively impact the game, but it does sort of make you long for the days when an adventure game could just be a good ol' fashioned "use key on door" adventure game and not make you pick up a crab, a bowtie, and six canaries before you could get the key in the first place. Thankfully, most of the game relies on standard point-and-click play and is better for it. The pacing is quick, there is typically very little backtracking, and the solutions for item-based puzzles are always logical and clear.

For a game to put the word "mystery" right there in the title, it better darn well intrigue, and happily, the story is creepy and interesting from the get-go. Don't get me wrong, we're not talking Steinbeck here; it's definitely a little cheesy and the stiff, almost terse writing sort of feels like it might be due to translation issues. The game definitely would have been stronger overall if the writing had been beefed up a little. Still, the way the bits of story and weird happenings are revealed in such a way that you want to find out more, and the different locations keep you from feeling bored or stuck.

Think back to your childhood. Were you the sort of kid who, during a scary movie, had to sit with a blanket over your head (everyone knows monsters can't get you through blankets), but were still having the time of your life? Then Mystery Valley might be right up your proverbial alley. While it doesn't break any molds and won't cause any gameplay epiphanies, it's a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable title that fans of BOOGEY-BOO scares and fanged doll heads will definitely find fun.

Review by Dora

Casual Gameplay

Avenue Flo: Special Delivery

One year ago, PlayFirst introduced Avenue Flo, their first adventure title incorporating characters from Diner Dash, Wedding Dash and its other time management games. So how does the anticipated sequel, Avenue Flo: Special Delivery, compare? Let's just say PlayFirst might as well have wrapped it in a bow and written “To our beloved Fans” on the tag, because it's truly a gift to the franchise.

Avenue Flo: Special Delivery continues the adventures of diner-pro Flo and her talented wedding planner friend, Quinn. This time around, Quinn's been hired to plan a lavish surprise baby shower for expecting DinerTown characters, Vicky and Tony. But when a next-door puppy party gets out of hand, the preparations all fall to disaster. It's up to Flo to help Quinn restore the shower to even greater heights, which would be simple enough if expecting mother Vicky hadn't gone missing, too. Will Flo and Quinn be able to save the day without spoiling the big surprise?

The immediate familiarity of Diner Town and its characters will be a treat for long-time fans. This adventure-based portion of the Dash series continues the framework set by the previous title, introducing more and more characters from Diner Town as fully-fleshed and charming citizens. Each one even features a unique quality voice actor, which really brings them to life. Polish this off with smoothly animated cartoon graphics, a cheerful soundtrack, and a light-hearted yet involving story, and you've got yourself a very attractive new title.

The gameplay of Avenue Flo: Special Delivery is very concrete. There are three main portions of the game, each with several locations and tasks, without ever getting overwhelming. A helpful To-do List and Map are always at the ready to help you keep track of your progress, and characters are almost always willing to help.

Complimenting the adventure game-play are a variety of unique and entertaining puzzles, which are neither too difficult nor too easy, but feature a very welcome challenge difficulty without ever becoming frustrating. Then there's the bonus Activity Mode accessible from the game's main menu, which allows you to replay puzzles with more levels and higher difficulty. There's also a bonus Trophy feature that keeps track of your achievements? While simple, it's surprisingly fulfilling.

In fact, the only real downside to the game is the fact that there's no hint system available for the main adventure gameplay. While it's not necessarily needed, there will likely be a time or two where one illusive item will keep you from progressing, and not knowing what it is can be a drag.

Avenue Flo: Special Delivery might seem a bit short on first impression, but there's no filler here: it's all high quality gameplay from start to finish. The essentials are highly similar to the previous title, but it's original enough to come off as new and fresh. While the game itself may not feature much in the way of replay value, it will certainly keep you entertained for several hours.

Review by Tawny Mueller

Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera Collector's Edition

Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera Collector's Edition is a hidden object adventure game loosely based on the classic novel (and not the brilliant theater musical, although you can see the influence), which follows the romantic obsession and tragic end of the man behind the mask at the Opera house.

The game play itself follows the same formula as other popular HOGs, like Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove. You move from location to location, finding objects which are hidden in various scenes that are denoted by sparkles. You also solve inventory puzzles and beat mini-games in order to unlock new areas to explore, and reveal more of the story. The collector's edition includes extra game play (including an additional case) and a strategy guide, along with an e-book of the original novel.

I have played only a portion of the game, but from what I've seen, it's very good. The graphics are beautiful, and finding objects is challenging without being too hard. You can get "clues" if you can't find an object or don't know what to do next, so you shouldn't get stuck.

If you're a game club member and want to try Mystery Legends: The Phantom of the Opera Collector's Edition game, there's a free trial availavle. The standard version will be available in roughly two weeks.

Review by Neroli

Xomba

Cooking Dash 3: Thrills and Spills

PlayFirst has officially unveiled its next Dash game Cooking Dash 3: Thrills & Spills. The time management game will serve up quirky new theme park restaurants, fast-paced "Dash-Thru" customers, and a story that goes back to the past when Flo and other popular residents of DinerTown were teenagers.

Set in the DinerLand amusement park, Cooking Dash 3 lets players prep unique theme park dishes, serve sit-down customers and manage a new "Dash-Thru" window service that transforms a typical restaurant into a true "Ride-staurant." layers will bag up food for "Dash-Thru" diners as they ride through the Spooky Shack, fly through the Tree Tops, float through the Deep Dive, and more.

The game will boast 50 levels and five specially-themed "Ride-staurant" venues.

Cooking Dash 3: Thrills & Spills is launching on PlayFirst on Sept. 30 for $19.95. The Special Edition includes a built-in strategy guide, exclusive wallpapers, a custom screensaver, and the exclusive Big Gold Rush venue which should add about an hour of extra gameplay.

Hospital Haste

Hospital Haste is a time managment game that has you dashing around as an overworked nurse, trying to care for a whole hospital full of people. Hectic? Yeah, I'll say!

There have been a bunch of good games like it, if you like the medical theme, including Hospital Hustle and Fever Frenzy. Don't count on realism, of course...for that, instead try the Emergency Room series by Legacy Interactive. And of course, there's the ever popular Trauma Center games for DS/Wii (I love those), which is enough to give you carparal tunnel syndrome...but it's probably worth it!

So, how does Hospital Haste game stand out from the sea of medical games? Well, for one thing, it's quick and casual. Everything is done with the click of your mouse, so you basically play by clicking on patients in need. If you're a fan of the Diner Dash games, you'll find it much the same. The difficulty is there, but while it's challenging, most players shouldn't have trouble advancing, and it's fun to play. As for the graphics, they're midway, suitable enough for a casual game but not stellar. I'd say this is a nice addition for fans of the time management genre.

If you'd like to play Hospital Haste, there's a free trial of the game available.

There's a MAC version available, too. The system requirements to play this game on your PC include:

• OS: Windows XP/Vista
• CPU: 1.4 GHz
• RAM: 512 MB
• DirectX: 9.0
• Hard Drive: 134 MB

And, here are some in-game screenshots:

Review by Neroli

My Kingdom for the Princess II

Follow Arthur and Helen on a grand new adventure in My Kingdom for the Princess II, the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning game My Kingdom for the Princess.

Princess Helen and Sir Arthur decide to go on a honeymoon after their glorious wedding when adversity strikes once again. Now, Arthur must clear the land, defend against invaders, and work with magical beings as he chases after Longbeard the Dwarf, who has kidnapped the Princess.

Lend Sir Arthur a hand and save the Princess. Guide workers to clear the roads, build structures, and collect resources that will get him through. Think your way to triumph as you strategically plan the best course of action. Do you build a warehouse first, or repair the sawmill? Do you use the speed power-up, or add on an extra worker? It's all in your hands! With 60 challenging levels, fun mini-games, trophies, and a whole new kingdom to build, this exciting adventure is certain to please you.

My Kingdom for the Princess 2 game features:
- The award-winning Simulation/Resource game returns with an all-new adventure.
- Follow a whimsical storyline featuring flying cats, witches and wizards.
- Collect resources to clear roads, build structures and rescue Princess Helen.
- Enjoy 60 challenging levels, fun mini-games, trophies, and a whole new kingdom.

Review from macgamefiles

Wedding Dash 4-Ever

For many people, getting married can be one of the happiest moments of their lives, but the amount of planning and preparation that goes into making the big day perfect can bring with it a tremendous amount of pressure. People get so stressed out that they break down and hire a wedding planner. It’s no wonder that business is booming for Quinn in Wedding Dash 4-Ever, the newest installment in PlayFirst’s popular wedding-themed Diner Dash spinoff franchise.

As this bridal-themed time management game unfolds, wedding planner extraordinaire Quinn gets a surprise visit from her mother, who hasn’t been informed the engagement between her daughter and Joe, the photographer, has been called off. When mom swoops in to micromanage the wedding planning business, she also begins planning Quinn’s wedding, leaving the supposed bride-to-be in a bit of a pickle. With some help from her pal Flo (of Diner Dash fame), Quinn has to figure out how to keep up with a new batch of weddings to plan while also dealing with the situation with her mother.

With Quinn’s mom in the picture to handle the nitty-gritty prep work, one of the biggest changes to the series found in Wedding Dash 4-Ever is you no longer have control over any of the pre-wedding details. Instead of selecting wedding accoutrements for a couple based on their budget and interests, you’ll focus on making sure the reception and other aspects of the festive event go off without a hitch. As in past games, this means you’ll seat guests based on their personal quirks, provide them with three food courses, keep them from wrecking the occasion, and make sure everyone has a good time – including the bride and groom.

The gameplay has you simultaneously controlling Quinn and Flo to queue up various tasks in order to keep guests happy and earn enough points to progress through each stage. Clicking on context sensitive tasks sends either Quinn or Flo scrambling about to handle the little details and food-related jobs respectively. This aspect of the game hasn’t changed in the slightest. You get bonus points for chaining the same tasks together and lose points when guests get too grumpy. Failing to meet the minimal score in a stage forces you to restart, while beating it lets you push for the tougher-to-achieve expert score benchmark.

Wedding party guests still have oddball preferences about who they do and don’t want to sit next to, many of them eat at different speeds, and some have explosive behaviors that you have to quell before things get out of hand. You’ll run into chatty aunts who freak out about their missing pooches, wedding crashers who try to ruin the party, old guys who fall asleep and forget which course they’re eating, and bratty little ring-bearer girls who throw food fight tantrums, among others. Though the drawings are a little different, a lot of the same special character behaviors are carried over from the last game.

The bridge and groom also want to get in on the action, and they like to mingle with the guests as much as possible, making handling their needs part of the big chaotic shuffle. Quinn has a few special duties as well, including ushering guests in front of the camera for a picture with the (hopefully) happy couple, providing the microphone for any guests that feel like spouting words of praise for the bride and groom, and fixing any unforeseen issues that suddenly arise with the venue or guests.

A few new mini-games and other activities have been added in to replace the elements that have been cut from Wedding Dash 4-Ever. Each level now has a new hidden object element to it. In each case, the bride and groom have lost some important set of items, and you can try to hunt them down in the scenery amidst all the hustle and bustle. This earns you extra points and unlocks a special gift for Quinn’s wedding, and it adds an extra level of challenge when you’re juggling the needs of so many guests at once.

There's also now a seating mini-game lets Quinn help seat guests at the wedding ceremony itself, which is a first for the series. You’re given a bunch of guests with specific seating needs and a limited number of seats on the pink bride’s side and the blue groom’s side available to work with. It has a fun puzzle element to it, and doing a decent job earns you extra money for upgrades.

You’ll also find a new conga line mini-game that has you picking up guests along the way and delivering them to the bride and groom. While they’re not major game-changers, these diversions happen several times in each of the five wedding locations, and they change the gameplay up at the right moments.

New wedding venues, special mini-games, and a few other subtle updates offer enough change to appease fans of the series who simply want another solid helping of Wedding Dash fun, but the lack of real growth in this fourth installment in the series is a bit of a disappointment. To be sure, it’s a well-made and enjoyable game that has tons of stages and plenty of challenge. It just doesn’t have that extra spark to make it completely stand out from its predecessors.

Review by Nathan Meunier

The Treasures of Mystery Island: The Gates of Fate

Some people just seem to attract trouble. Take Alex and Lisa, a young couple who have stumbled from one mysterious island adventure (2008’s The Treasures of Mystery Island) to another. To reveal the main plot device that drives the action here would be to spoil an early twist, so all you really need to know is that The Treasures of Mystery Island: The Gates of Fate offers more of the same accomplished hidden object gameplay.

This time Alex and Lisa find themselves separated on the aforementioned mysterious island after the intervention of a tricksy shaman. This sets about a fine (if nonsensical) cooperative adventure as our heroes bid to reunite and return home.

It isn’t spoiling too much to reveal that your quest involves the collection of four tiles from the magical gateway that got you into this mess. These are spread throughout the island, but the bulk of your time will be spent carrying out relatively mundane – if ingenious - tasks such as repairing bridges, drying out papers and chopping fire wood.

As this suggests, The Gates of Fate adopts the same approach to the HOG genre as its predecessor – that is that each bout of locating scattered objects contributes more to the game than just ticking off an arbitrary list. Rather, you’ll be collecting each of the components and tools for the aforementioned bridge repair, and you’ll need to recall where in an earlier scene you saw the chunks of wood for the chopping task.

This highlights to another of the features that has been carried over from the previous game. Your hand is held a lot less than in others games of this type, as you’re often expected to use your initiative and powers of recollection to determine where to go next. If you like your HOGs to wrap everything up in tidy, level-based solutions then this isn’t the game for you. There’s a lot of toing and froing just to solve the simplest of puzzles.

As you’d expect from a modern hidden object game, there’s also a fair smattering of mini-games to keep things fresh. While these prove to be the downfall of many, in The Treasures of Mystery Island: The Gates of Fate the hits manage to outnumber the misses. From lining up map templates to a fiendish rotation-based puzzle there’s commendable imagination on show in many of the game’s diversions. The ones that stump you (or annoy you) too much can be skipped at no penalty, other than to your completion rating.

Some of the irritations on show here are tougher to overlook. Quite a few of the puzzles go that little bit too far with their demands on you, sending you wandering through previous scenes with scant direction or justification. In a similar way, many of the puzzles contain unnecessary extra steps that just serve to frustrate, such as having to find something to pin back a tree branch in order to allow the sun’s rays through.

As hinted at before, the story is fairly ridiculous, with many of the puzzle setups clunkily handled and ineffectually justified. This isn’t helped by the two bland lead characters, with the spud-headed Alex and the Barbie doll-meets-extra-terrestrial Lisa wholly failing to engage. You’ll want to see the next puzzle, but you won’t care if the two protagonists ever see each other again.

Despite these shortcomings though, The Treasures of Mystery Island: The Gates of Fate is another enjoyable slice of HOG adventure. Like the prequel, it manages to lend purpose to finding and collecting a bunch of discarded stuff. By incorporating elements of the classic point ‘n’ click adventure genre, it extends its challenge and appeal considerably.

Review by Jon Mundy

Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven

I think you will agree with me, that recently it’s very difficult to find a really interesting hidden object game which differs from the wide variety of other puzzle games. Made by ERS Game Studious, Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven is the kind of game, which won’t leave you indifferent!
One night after a car crash you find yourself being trapped in a strange cemetery that doesn’t let you go. Trying to find a way out of there, you stumble across a cursed graveyard, a restless spirit asks you to save his daughter and promises to help you struggle out of this cemetery. Picking your way through different mysterious places of the Redemption Cemetery you meet many spirits, begging you to save them. Helping them you come nearer to the clue of the curse.

Redemption Cemetery is a typical hidden object game, but its gameplot is so intriguing and interesting that I was really absorbed till the end of the game. The game is a little bit lengthy but I can assure you the game’s three "novellas" and a bonus adventure will win your heart.

As in many games there is a variety of locations here to explore – from the cemetery itself to the different ghosts’ worlds and you will have to return to some places again to complete your tasks. But you won’t be bored because of variety of fascinating tasks that you will have some time to solve. There is only one a little bit preposterous task to my mind – making the stool while the house is on fire. But maybe you will enjoy it.

I would also like to take your notice of hidden object system: once you use a hint, another will be available only after 60 seconds. But the hint by itself is very attractive - the flock of bats that fly out from the gargoyle's mouth to point where the object is hidden. One more interesting feature of this game: sparkling areas indicate places where you can zoom in and play hidden object scenes, so you will always be prepared for seeking objects.

You will find a lot of captivating minigames and puzzles, they are neither too hard and nor too easy.
Graphics of the game are just excellent! It's so skillfully made that sometimes you can't realizeif it is reality or just fantastic world! Mysterious graveyard, parks and an old house!

In my opinion, the all atmosphere of the game is a little bit dreadful. Especially suddenly appearing spirits with their “Whaah, I was murdered!” or “Whaah, save my daughter!”. Ah, and thank actors for their skillful voice acting. I really enjoyed little girl’s and her father's voices!

In summary I would like to say that Redemption Cemetery: Curse of the Raven is a really interesting mix of adventure and hidden object game. So it's really worth spending your time on it!

Review from Game Mile

Governor of Poker 2

Poker isn't the most accessible game around, what with its complex rules and subtle nuances. Video game representations of the game tend to run the gamut between being overly realistic, and thus too complicated, or far too simple and lacking much in the way of depth. Governor of Poker 2 manages to find a nice balance in between these two extremes, offering up a poker game that is very accessible without being too simplistic. But if you played the first game, Governor of Poker 2 might be a little too familiar.

There's a bare bones story holding the game together, and it's as goofy as you'd expect. The governor has declared poker illegal until he's satisfied that it is indeed a game of skill and not chance. You'll travel all over Texas, visiting numerous towns and cities, moving up the ranks, all in the name of spreading the good word about poker in order to change the governor's mind.

Of course, in a poker game, the story is largely unimportant. Thankfully it doesn't play too big of a role in the game. Instead, the majority of your time will be spent, naturally, at the poker table. Governor of Poker 2 once again features Texas Hold 'Em style poker, and the process has been streamlined to make things as easy to understand as possible. There's a fairly in-depth and very helpful tutorial that explains the ins and outs of the game, so those new to poker can learn how it's played before diving in.

When you're actually playing there's also a cheat sheet in the top corner, which you can check at any time to remind yourself of the various possible hands, and how they relate to one another. The various commands at your disposal are also very clear and easy to understand, so you'll always know what your options are. Meanwhile, you can also keep an eye on your opponents reactions. Though you can only see their giant hats and not their faces, you'll occasionally see characters sweating nervously or drumming their fingers impatiently. These status changes are supposed to affect the way the other players actually play, but if there is any such affect, it isn't very obvious when you're in a game.

There are two different times of games you can join: cash games and organized tournaments. You can play one each day, provided you have enough cash to buy-in, and the two feature a number of important differences. The cash games are winner takes all, so even if you come in second you'll come away empty handed. You can also bet with property in cash games, in addition to chips. Meanwhile, in tournaments, the top three players all earn some money, with the first place player taking home the biggest haul.

As in the previous game, you can use your earnings to invest in property. Doing so will earn you a small amount of income each day and is also necessary for progressing from one city to the next. If you are low on funds you can also sell back property, or you can take out a loan from the bank. However, you're only allowed a limited amount of money on loan, and you can't buy any property if you owe the bank money. And if you aren't careful, it can be pretty easy to dig yourself into a hole, leaving you stuck with no assets and a giant loan to pay back. You can also spend your money on a fancy new hat, which does nothing except for make you look cool.

Considering the fact that all you can see of the characters in the game are their comically large hats and skinny little arms, they feature a surprising amount of personality. The animations look great, as you'll see characters do everything from flipping chips into the air to banging their fists on the table. It's a small thing, but it gives the game a certain charm. It's also pretty amazing just how many different hats the developers managed to squeeze into the game.

Just be sure to play with the sound off, as the voice acting can be incredibly annoying. A disembodied voice provides useless and repetitive play-by-play for each game, while your opponents frequently spout off goofy one-liners like "these chips are mine!" which will soon have you reaching for the volume dial.

Governor of Poker 2 might not do much differently when compared to its predecessor, but it's still a great entry point for those looking to dip their toes in the poker waters. Its excellent tutorial will help introduce players to the game, while the rest of the experience lets them test out their new skills. Seasoned poker veterans might find the game a little too simplified, but for everyone else it's a Royal Flush.

Review by erin

Gamezebo

The Fifth Gate

Flowers, spells, potions and thrones. A magical tale of gardening and peril await with PlayFirst's newest time management title, The Fifth Gate. Enter a mystical realm brimming with charms, enchantments, and pests as you test your green thumb against the plight of being kidnapped by the power-hungry Morgana. Five gardens possess unique flowers and foes, and only upon exiting the Fifth Gate will you find yourself free of Morgana's tricks and sorcery.

You'll follow the tale of Eden, a beautiful young girl and the most talented gardener in all of the Fairy Kingdom. She awakens one day to find herself kidnapped by a foreboding woman named Morgana. Morgana has agreed to set Eden free, but she'll have to give her something in return. Eden must raise magnificent plants, while keeping bugs and wilting at bay, in order to complete tasks and brew potions set by Morgana and earn the five stones to open the various worldly gates. Only once she's obtained all the stones for the Fifth Gate will she be set free.

The goal of the game is fairly simple: harvest blossoms, as suggested by Morgana, to obtain key potion ingredients. Make sure to keep your plants watered, as well as keep the plant-devouring creatures away. Harvest as many blossoms as possible to complete the goals and garden in the shortest and most cost-effective period of time. But that's not all: planting and maintaining such beautiful plants requires coins, and as such you will also be given the responsibility of managing your magical finances in order to best suit Morgana's needs, as well as those of the garden and plants.

The Fifth Gate boasts and follows classic time management gameplay, but with a slight twist. Instead of the gameplay revolving solely around “days,” it more accurately revolves around tasks. Each task has a certain expectation of how many days it will take to complete: for example, a task may be completed in a single day, or it may take many before it's finished. As such, the gameplay has a much more strategic and extended nature over that of a classic time management title. The Fifth Gate features five separate gardens, each with 14 tasks of various duration.

In addition, each garden is unique. Not only does each feature a variety of plants and potions found only in that garden, but also unique pests and enemies, as well as a new gameplay mechanic each, such as spells to help keep the critters at bay, or new varieties of helper plants.

The Fifth Gate boasts many positive points. Pests, for example, are not limited to simply devouring plants. Some possess poison, or magical powers. If you attempt to banish or squash a pest while it's emitting these powers, your cursor will freeze for two seconds. That may not seem like much, but when you're attending to a very high-maintenance garden, it can make all the difference in the world.

Additionally, the goals Morgana sets for you also boast variation. Sometimes she'll want a certain number of blossoms, other times she'll want exotic potions, certain plants to be added, or certain creatures to be eliminated. In order to help you more effectively accomplish these goals, helper plants and upgrades are offered. You must strategize in order to obtain these while keeping your plants watered and happy. Helper plants may offer such features as extra water, the ability to instantly freeze all enemy pests, the ability to instantly upgrade a plant, or such powers as to harvest multiple flowers at the same time.

The fact the game features 14 tasks per garden promises several hours of gameplay, however it can sometimes be a negative if you have even a single bad harvest. At times it may also make the various gardens seem tiring or stretched, yet seeing as each new garden starts over with new plants and gameplay mechanics, the game often just saves itself from “the unbearably long level.” A feature that will likely be a frustration to many gamers is the fact that, unfortunately, your hard-earned coins will always reset at the beginning of each garden, and in the later gardens, you'll be left with much more than you will likely even need by the end.

Overall however, The Fifth Gate is a charming and entertaining time management title, sporting beautiful graphics and music, as well as varied and original gameplay features. It even boasts a replayability factor by offering expert goals, as well as trophies to obtain. Needless to say, it would be a welcome addition to any time management enthusiast's collection.

Review by Tawny Mueller

Elixir of Immortality

Your mission as the detective in hidden object game Elixir of Immortality is to discover who at the castle has been bumping off the hired help. The only trouble is, your disguise as the newest hired hand not only means you'll have to suspend your investigations to do the bidding of the castle residents, but also that you've got a big fat target on your back.

You certainly don't want for suspects, though; the chemist, botanist, magician and physicist are all pretty fishy, to say nothing of the castle's enigmatic master who communicates with you solely by leaving notes around. No sooner have you arrived on the island then you're put to work, scurrying around, helping the castles residents with their odd and mysterious projects.

Fulfilling your role as hired hand – and maintaining your cover story – means you'll have to search areas for the bits and pieces you need to complete the tasks assigned to you by the suspects. The items searches are standard, follow-the-list fare, but the locations are beautifully drawn and marvelously detailed. The castle and its grounds are full of strange and wonderful things, so prowling around them tracking down lost levers and gears is a joy. You'll revisit locations to do object searches several times, and the lists definitely have a certain sameness about them – you'll find many, many ladles, candlesticks, and books – but even items of the same type look completely different, so it never feels too repetitious.

You'll usually come away from an object search with a useful item or two that can be used to solve one of Elixir of Immortality's many excellent puzzles. Some puzzles are of the classic type, such as moving a marble through a maze or assembling a tangram, but most are more practical, such as finding ingredients to make soup or tracking down the right book on botany. The difficulty on these challenges varies, but a keen observer should have no trouble.

Players who choose the Advanced game mode may find themselves stumped every so often as the game indicates hidden object areas, but nothing else. Running your cursor over a scene will highlight areas that are interactive, but if you feel like you've missed something, clicking the magnifying glass in the corner will show off everything of interest in the room. It's a great system that lets players who want more of a challenge only call for help when they genuinely need it. A similar "nudge" system for the puzzles, as opposed to the ability to just flat-out skip them, would've been appreciated, but the option to bag them altogether works just fine.

Elixir of Immortality hits all the right marks when it comes to aesthetics and ingenuity, but it does stumble in some basic ways. Your investigation will take you all over the island and you'll have to do a great deal of backtracking, but it's easy to forget where everything is, especially if you take time between play sessions. A few language issues crop up, too. For the most part, they just lead to awkward or incorrect phrasing in dialog or notes, but they can hinder searches, too. When all you're asked to find is a "melon," it's tough to know if you should be going for the honeydew or the watermelon (the former, as it turns out) and if there's a more vague clue than "ornament", I've yet to encounter it. (That was referring to what looked like a Mayan calendar, by the way.)

The story of Elixir of Immortality is immensely fun, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. If only there were more to it. Even taking your time, you'll be done with the game in two or three hours at best. They'll be very enjoyable hours, though; consider Elixir of Immortality to be the beach reading of hidden object games.

Review by Vanessa Carter

Cake Mania - Lights, Camera, Action!

Mix and mingle with Hollywood hotshots in Cake Mania - Lights, Camera, Action!, the delectable new chapter from one of the most popular series of all time!

Main Street is finally bustling with new stores and Jill is preparing for motherhood. There's no time to go on maternity leave however, because Bakersfield has caught the eye of Hollywood producers as a location for their next big blockbuster! Now Jill, Jack and the rest of the shopkeepers must deal with all-new eccentric personalities determined to bring the glitz and glamour to the quaint tourist destination.

Help Jill and her friends cater to a new batch of off the wall customers in this delightful new escapade. Run the Evan's bakery, assist Risha with her fashionable boutique, and help Chef Gordo serve his Italian dishes in over 100 fantastic levels. These new quirky clients not only demand service, but have the ability to change their minds at a moment's notice. With updated shop mechanics, 30 unique equipment upgrades, 30 mouth-watering recipes, and an all-new Relaxed Mode, you’ll have Bakersfield on the Hollywood A-list in no time!

Critics give Cake Mania - Lights, Camera, Action! 4 ½ stars out of 5, calling it "stellar" with "an incredible value" that is "well worth the download".

• Jill meets her greatest challenge in this wonderful Time Management sequel.
• Answer the call of motherhood, and Hollywood, in over 100 fantastic levels.
• Run the Evan's bakery, assist Risha with her boutique, and serve Italian dishes.
• Use new shop mechanics, upgrade with 30 unique items, and unlock 30 ingredients.
• Enjoy an all-new Relaxed mode for a more soothing experience.

Review from GameHouse

Nanny Mania 2

So, who's the worst celebrity Mom, at least according to the tabloids? If you're playing the time management game Nanny Mania 2, it's grown-up child star and academy award winner Sophia Ashford. She's 25, incredibly wealthy, and completely overwhelmed by raising a family. That's where Nanny Emma comes in to save the day.

After Emma successfully helped Mayor Whitby and his family in the first Nanny Mania, she decided to head off to California, thinking she'd have a chance to relax on the sandy beaches. But, after taking a job with Sophia in Hollywood, Emma finds she has her work cut out for her. In Nanny Mania 2, you must care of the children and pets, fend off the paparazzi, and keep the house spotless. You can expect a fast-paced game with lots of clicking and lots and lots of levels, along with a bunch of marked improvements over the first Nanny Mania game.

Your primary job is to keep the house clean. Dirty items are highlighted in red. Click them to send the Nanny over to clean them up. You can click on items in advance, and the Nanny will attend to each task in the order you have clicked. As in the first game, the parents and kids go around and mess things up as you play. In a new twist, you can stop them by intercepting before the dust cloud settles.

Some tasks require multiple steps to complete, such as doing the laundry, which involves gathering up the clothes and putting them in the washing machine, then into the drier, and then finally away in one of the dresser sets. Unlike in the previous Nanny Mania, an alarm goes off when you've gathered all the clothes, so you won't be surprised by any stray shirts laying around! Making dinner requires you to get items from the fridge and set them on the stove, serve the family once it's done, and then stack the dishes in the dishwasher.

Baby care involves making bottles and changing diapers. Dirty diapers get placed in the bin. Bottles must be warmed before they are served. You need to do all this before the baby's patience meter runs out, or else you'll suffer a five second penalty.

Some messes grow the longer you leave them. Leaking toilets and tubs can easily create puddles all over the floor.

You earn money as you play to buy upgrades, like a faster bottle warmer, better espresso machine, faster mop, etc. You can only access them on a tight schedule, however, so they aren't very helpful.

There are some special surprise features that keep the game interesting. For example, when the twins are born, you need to keep the windows closed before the paparazzi snap pictures.

Pets are a new twist in Nanny Mania 2. First, you start with goldfish. They don't do much but dirty the aquarium. Close to halfway through the game, you get to care for a dog named Max. Like the kids, sometimes he makes noise, and needs to be clicked on in order to quiet down. He can also make a mess, but thankfully he doesn't do this too often. When he whines at the door, you need to let him out. Otherwise, it's business as usual. The pets don't really make a big difference to the game play, and pretty much behave like extra children.

If you need a speed boost, you can click on the tea or coffee pot for a temporary boost. Because the playing areas can be wide and busy, there is an arrow which appears to tell you where messes can be found, and where the Nanny is at any given time.

For each level, you must clean up everything before the timer runs out. For experienced players, you can try to finish in expert "perfect" time, which is also shown at the top. You can replay levels again if you want a better time.

There have been several positive changes made in Nanny Mania 2, including a more consistent cartoon-like style then the first. The ability to chain tasks for a bonus (like vacuuming, mopping puddles, and throwing trash) is a nice touch, and the different houses have distinctly different layouts, making things more challenging. As always, the length is excellent, with lots of replay value.

Despite small improvements here and there, the game has the same feel as the previous Nanny Mania, so it's not drastically different if you already own the first one. Over many hours of game play, the tasks can get repetitive. It seems like the length has been extended by simply adding a lot of this repetition, and just increasing the speed a notch. The upgrades were also a bit useless, since they are all locked until certain levels, so it might as well be automatically given. It would be nice to be able to select what you want, when you want it.

Still, Nanny Mania 2 is fun to play, with plenty of tasks and lots of frantic clicking. It's a bit more polished than the first Nanny Mania, with a bit more room for strategy and a few new elements, even though the general gameplay remains much the same.

Review by Lisa Haasbroek

Burger Bustle

Burger Bustle is a time management game where you get to manage the day-to-day activities of various burger joints around the country. You start the game running a beachfront property, but will soon get to do business in the wild west, in a winter town and even on a space station! Along the way, you will need to manage your employees, the types of burgers and condiments that you offer, as well as what extras such as drinks and fries you want to sell.

The way Burger Bustle works is a bit different from other time management games though, giving it a unique feel and freshness. In most other time management games, you do almost everything yourself, which works fine because your customers usually want things done in a linear fashion. For example in a typical restaurant game, you need to seat your customers, take their order, serve the food, take their cash then clean the tables.

Things are different in Burger Bustle, where the customers place their orders at the counter. Sometimes their order is pretty simple, maybe just a simple hamburger. But you will get customers who buy for their whole family, with orders that include 3 different burgers with different toppings, 2 different soft drinks as well as an ice cream dessert! There's no way a single person will be able to cook up that entire order, hence the presence and importance of your employees.

At each level, your burger joint may have up to 3 burger frying stations, up to 3 burger topping stations, up to 3 stations selling extras such as fries and drinks, as well as a packing counter. Each of these stations needs an employee there before the food can be prepared. Unfortunately, your restaurant (like most restaurants out there) is understaffed. You can get your employees to multitask, dragging them from the burger station after they finish cooking the burgers, then getting them to prepare the drinks and sides. That slows down the whole process, and may cause your customers to become unhappy as well as create an ever-growing order backlog.

You can hire more employees using the money you earn from selling burgers though, having an employee posted at each of the more popular stations. Unfortunately, each subsequent employee costs more and will cut more into your profit margins. At each level, one of the level goals will be to earn a certain amount of cash in a set time. Hiring more employees might make your restaurant more efficient, but paying these guys means that you will take longer to reach your cash goals. Balancing this requires good planning and strategy.

In most levels, you can also choose which stations you want to operate. You might start the level with just a hamburger station, with the option to buy a fish burger station, cheese and tomato topping stations and a drinks station. If you don't open extra stations, you won't need to hire employees to man them, but you might suffer an order backlog. If every customer orders a hamburger (and since the hamburger station can only cook one burger at a time), they might be in for a long wait while their order gets cooked. Again, strategic planning is required to decide whether you should invest your cash, and where you want to invest it, be it hiring more employees or opening more stations.

There is also a competitor ladder and award system in Burger Bustle game. The better you do at each level (by achieving speed records and having more customers leave the restaurant happy), you will earn points. When you earn more points than a rival restaurant, you climb the ladder and win an award. These awards usually come with a bonus upgrade for your restaurant, such as candy to keep your waiting customers happy, or coffee to make your employees work faster.

Burger Bustle has graphics that are vibrant and crisp, and is accompanied by a great soundtrack. The voice acting is really good too, with some humor thrown in as well. Overall, Burger Bustle adds a unique twist to the time management game genre, keeping it fresh and fun. And with over 70 levels (each level capable of being played in many ways), this game will be able to satisfy you for days!

Review by Steven H. Ng

Farm Craft 2

Ginger the heroin own the Farm Craft, has work very hard and become the CEO of the Tomato Corporation. But now she got an invitation from her grandparents to come and visit them are their farm, and relax a little bit. But while she was there she decided to help the farmer Robert with her skills and experience, but then she finds out he isn't the only one who need help. So she starts with her helping out the farmers that need her skills, but she also investigates why this is happening. The game consists of 24 levels, and you don't have to worry about the length of the game while every level has enough tenths of minutes to play. Besides them there are also a couple of action levels that need to be completed, but first the normal levels. Here you have to do what you mostly do on every farm game, plow the ground, seed it, water it, harvesting, and then selling. You do the selling of flowers, fruits, and crops in a barn. You can also have animals on your farm, like pigs, bees and cows. Now as for the bonus levels, even if they are pretty shorter from the normal ones, you have to perform tasks such as activating electric generators, meeting agents, avoiding to be caught by guards, or stealing special crops that the rival company is distributing around farms. There is something wrong with that specials seeds, and you must take samples to figure out what is it. As you progress you also observe as the job is building up and you can't catch up with everything. This is where the Farm Craft game stands out the most from the others. You have the possibility of hiring workers for your chores on the farm, like pickers of the fruit and vegetables, livestock breeder, a garden assistant and a crop waterier, and a manager that pays the whole gang. As this is the biggest advantage of the game it is also its biggest weakness. It's OK when the workers are collecting and working for you, but that work can sometimes cost you of the levels goal and can get a bit frustrating. But this game has a couple of aces in her sleeve. Like there are levels when Ginger has to plant something in the middle of the desert, but that requires some conditions to be satisfied, for example; you have to install irrigation plants and sprinklers. There are also levels that happen at night, and that to require its conditions, like night lights, but to start them they need electricity, and that means electrical generators, and that all so the workers can see what they are harvesting. This time management/Sim game Farm Craft 2 has a good specter of new additions, and its fun to play to, but there are some lacks that could be better done. As I said before its greatest advantage is its greatest weakness so that could be fixed up a bit. Also through the game you are able to build building but sometimes they just cost too much. But this game has a lot of its positive sides, along with the graphics which is pretty respectable. So if you are a fan of this genre, you'll definitely enjoy it, if not you have the dome and try it.

Review from SheepArcade

Sally’s Studio - Collector’s Edition

Sally has a secret way of getting energized even though she is always busy at work. And guess what? She always works out at her favorite health and fitness studio! This is how she gets relaxed and refreshed. However when she arrived at the fitness studio, the shop is already closed and up for sale. Without hesitation, Sally made decision to buy the shop to continue making people feel their best. So here comes Sally’s Studio Collector’s Edition to the action!

In Sally’s Studio Collector’s Edition, you will go through 60 stages in total to complete the game. Travel across different locations in the map to go through from beginners to expert ranking. Collect location trophies and world trophies along the way.

When you complete each stage, it is shopping time!! Shop for your studio for new items with your earned money and upgrade them to make your customers more satisfied when they visit your fitness studio. Items range from decorative items to different types of clocks to different types of magazines. You can also select the different types of juice mixers, yoga mats and waiting chairs.

Take the customers to the exercise routines based on what their bubbles shows, be it the initial warm up, or different types of yoga mat. While waiting, play the music, let them have their drinks or give them magazines to read. As with all other time management games, you will get more customers as you progresses through the stages, but in time, you will get used to the speed and coordination.

Earn as many hearts as you can from the customers, the more the better. Again, this is a feature most gamers already familiarize with other games before, the game can introduce us other unique features. Anyway, graphics wise, it is cute and attractive. Still heartwarming to see we have collected so many hearts from the satisfied customers.

Once in a while, there will be difficult customers and the game will provide a sneak preview to the types of customers that will come in to the studio at a certain stage. Impatient Policemen, Nurses, Tourist, you name it you have it. So you need to make full use of the equipments and tools you have in your studio to make them occupied. Play the music and let them read the magazines whenever you see they are waiting in line! Make the drinks or grab whatever within your reach and pass to them to see them happy.

You will also help Sally to open new branches and have new themes for the fitness studio. As Sally, you will be exposed to new ideas to the places, and even beaches will be turned to a workout place.

Overall, I feel that there is lacking of originality in the games features as they are not new in time management games. However, when I proceeded through the stages of Sally’s Studio Collector’s Edition, oh boy…this game can be very addictive! One thing that is slightly different from the rest is that the story mode and the location settings for the fitness studio. Instead of all indoor gym, there are even outdoor settings.

Review from MabelGames