Nanny 911

Nanny 911 is a complex time management game that has you disciplining unruly parents and cleaning up messy homes. The interface is awkward, but there's lots to do, and the pace is fast.

The Nanny 911 game is based on the Nanny 911 television show, and you can spot the similarities straight away. Like in the show, your mission as a Nanny is to help troubled families clean up their lives and parenting style. You actually spend most of your time disciplining the parents, not the kids!

Much of the game play is like Nanny Mania and Nanny Mania 2, but with slightly more complicated controls. You need to control both the Mom and the Dad. To toggle between them, you click the pink or blue buttons on the lower panel. As the kids continue to trash the place, you must order the parents around to clean everything up. The parents also need to discipline the kids with your help.

In a new twist, there are positive and a negative feedback buttons, shown as a green thumbs up and red thumbs down. If the parents do anything wrong – like chatting on the phone, eating on the bed, napping, or screaming at the kids – you can scold them with a button click. Likewise, if they do something right, like clean up on their own, or praise the kids, you can give them positive feedback. Giving the parents feedback increases their discipline meter, which is needed to beat many levels in the game.

The time limits are tight, but you can adjust the difficulty level by selecting a Nanny. Each Nanny represents a different difficulty level.

The controls take a bit of getting used to, so expect to play for a few levels until it feels comfortable. You have to continuously select different modes for your mouse clicks on the control panel (ex. positive feedback, negative feedback, Mom's jobs, Dad's jobs), and this is sometimes awkward. It might have been better with fewer clicks needed. I like the game otherwise, but this feature is what turned me off.

In between levels, you get actual parent tips, most of which are sensible (if not condescending). The production values, graphics, and music are all okay, and the pace can get pretty hectic. I'd say Nanny 911 is a good time managment game, but the interface could use a bit of polish.

Review by Neroli

Xomba