Cake Mania 2 Review

Sim | Posted by Meg
Mar 11 2010

cake-mania-2
download Cake Mania 2buy Cake Mania 2

Now that Jill has rescued her grandparents from financial disaster (in Cake Mania), she sent them on a Hawaiian cruise in Cake Mania 2. Jill is ready for her own adventures in the baking world in addition to her personal life. Her future outcome is in your hands. Where will Jill end up with 6 different outcomes to her life’s story in this Mac game.

The play starts with your decision to go with Risha, Jill’s friend, and bake in a posh hoity penthouse bakery in the middle of town or work for Jack, her ex-boyfriend who cannot run a water park and is going bankrupt, on the out skirts of the city. The 2 locations have different type of clientele and many personalities.

The play is very similar to Cake Mania, but in multiple scenes. A customer comes in the shop, you click on the customer, they read the menu and decide what shape cake and which frosting they want, you click on the shape on the oven and wait, click on the baked cake to pick it up, then click on the type of frosting the client requested, click on the frosted cake to pick it up, click on the customer and finally click on the money left on the counter. This money will goCake Mania 6 towards your daily cash total. This procedure is done over and over in the course of the workday. You can change it up a bit by picking up the baked cake and click on the next shape before going to the icing station. You need to do double duty to keep up the demands of the impatient customers. You can tell by the hearts what the level of tolerance is for that person.

In order to speed up your production and satisfy your clients, you need to purchase baking equipment to expand your Cake Mania 7shop. You can only do this when you have made enough money for the expensive items. Hopefully you are fast enough to make the daily quota. In addition to the new equipment, there are extras that will allow you to charge more for each cake and make more money.

There are 18 new and different customers from the deep sea diver from Jack’s water park, the security officer, doctor, and the old cat lady at the posh bakery. The areas are new from the first game, and there are 50 more kitchen upgrades to buy and install in your shop. The oven is the same old reliable machine that granny has always used, there are toppers for the cakes, and additional frostings. With a couple hundred levels, play can continue for hours.

Cake Mania 2 has more options and a twist to the story line that the first version of the game did not have. If you liked Cake Mania, you’ll love this second one even more with its options to the story line, different location to bake your cakes and funny characters to satisfy.

Features of Cake Mania 2:
-18 New Customers
-204 Sweet Levels
-50 Kitchen Upgrades

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Jewel Quest Myteries-Curse of the Emerald Tear Review

Action, Adventure, Hidden Object/I Spy, Match, Puzzle, Seek and Find | Posted by Zeke
Mar 10 2010

jewel-quest-mysteries
download Jewel Quest Mysteries-Curse of the Emerald Tearbuy Jewel Quest Mysteries-Curse of the Emerald Tear

Looking for lost treasure would get old by now, right? Jewels Quest Mysteries-Curse of the Emerald Tear is just as exciting and fun as all the Jewel Quest series, and you are still looking for lost treasure. Go figure. In this Mac game youJewel Quest Mysteries2 have the hidden object play with a match game and an early game board puzzle.

The main play is the hidden object one with a little twist to it. Instead of getting helps automatically you must search for 3 gold coins in order to get hints for your game. In addition to the usual list of items located on the left side, you need to search for gems scattered throughout each location. The gems will buy you upgrades to your game so it is important to find as many as possible in each area.

Jewel Quest Mysteries4You are in Egypt and the map takes you to various locations in your search for treasure. Also watch out to not click randomly on items or you will be deducted time. There are 2 modes of play for the hidden object game, Regular Time and Extended Time. The choice is yours.

In Jewel Quest Mysteries you have the familiar story of searching for gems in this case the Emerald Tear, Rupert and Jewel Quest Mysteries5Emma Pack and in a place like the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Of course, not to mention the fabled power of this gem to do great things is another draw to investigate this unique game. All this sounds all too cliché, but Jewel Quest is consistently good with all their games and this one is no exception. The graphics and sound effects are excellent, and the play is enjoyable. This game combines the Jewel Quest match games with a hidden object play in the best possible way.

Features of Jewel Quest Mysteries:
-18 Backgrounds
-Exotic Hidden Object Games
-Mini Games
-Jewel Quest Mystery Storyline

Play more Jewel Quest games: Jewel Quest 1, 2, 3, 4 & Solitaire

Rating: ★★★★☆

Shutter Island Review

Hidden Object/I Spy, Puzzle, Seek and Find | Posted by Zeke
Mar 09 2010


Shutter Island is a well publicized new chilling psychological thriller movie made by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio based on a 1950’s story written by Dennis Lehane about paranoia, delusion, grief and denial. It is set in a New England asylum for the criminally insane where one of their dangerous patients is missing. Two federal marshals are called in to investigate this disappearance. Shutter Island, the Mac hidden object game of the same name, follows the movie script (follows the novel) very closely.

It is summer of 1954. Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) and Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) arrive in Boston’s outer harbor to capture a violent female escapee, Rachel Solando. At Ashecliffe Hospital you search through cemeteries, doctors’ offices and the many rooms within and outside of the asylum to solve this mystery. You also will talk to patients, guards and doctors to get more information. You are Teddy so you never see DiCaprio but you will see many familiar actors like Ben Kingsley as Dr. Cawley. These encounters will give you clues and move the tale along with the hidden object scenes. The many mini puzzles and games are all intertwined in the story line, but can be skipped if you do not wish to play them. Patient files and paranormal appearances will also give you information needed in the story.

All this is done well in Shutter Island the Mac game. The artwork stays close to the movie scenes especially the dining room set. In the promo for the movie they show this scene and the game’s room is very similar. I don’t know if I’ll go see this movie since it got mixed reviews, but the Mac game is so engaging with its many hidden object/seek and find scenes and mini games, you want to keep going to find out what’s really happening on this strange island full of hidden secrets and personal demons. I thought the game captured the feeling of the movie and did a great job conveying it through the game. The sound effects and music were also dramatic and helped increase your involvement in the story. You can get into this hidden object game and find out the gripping twist to this story.

Features of Shutter Island:
-Based on the Movie
-Great Visuals
-Immersive Game Play

Rating: ★★★★☆

Westward II Review

Action, Adventure, Sim | Posted by Meg
Mar 08 2010

westward-ii

Download Westward IIBuy Westward II
Westward II is an epic Mac game with a grandiose undertaking to develop and defend an entire town of happy, well-adjusted folks from the Copperhead Gang. What an incredible sim game for anyone who loves cowboys, westerns and pioneer type story. The landscape in itself is enormous and in a wide scaled and diverse environment.

You enter this game with music of the great frontier and western deserts and plateaus. Everything you learned or saw in the movies about the early pioneer days will come back to you in this massive undertaking of a Mac game Westward II. You select your person or hero from 3 unlikely characters: Marion unlocks the Windmill and corn, Maureen unlocks the banks a no cost and Terrance unlocks the trading post at no cost. One of them will become your hero so choose wisely. Your job is to build a profitable, happy town in the wild west. An explanation mark over the heads of the people will appear when they wish to talk to you. Just click on the mark and find out what they want. Left click on the people and drag them to another location. To move or look at other parts of the map drag the cursor to the edge of the screen or click on the small map on the lower left side and click where you would like to go. To zoom in or out use the scroll or plus, minus (+, -) keys.

To begin building your town, click on the tool then what you need built (tent, shack, log cabin). Not all the choices will be available to you. You must get experience to unlock more items. Your character is quite amiable to build your shack, but you must get others to help so your person can go and get food, supplies and more shelter. If you keep the people fed, they will work for you, and if you need to build a house, you’ll need lumber and people to build it. You need trees to build so you must drag a person willing to go to a fallen tree and click on it to get him to chop the wood.

In order to buy supplies and items, you have to have gold or money. There are a lot of veins of gold all over the frontier to mine. You can get a mine, have someone work on it and get your gold. People will often barter with you to work on your projects so take advantage of it to progress in the game.

You would think that all this is quite enough to keep you entertained but there’s more. The wild west would not be the wild west without the bad guys, and the baddest of them all is the Copperhead Gang. You need to defend yourself and your town from them by getting a group of people to help you in a shoot out. You drag your cursor around some people, arm them with guns and they will help you defend your stakes.

The meter at the bottom of the screen will help you monitor your necessities so you do not fall behind in the game, because you get so into the play and landscape that you may forget to feed your people and provide water when needed.

I could go on and on about this game, but you need to try it out for yourself. The landscape alone will mesmerize you. I kept moving over canyons, forest, plains and rivers and nearly forgot to get back to the town. Even though it is in a cartoon setting, it’s done so well and beautifully, you forget that it’s not real and you are just playing a very involved game. The dialogue is funny, the music big and the play most interesting, so build your own prosperous town on the frontier of civilization and enjoy yourself for many hours.

Features of Westward II:
-Bring Copperhead Gang to Justice
-Over 20 Buildings
-Awards
-New Sandbox Mode

Rating: ★★★★☆

Saqqarah Review

Adventure, Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Mar 07 2010

saqqarah
download Saqqarahbuy Saqqarah

The ancient quest for buried treasure and wisdom can be found beneath the ground in Egypt. Saqqarah is a story of ancient gods, good and evil, riches and knowledge. You are to unveil and conquer what lies beneath the Pyramid of Saqqarah put there 1000 years ago.

Your journey begins at the Temple of Isis. All the other temples are locked until you complete the necessary levels. The temple has been ruined by Seth, the evil god who was placed below the pyramid of Saqqarah. The puzzle is a match 3 or more colors and light up the entire board. You click on a color to swap position with another piece and make a match of 3 or more gems. If time runs out you lose the level and must start again. You will be assisted by Khufu a blue talking primate. Every 5 moves Khufu will charge one of the tokens with explosive power. By destroying the obstacles you will finish faster. Matched gems fall to the ground and the scarab sweeps them away for Khufu to cast helping spells. If you want the scarab to work faster, click on it and see it scurry.

If you are stuck and cannot make any more matches, click on the shuffle button, but be wary that the next time you need it, it will take longer. When you have combos your score is higher. The token of Seth will block your moves, and you must destroy them if you can. After completing a level you will come to the Bonus Rounds. The Glyph of Magic will have you matching hieroglyphics at the bottom of the screen with rows of options above.

Each temple offers different types of puzzles. One is making a pattern with the gems to light up the boards and the other is to make the longest chain of the same color with the gems instead of swapping.

I got to the 3rd temple quite quickly and am anxious to find out what kind of puzzles with its many levels await me. This Mac game has great graphics and appropriate music, but I did not enjoy the announcer every few minutes talking loudly about each event. It was okay a few times, but after that it became annoying. I did like the fact there are 7 different kinds of puzzles in this one game. It gives you a variety of plays in one location. More bang for your buck.

Features of Saqqarah:
-Over 500 Levels
-7 Different Puzzle Game Mechanics
-Earn Ranks, trophies, Magic Powers
-Hidden Object Bonus Rounds

Rating: ★★★½☆