Posts Tagged ‘Sim’

Party Down Review

Hidden Object/I Spy, Puzzle, Sim | Posted by Zeke
Feb 25 2010

Party Down6
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Have you ever wonder what Hollywood parties are like? Well wonder no longer with Party Down you will be able to enjoy yourself with the likes of Angelina and more. Imagine hobnobbing with directors, stars, athletes and agents in order to advance your own career.

Select your player from either Shannon or Dave and begin your adventure into the Hollywood Hills. Shannon is getting nowhere in her acting career doing commercials to pay the bills while waiting for her big break. She sees an ad on TV and decides that catering to stars is her first step into the movie industry.

Party Down is a sim time management Mac game made to advance Shannon’s career in acting. She is to cater a Hollywood birthday party at Angelina’s mansion, and she is hoping this is the big break she is looking for. The play is to meet each guests’ demands by clicking and dragging the guests to the requested locations or clicking on the beverage or food of their choice and clicking on the guest to deliver. The play gets a little more interesting when the servers go andParty Down 5 speaks to the guests to increase their social levels. The stars on servers faces on the top right of the screen will let you know if they are compatible to the stars on the guests’ bubbles. If a server only has 1 star, they cannot speak to a 3 star guest until the server’s status is raised to the same level.

Party Down 7In addition to this fun sim play, there are mini games related to the main story. The hidden object game is to find items the guests have left a the party. Another side game is to connect the wires on the circuit board to light up the lines and to keep the electronic Party Down 4equipment blasting away at the party.

Party Down is only similar to Wedding Dash 2 with its sim play of dragging the guests to seats or the dance floor. Party Down goes much further than that with its intricate sim play of matching guests to guests or guests to servers. In addition the mini games are a big plus to making this game more fun and interesting.

I think if you like the usual sim play, Party Down will be so much more for your buck. It’s like getting many different and challenging plays in one game.

Features of Party Down:
-Hollywood Parties
-Different Time Management Play
-Paparazzis and Stars

Rating: ★★★½☆

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Jessica’s Cupcake Cafe Review

Action, Sim | Posted by Meg
Feb 16 2010

Jessica's Cupcake Cafe
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The Story: Jessica is home from LA and overhears her Aunt Margaret talking about hers and Uncle Fred’s woes about their failing bakery. Bright-eyed, ever ready Jessica suggests updating the bakery concept and start a cupcake café to bring in the customers and also make a profit. Aunt Margaret is thrilled with the idea since all the buzz is about Jessica's Cupcake Cafe2cupcakes (even Martha Stewart devoted a week to cupcake making on her top-rated TV show, and everyone knows Martha can turn a profit). However, Auntie M is astute enough to know that a conversion of the shop will take a lot of work and assistance, so she asks Jessica to lend a hand to get things started.

There will always be a need for your typical neighborhood bakery making breads, birthday cakes and cookies or even the fancy French patisserie with their, oh so decadent, ganache frostings and croissants, but the latest craze in bakeries is the cupcake shops that are everywhere nowadays. My favorite cupcake shop is Magnolia in New York City, and I hear Vanilla in LA is quite good. I’ll have to check it out next time I’m in town. Jessica’s Cupcake Café is an updated sim play like Ice Cream Craze and Mystic Emporium.

The Play: Making cupcakes appears to be a straightforward, easy play or it it? The play is to click on the type of cake your customer wishes to buy (this is shown to you with the number of cupcakes in a bubble next to the client). The highly innovative machine will place the correct amount of batter into the baking sheet, you click on the pan, click on the oven to bake, wait, click on the baked cupcakes, click on the counter, click on the requested frosting, click on the completed tube of frosting, click on the tray of cakes to frost after completion click to pick up the pan, click on the customer andJessica's Cupcake Cafe3 finally on the cash register to collect the money. These are a lot of steps to maneuver, but once you get into the groove, everything will flow nicely. However, in these plays there are always things that may slow your play down such as a decoration candy piece to top the cupcake. It can be a bear, daisy, heart or sun. The customer may request a special order causing you to throw out a batch of cupcakes or frosting.

However the game will always give you great upgrades to help you increase your speed to beat the level. You may get additional stoves, more icing machines and candy makers. Another added plus is you can design your own cupcakes to sell to your clients. Don’t worry about the extra cupcakes since they will be sold at a bake sale in a side mini game. Your goal is to sell as many cupcakes as possible in a limited time.

Jessica's Cupcake Cafe7Jessica’s Cupcake Café, although similar to many of the sim plays, is an entertaining Mac game for everyone. In addition you will unlock many great cupcake recipes to try out and enjoy. The graphics is good and the music will keep you in sync with quick speed to meet your goals.

Features of Jessica’s Cupcake Café:
-Run a Cupcake Café
-Design Your Own Cupcakes
-42 Levels in 9 Locations
-Cupcake Recipes

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Gemini Lost Review

Adventure, Puzzle, Seek and Find, Sim | Posted by Meg
Feb 05 2010


A group of friends come across an ancient zodiac wheel on their way home and were transported through some teleporter to a strange land in Mac sim game Gemini Lost. Unfortunately for these 6 people the wheel exploded and spewed the zodiac signs across this mysterious region.

In order to return home, they must find all the keys to repair the wheel. However, life goes on and the 6 must start a village of sorts in order to survive. They must gather and grow foods, find wood and stones for building shelter, increase their knowledge to be able to perform many tasks, they must marry to increase and sustain their population and find all the zodiac keys to transport them back.

In addition to all that, there are puzzles and tasks to complete in order to teleport back home. In order to get across a river, someone needs to have the skills to build a bridge spanning the distance from your end to where the key is located. Labs will increase your knowledge level, working on the garden will increase your farming skills and the chapel will marry your couples so you can increase your village. Also after a time the older people will die off so raising the children is important. The kids however do not work until they are grown, but can pick up items for potions. The game is very good about giving you vital information and stats on each person. If someone is sick, they will be moving around slowly and will need to be healed. Potions can be made and the recipes are available in the log.

The game will allow you to choose how you want your villagers to proceed when you leave the game. If you want to be involved at all times you are on, you can do so or you can have the people go about their tasks even when you are not on the computer. This part of the game is different from other games of this nature.

The tutorial is easy to follow and will get you started on your village without any trouble. I did find it curious when I left the game with 2 skilled people building a bridge, and when I got back, no progress was made and the 2, nowhere to be found. I suggest you keep track of your people’s names because when they grow up while you are gone, they are like strange new person you’ve forgotten. It gets a little confusing.

For the most part I liked this sim develop your own village type game. This one seemed easier to train people, and they didn’t mind working very hard each day. When they get tired, they will rest in the hut, and when they get hungry they will feed themselves so you just need to watch the upper part of the screen to see how much supplies you have and will need. The computer will announce any changes such as a baby being born or someone who passes away. This game is appropriate for children because they take care of birth and dying in a discreet manner.

So create your own village full of people to your specifications and search for all the zodiac keys for your ticket back to civilization.

Features of Gemini Lost:
-Puzzles and Mini Games
-Zodiac Signs
-Your Own World
Similar games: My Tribe, Wild Tribe, Virtual Villagers 1 and 2

Rating: ★★★½☆
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Top Chef Review

Action, Sim | Posted by musicaltrack
Jan 29 2010

Top Chef
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Do you like to cook? Do you like to play video games? Do you watch TV? Then Top Chef is the game for you! Take one part hit TV show and combine it with one part Sim and one part cartoon and voile, you have Top Chef. Forget what you learned in culinary school because all that is going to be put to the test in a grueling competition that challenges both the mind and the stomach. This intro may be a little cheesy, but in Top Chef that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

The game is very straightforward: compete on the show to become the best chef you can possibly be. You have a kitchen at your disposal and whatever you decide to make is up to you. At the beginning of each challenge you have a sidebar that gives you a list of what types of ingredients you need (spicy, sweet, salty, savory, etc.). You then have the Top Chef 4ingredients on a shelf in the back. Depending on which one you choose, you can get different bonuses. For example, combining apples and bacon gives you a “classic combo” bonus. After you choose the corresponding ingredient, you bring it to the work station where you begin the preparation. You can only prep one thing at a time, but ingredients sitting on the work station slowly become finished as time goes on. Naturally the station that you are working at goes faster, so timing is very important.

After you complete your “masterpiece,” you are off to be judged. Each dish is computer generated to show exactly the ingredients that you put into it. This was actually pretty funny, as the first time I played I put some weird combination of Top Chef 3food together, and they showed up in the judging (like mango and anchovies). Due to the fact that there is a gigantic number of possible foods to make, this game can have a great replay value. Although it is based on a show that I have never personally seen, I truly enjoyed the game because it was fun to see the food I had put together. The only complaint I had was that each ingredient did not look as it should when being prepared. However, that would have taken a long time to actually Top Chef 2program, and they did get the final plating correct. Overall I would give Top Chef four out of five stars.

Features of Top Chef:
-45 Challenges
-Pick the Ingredients
-Multi-Task in the Kitchen
-Become the Next Top Chef

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Westward III Review

Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter | Posted by Zeke
Jan 21 2010


Westward III: Gold Rush is a Mac sim game with a little RPG built into the play. Like its predecessor Westward II, this new game is also grand in scale and play. Most sim play will limit your environment to a certain area, but Westward III follows the story line and moves the main character from one scene to another in order to progress logically in the game.

After you choose your hero character from 3 available people (Polly Hatchet unlocks the ranch, General Amos Cutter unlocks the gun shop and Shawnee Longfeather the tannery), the action panel so vital to sim plays will open up giving you details of your person, your goals and different tools needed to complete your jobs. The map on the lower right will quickly locate where you are, and if you click on the picture of your hero will take you directly to that spot. You can also zoom in and out depending on what you are doing.

You begin your play by dragging your hero to where you want your person to work or talk to another character. If you need wood for building, you drag your person to the log, the cursor will show an axe, and your person will go to that spot and start chopping wood. She/he will continue with the same activity until you move them to another location. If someone needs to speak to you, there will appear a question mark above his/her head. You will drag your hero to that person to find out what they want. The beginning of your game starts off in a limited area marked off on the map, and you help ranchers rebuild their land by building the barn, growing plants, and putting up tents. In order to do these quests you must have adequate supplies, food, water and gold. You get gold by either finding it in the massive landscape or by doing people favors and they will pay you.

After you have helped the ranchers all you could, you move on to another environment. It will bring you and one of the ranchers’ son to a snow scene where you may encounter rough people and ferocious wolves. In order to shoot an animal in defense or for food, you must drag your hero toward the animal and the cursor will change to a gun. This will begin the hero in a shooting mode. Much like a rpg game, you must look for things along the way. Also if your hero is hurt, you may have to wait a while until he/she recovers. There are many upgrades that will unlock as you go along and will help you develop your countryside.

The only problem I found was that at times it was hard to find exactly the right place to get your hero moving and doing the quests needed. Also it was difficult occasionally to move your people around to do the chores or jobs like setting up the tents, but it is not as hard as some sim/rpg plays so newbies can master the game with practice.

Westward III: Gold Rush is an awesome game full of action and adventures. It has different scenes to keep you interested, many activities to interact with, and you meet a lot of colorful characters like the gunslinger and the crotchety miner. I like the play better than the sim plays where they make you change diapers over and over or deal with impatient customers. This game did not have the big hoopla movie music introduction like Westward II, but it still is a good sim/rpg play for casual and diehard gamers of any age, and it will not disappoint. It keeps you moseying along the great landscapes finding gold and helping people in need. Have an exciting time playing Westward III: Gold Rush.

Features of Westward III: Gold Rush:
-New Environments
-Upgrades
-Enemies
-Unlock Secret Hidden Items

Rating: ★★★½☆

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