Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal

Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal is an upcoming hidden object game from PlayFirst and GameBrains set in the 1920s, where you play as Valerie Porter, a young aspiring reporter looking for her first big scoop.

Valerie finds her big break when she stumbles on a scandalous celebrity murder that has been pinned on an innocent man. She must search for hidden clues, locate missing objects, and uncover enough evidence to solve the crime so that the innocent man can go free.

The game will feature 21 locations to explore across 11 chapters, and 3 types of hidden object searches: traditional, by category, and by description; as well as 8 mini-games.

Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal game has been launched today.

Gemini Lost

Gemini Lost game is a casual village simulation that works to bridge the gap between titles like Virtual Villagers and Sprouts Adventure. During an eclipse, a group of people stumble onto an ancient relic with twelve zodiac symbols on its face. Upon touching one of the tiles, they were transported to a strange new world. Now, the twelve symbols are scattered throughout the land, and it’s your job to manage the small tribe so they can assemble the pieces and return home!

Just like any casual sim title, you’ll need to manage each villager and set him or her to work harvesting materials, building structures, researching scientific advancements, and so on. This not only maintains your tribe, it allows them to grow both in number and in intellect, opening up new paths for you to explore and allowing you to develop the tools needed to retrieve the zodiac tiles.

First on the list: food. Everybody’s gotta eat, right? Since there doesn’t seem to be a McDonald’s in sight (if you can call that food), you’ll need to work the garden. Drag and drop villagers onto locations and they’ll automatically start working. Each character has a favorite activity (building, farming, science, etc.), and they’ll be thrilled if you assign them a task they already enjoy. So thrilled, in fact, they’ll work faster, which is a huge bonus when your population is low and resources spread thin.

After your food supply is secure, it’s time to harvest wood and stone, both useful for building structures. The science hut and chapel, used for researching new technology and marrying couples (first comes love, then marriage, then a population-expanding baby carriage!) respectively, also need to be completed.

Once the basics are taken care of, Gemini Lost opens up its world for you to explore. Look around the map for anything that looks slightly out of place. Then, drop a villager there and see what you need to research in order to solve the mystery. Scientific advancements will eventually allow you to build more things, accomplish bigger tasks, research complex tools, and even mix potions that have a variety of game-altering effects.

Analysis: Gemini Lost is one part village sim, two parts exploration. It takes some of my favorite aspects from Virtual Villagers and Sprouts Adventure and creates a game that’s both relaxing and intriguing at the same time. Want to see what the deal with that rock island is? Try building a raft. Those bees looking interesting? Drop someone there, see what’s going on. Your only real limitation is time, as you often have to wait for certain technologies to become available before accessing a new area. Otherwise, the land is yours to roam.

Gemini Lost has a number of player-friendly features that take some of the work out of playing. For starters, the game takes place in real-time, meaning your villagers are hard at work even while you’re away. Each time you quit the game, a small menu pops up asking what speed you want things to continue while you’re gone. If you aren’t planning to play for a few days, set things to “slow” so you don’t come back to a village of skeletons.

Navigating through your villagers is a bit tedious, as the only method of quick selection involves scrolling through a list of people one by one. Fortunately, these people tend to take care of themselves and stay pretty busy, so you won’t have to do too much babysitting to make sure work gets done.

A pleasantly stunning entry into the casual simulation genre, Gemini Lost is the most player-friendly village management game around.

Review from CasualGameplay

Trapped: The Kidnapping

The thought of being kidnapped or trapped without escape is a viable fear for most people. In the latest title from Gogii Games, you’ll play the role of victim Helene as she tries to find a way of escape before her killer closes in on her. But making a casual horror game is notoriously tricky business. Does Trapped: The Kidnapping have the makings of a truly great and scary game?

The game begins without much elaboration on what’s going on. All you know is that the main character, Helene, has been kidnapped and taken to a strange warehouse-like location. Her kidnapper, a man cloaked in a dark hooded sweater with a deep and distorted voice, has set up cameras all around the location, asking Helene if she’d like to play a game: a game of survival. Helene must not only try to escape, but recover her memory, identity, and evidence along the way before time runs out.

Trapped is your run of the mill hidden object game. In each area you must find a list of objects before “replaying” the same area (after a message from the kidnapper), only actually finding useful items to progress to the next room.  Most all the objects you’ll be picking up have very little if any significance, with Helene often asking herself why she’s doing this and the kidnapper thanking her for picking up after him. The whole vibe of this makes the game very peculiar, and instead of worrying about the prospect of being killed or not escaping, you’ll more likely be wondering what the point is to begin with.

In the secondary puzzles, you can toggle the mouse over various objects to make a “?”appear over things you can interact with or find pieces to. A hint system is present to aid you in finding these areas and objects, but isn’t always as specific as you need it to be. Hints are unlimited but take a short while before they can be used again.

There is an inventory present in the game that allows you to stash items for later use. However, you won’t be using these inventory items regularly: instead you will only use a handful in a single room at the very end of the game.

The main appeal of Trapped game for most people will be the promise of scary gameplay, but unfortunately what could have been a very frightening gaming experience really isn’t. The premise is similar to the Saw movies, minus the gore. The kidnapper will come on the loudspeaker and taunt you very often, however I can’t tell you how many times the kidnapper will repeat himself. This is one of the very things that makes the gameplay drag on and makes it hard to take the kidnapper seriously. `In addition to that, some of his comments are so off the wall strange, such as being unable to resist taking Helene’s shoes, you’ll just sit there and wonder “…Huh?”

But surely if you discount that, the game is still scary, right? Well, no, not really. The soundtrack consists of one tune repeating over and over again, and the environments, while they are all different, still don’t boast much variation. There aren’t even rats, birds, or spiders that scurry or flutter around to give a quick and easy scare. The only thing you will encounter on less than a handful of occasions is a mannequin falling out of a closet or locker with a scream.

Many of the game’s puzzles and areas just seem absurd, like having to reassemble and dress up a mannequin (male in female attire) and adding lipstick to it, or wash the clothes of the kidnapper in a coin-slot laundry room. It feels like filler. Furthermore the areas seem repetitive, since for example, in every area the door knob is missing and you’ll have to find it. The fact that the killer repeats himself so often really makes him much more annoying than threatening, to the point where whenever he talks you really start to tune him out. The game also ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so story-wise, it’s not satisfying.

Overall, Trapped: The Kidnapping really doesn’t offer the horrifying experience the title suggests. The hidden objects aren’t even that hard to find. With quirky items and tasks littering every scene and failed attempts at increasing the drama, you’d be better off investing in another title for your Halloween scares.

Review by Tawny Mueller

Sally’s Quick Clips

Enjoy the latest installment of the Sally’s Saloon games series Sally’s Quick Clips. Grab the keys to success today as you play as Sally, the famous esthetician. Walk through various saloons and fulfill the clients’ requests in this encyclopedia of perfect look Sally’s Quick Clips game!
Sally’s Quick Clips is a nice blend of puzzle and time management games. Match scissors, dyers, hair dye, and various accessories to make your customers happy. Visit local shops and buy useful upgrades to make Sally’s job easier and more efficient. Compete with Sally’s friends in amazing mini-games and win trophies.

While reflecting on her years of success, Sally’s mind drifts back to her humble beginnings when, fresh out of beauty school, she was on the hit TV Show “Styling America” with a chance to win $100,000! Arrange scissors, dryers, hair color and more into matching groups of three or more to gather resources for the special services you’ll provide to your choosy clients. Match your customers’ tastes and make them look sharp. With your help, Sally might win this dazzling TV competition!

Featuring polished graphics, pleasant music and addictive game play Quick Clips is a nice game for the whole family. It is time to begin. It is time for Sallys Quick Clips game!

Avenue Flo

Avenue Flo is a point and click adventure game that has you saving the day as Diner Dash’s Flo. Miss Big’s wedding is right around the corner, and Wedding Dash planner Quinn desperately needs Flo’s help. The cake is green, the flowers are dead, the dress isn’t ready, and the decorations are falling apart. To make things worse, a pair of $50,000 wedding rings are missing. Eager to help out her roomate, Flo dashes around town, finding the items needed to set things right again.

Flo is still really cool, even if she’s not waiting tables. I had my reservations, since a lot of cross-genre games fall flat. No fear, gamers – this is a great adventure, especially if you want a game that isn’t a dark mystery like so many others. Your first task involves finding a mop to clean up a coffee spill, and then rummaging through Flo’s purse to find her ringing cellphone. The environments are interactive, so you can open drawers, talk to people, and pick up things in the usual adventure game style.

The voice acting is a lot of fun, and there’s even a country-style theme song. The graphics in the original Diner Dash have been called some of the ugliest in gaming, but thankfully you’ll see huge improvements in the more recent Dash games. Avenue Flo manages to keep the same look and feel, while looking a lot more polished and certainly not ugly. Everything is hand drawn in cartoon style, with great animations. You also get plenty of cameos from previous customers and Dash stars, which is fun if you love these games and know them very well.

There are more than a few hidden object sections, which might have you finding all the beads in a specific room, or all the butterflies in each scene. As you play, you’ll also encounter other minigames which can’t be skipped. These are untimed, so there’s no pressure, and they aren’t too rough. For example, one game has you completing bead patterns, and another has you sorting clothes by color. If you need help, there’s a full walkthrough available on the Big Fish Games blog. Most tasks are intuitive, though, so you shouldn’t need much help.

If you like adventure games, or are just a fan of Flo, you will enjoy the light-hearted game play in Avenue Flo. It’s one of those relaxing games that’s a good way to pass a lazy afternoon.

Review by Neroli, Xomba

Tourist Trap: Build the Nation’s Greatest Vacations

Tourist Trap is the latest town building sim game on the market, and it has you building a small American town into a hot tourist spot. With business closing left and right, the city of Kitschville has found itself 1 million dollars in debt. As a last ditch effort, the City Council decides to try and market Kitschiville as the #1 tourist destination in the country…but how?

At the city council meeting, you can ask residents what they think. These are some eclectic characters, including a biker, a mechanic, a soccer mom, a scientist, a punk, and a real estate agent. Clicking on one will suggest a new business for you to try, which can really help to develop the town.

As you play, you need to build amenities like gas stations, hotels, and restaurants to increase the number of tourists your town can handle. You’ll also need lots of special attractions to build money and tourist traffic. Just like in real life, different attractions will draw a different crowd. There are families, students, seniors, professionals, and truckers, all of which like different things.

Of course, you need to ensure that there’s enough roads to connect everything, and that the property is attractive. Adding plants can increase the property value. You can also repair or mothball buildings, destroying and upgrading different structures as the town develops.

What I don’t like is that you aren’t given a lot of freedom to select the structures you have to build, at least not to start. You can only build what’s in your cue, limiting the strategy you can form. Still, I love the idea of asking residents for their advice, and it’s neat that you need to consider the different types of tourists you want to attract.

Tourist Trap does add a few new twists to the building genre, and the production values are good, but I would have likes more Sim City style flexibility straight from the beginning. It’s a tough call!

Review by Neroli

Party Planner

Pepper has the rare chance to combine two very pleasant opportunities by moving to Bashville. She is able to reconnect with her three childhood friends, and, with their support, finally launch her party-planning business. And this is exactly what Party Planner, the new release by developer GamesCafe who already brought you the Sally series (Sally’s Salon, Sally’s Spa), is about: hosting fantabulous parties.

Party Planner only features one mode, the main campaign which consists of 15 locations with 5 levels each, all in all providing 75 levels, which is certainly a lot considering the average length of other time management titles. Unfortunately, players won’t find either an endless mode or an untimed option for the campaign, which will probably limit the audience and discourage people who normally dislike fast-paced games.

People who are familiar with titles like Party Down or the Wedding Dash series will quickly feel comfortable with Party Planner, which is based on a similar concept with some interesting twists. At the beginning of each party the host will tell you his preferences concerning food, drinks, activities, music and presents. In a memory-like game you then have to choose the right items according to the host’s wishes.

During each level your only task is to fulfill requests by guests, for example orders for specific meals or drinks, which you then have to drag from the bar onto the guest, or dragging the guests themselves on the dance-floor, if they feel like dancing. Food and drinks have to be refilled, which can be done by hovering over the cook or the bartender, and clicking on the meal or drink you want to have prepared. What slightly complicates the game are the different spots on which the guests stand. On green and blue spots guests are able to eat and drink, while the connected green spots also enable two guests to chat with each other. On purple spots they can dance, but neither drink, nor eat. Even more problematic is that you cannot swap guests, like in Megaplex Madness, which uses comparable game mechanics.

In each level you earn both hearts and money by fulfilling the guest’s requests, with the ability to increase your income by chaining the same actions. The amount of money has no influence on whether you reach normal, expert, or epic goal, but it can be used to upgrade your staff or to purchase very helpful items (actually too helpful, but I will come back to that later on). Against this, hearts are in no way connected to buying upgrades, but are solely important for how your performance in any level is rated.

The variety of upgrades is not exactly great, but still interesting, and ranges from quicker cooks and bartenders to designer water that improves the mood of your guests, and Fireworks or Confetti, which help you to easily earn additional hearts. The fact that you will earn a lot of money early on, therefore being able to buy as many upgrades as you prefer, is the game’s major flaw. It is much too easy, even for newcomers to the genre. It is even possible to not lose any guest during the whole campaign, and easily breeze through reaching the epic goal in every level at first try.

As a result, you will have seen every upgrade and every feature of Party Planner game rather quickly. After the fifth party or so, no new challenges or surprises uphold the interest of the player. This results – especially considering how easy the game is – in a rather dull and repetitive gaming experience. This is really a shame, because in the beginning Party Planner is as engaging and interesting as a game in this genre can be. On top of that the different types of guests, who are drawn in a screamingly funny way, behave absolutely similar, which is not exactly lowering the repetitive feeling.

But the game still is definitely worth a try for everyone who has a preference for time management titles, simply because the positive aspects of Party Planner slightly outshine the negative ones. Even if is much weaker than comparable games like Wedding Dash or Party Down, it is still a nice distraction and not the hundredth version of any cooking- or fashion-game.

Review by David Becker

Burger Time Deluxe

Who could forget Burger Time, the tasty ’80s arcade game that challenged players to build hamburgers and avoid running into the nasty toppings. Even fitness guru Jillian Michaels, star of The Biggest Loser, says she spent many a quarter on this frantic arcade puzzler back in the day.

Well, it’s back. Namco Networks has resurrected this classic but while adding new game-play elements, better graphics, bigger levels (both vertically and horizontally) and minigames, too. It’s not perfect, but a delicious update nonetheless.

If case you’ve never played the original, or if it’s been a while, you must navigate around various platforms, connected by ladders, and assemble hamburgers in order to clear the levels. You do this by walking over the parts of the burger — such as the bun, tomato, lettuce and cheese — so that it falls down to the lower platform and eventually making it onto a tray in the correct sandwich order. Sounds easy, sure, but keep in mind you’ve got nasty foods who want to harm you, so you must avoid them or use your pepper spray to stun them long enough to get away. Or better yet, trap these ingredients onto one of the burger’s layers and they’ll fall down and become part of the lunch for extra points.

Burger Time Deluxe offers both a Quick Play mode and a Story mode. I recommend the latter first, as that’s the one with a tutorial. You choose to play as either chef Peter Pepper or Sally Salt and your uncle will tell you about the mean Vinnie Vinegar who wants to put the family’s popular hamburger hut out of business. In order to do so, Vinnie’s henchmen are dispatched to disrupt your hamburger making — this includes a fried egg, hotdog and pickle.

As you roam around the platforms to assemble each burger, you’ll learn to stay away from these baddies — even though their special powers can make it difficult to do so. The ham, for example, can speed up quickly when its near you, the carrot can drill down a platform (without needing a ladder) and the onion cries and leaves a white plume that can kill you if ran into. If you really want to rack up points, though, you’ll douse them with some pepper (by simply pressing on the spacebar) and make them fall into the sandwich.
Along with new enemies introduced in this remake, power-ups can also help players including running over a super salt shaker to temporarily hurt all the enemies’ eyes, hot sauce that sets them on fire for a few seconds and an energy drink that makes you run faster. Some, though, just give you extra points such as the teacup, ice cream and spatula. Problem is, the background art is so busy — with dozens of napkins, dishes, pots and loaves of bread per level — it’s hard to tell at first glance what you can pick up and what you cannot (after a frustrating few minutes, I explained to my wife the power-ups glow a little bit). Another oversight is not all items are explained by your uncle, such as the water dripping that can push you down the ladder or bubbles that can float you to a higher platform.

It’s optional, but if you spell a word by collecting each letter scattered throughout the platforms (such as P-E-P-P-E-R) then not only do you finish the level without having to assemble every hamburger, but you’re also treated to a hidden minigame. The first one you’ll encounter is a maze that challenges you to reach the end point (and avoid the falling hamburgers) within a predetermined time limit.

Despite the aforementioned problems with the game — including two “freezes” that had us restart the game on two occasions and a silly picture of your uncle in the corner of the screen that can block a burger you need to assemble — we enjoyed playing through Burger Time Deluxe. Fans of the original game or those who enjoy silly arcade diversions should find this remake a treat for their PC.

Review by Marc Saltzman

Cooking Dash: DinerTown Studios

PlayFirst, Inc., the award-winning entertainment company, is behind launch of a new casual game title based on the top selling Cooking Dash® series. Cooking Dash®: DinerTown Studios™, is the glitzy sequel title which introduces an exciting Hollywood theme to the series. PlayFirst PlayPass™ members will have exclusive access to the game for both Mac and PC download from today Tuesday, August 11 and the title will be widely available on Thursday, August 13.

First released in 2008 for the PC and Mac, Cooking Dash is still one of PlayFirst’s top selling time management PC and Mac games with 14 million downloads to date. The original Cooking Dash traces the story of Flo, the restaurateur who is forced to run several restaurant kitchens in DinerTown in a race against time.

In the star studded sequel, Cooking Dash: DinerTown Studios, Flo finds herself working on a TV set and striving to keep the talent and crew happy by serving timely and delicious dishes. The game presents the additional challenge of requiring increased preparation and strategic foresight to keep up with the demanding customers as a celebrity cast complete with challenging egos keeps gamers on their toes.

The game also introduces several new features including multi-course meals and five new on-set restaurants all within 50 TV-themed gameplay levels. Inspired by the world of on screen entertainment, Cooking Dash: DinerTown Studios explores the successful genres that made Hollywood famous and reflects these themes in the game’s restaurant locations. New locations paying homage to the industry include The Salt Lick Saloon, Buckingham Bistro and The Crater Café.

“The PlayFirst fans have spoken loud and clear in their demand for more Cooking Dash games and we are thrilled to ‘level up’ their culinary entertainment,” said Kenny Shea Dinkin, vice president and creative director, PlayFirst. “Today’s launch finds Flo in the glamorous world of Hollywood where players will need to tackle a menu full of new gameplay challenges before securing their starring role in this fast paced, fast food kitchen comedy.”

Passport To Perfume

Passport To Perfume takes you around the world as Sophia, a young adventure-seeker, perfume maker and shop owner in the 1940’s. You’ll manage a perfume shop, create scents, select from elegant perfume bottle inventory and sell your creations to customers. On weekends, travel the world searching for rare ingredients, perfume bottles and new fragrance recipes. Will you find rarest of all—a secret fragrance worn by Marie Antoinette herself? Or will a rival perfumer find it first? Passport To Perfume game features:

• 48 ingredients to mix and match
• 5 exotic hidden object locations
• 16 elegant perfume bottles