Review: Burger Battle

Type: Match 3
Platform: PC
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games

Follow the blue-eyed burger cook as he defeats rivals and save the princess.

Gameplay
Strictly speaking, this isn't a match 3 game as you have to match at least four of the same color. Unlike many of the match 3 games where you click on two different colors to swap them, you have to highlight connecting colors. The connecting color can be either above, below, left, right or diagonal. Every time you get four of the same colors, you get an ingredient that corresponds to the color. For example, matching brown would give you one meat while matching orange would give you an egg. To defeat an opponent, you have to feed him with burgers made from the ingredients you have gathered until he topples over from too much food. There is a bar beside the characters which acts like a life bar except in this case, it shows how much more you have to go before you faint from overeating.

Thoughts
This game has big cute graphics and is suitable for young children as well. Everything is cute, from the opponents to the colors you have to match. There is no violence in this game as you don't fight your opponents, you overfeed them instead! You will see your opponents getting fatter and fatter until they finally topple over.

I find that this game lacks a bit of polish although none is serious enough to break the game. There are some slight grammatical errors and the tutorial is a bit boring as you have to do a lot of reading before you can start to play the game. You are not introduced to the shop function until you actually click on the shop button which is easily missed by someone (like me) who just wants to get on with the game.

Verdict ★★★
Store page

Review: Paradise Beach 2: Around the World

Type: Building Management
Platform: PC
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games

This time you will follow Mr Gates as he goes around the world purchasing and building up resorts.


Gameplay
You build facilities according to your customers needs. These facilities are your main cash earners and have to be upgraded or maintained to keep your customers happy. Each stage has certain objectives that must be met in order to progress to the next one.

Thoughts
This game feels like the first game with a different setting. People who have played the first game will find themselves right at home but it also mean that there is nothing much to differentiate the two games. The facilities and items I can add to my resort are similar to the first game. Even though this game added some story elements, it didn't make a big difference to the game. Gameplay reminds mostly the same. But if you enjoyed the first game, it is a guarantee that you will like this as well.

Verdict ★★★★

Review: Puzzle Quest 2

Type: Match 3
Platform: PC
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games

Puzzle Quest 2 takes the winning formula of the first Puzzle Quest game and improves on it. The hero has to travel into the depths on a tower buried in the ice to investigate an ancient evil.

Gameplay
Choose from 4 hero types - Assassin, Barbarian, Sorcerer and Templar. Each Hero type has a male and female version. As far as I can tell, it is only the appearance that are different, there are no differences in the stats between male and female. Each hero class has their own strengths and limitations eg. Barbarian can wield the strongest two-handed weapons while Assassins can use the strongest poisons. What you choose will depend on your playing style.

Your characters walks around the Verloren village near the tower and accepts quests. You can also buy, sell and upgrade equipment in Verloren. There is an overview map of whole level in the bottom-right corner. Each level is divided in to rooms or areas, to exit a room or go to a different area, you have to click on the arrows on the ground. Most areas have a few enemies which block your way or are guarding a treasure chest. You will have to fight them to progress on, you can't avoid them.

Fighting is done in match 3 style. You and your opponent take turns to match a gem on the board. Matched colored gems contributed to your mana for your to cast spells. Hands represent action points which are for using the items equipped in your hero's hands. Match skulls and you will cause damage to your opponent.

Thoughts
Puzzle Quest 2 takes place in a smaller area. Instead of a whole country to explore, the only civilization is the village of Verloren which is located near an ancient tower buried underneath the ice. These are the only two accessible areas in the game. Instead of exploring horizontally across a huge map in Puzzle Quest, I am now exploring vertically into the depths of the tower. There are many levels in the tower, housing a variety of creatures so there is always something at each level. I met a lot of enemies and some friends while exploring the tower, and not all of them are human.

There are many rooms on each level of the tower so even with the mini map, it is not always easy to figure out where to go. Luckily, the developers have made it easy by having arrows to guide me to my active quest. I really like this feature because I don't not have waste time wandering around. Portals at various locations allows speedy teleportation back to the village or other parts of the tower so I don't have to trek all the way back up the tower just to go back to the village to sell/buy equipment.

I find that the RPG elements are more tightly integrated into the game this time. I love the improvements the developers had done to the graphics and sound effects. The characters look better and the backgrounds are more detailed. There are also voices for various characters and most of the time they sounded like they should. I always get a chuckle whenever I hear the grunting sounds made by an orc. The only voice I didn't quite like was the narrator's voice which sounded like an old, old man.

Overall, Puzzle Quest 2 is a very addictive game, perhaps even more than its predecessor because I find the game more enjoyable this time round.

Verdict ★★★★★

Review: Paradise Beach

Type: Building Management
Platform: PC and Mac
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games for PC and Mac

The rich Mr Gates is looking for someone to look after the management of his beach resorts.

Gameplay
In Paradise Beach, you build facilities to keep the customers happy, These facilities are your main cash earners and have to be maintained to keep earning money. The facilities can also be upgraded. There are also many other decorative items you can add to the beach. You can also hire employees to assist you in keeping the resort in tiptop shape. Increase the rating of your beach resort to unlock new items. Each stage also has certain objectives which must be met before you can progress on.

Thoughts
This game is for those who like to build and decorate. There are no designated plots of land for building. I love the freedom to be able to place things wherever I want. Unfortunately I can't rotate anything so all the items are facing the same direction. There are many types of decorative items available for me to decorate my beach resort to my heart's content, if I'm that kind of gamer. Unfortunately I'm not. But if you are, you can choose to keep playing after the objectives are made and continue to build your beach resort.

Despite not being much of a decorator, I found this game fun to play. A problem with most building games is that after I have built everything and met all the objectives except for one, it is just a matter waiting for the game to meet that one objective so I can pass the stage. It get boring while waiting for that one objective to be met. But in this game, the more I build, the more people visit and the more people visit, the more things they demand. The visitors will also ask for your help periodically in finding their lost items or saving them from drowning. Some of these requests usually have a time limit so it a good thing that the game pops up an alert.

The tutorials are pretty clear and teaches the basics of the game. It doesn't teach everything though and I have to explore some of the more advance functions myself. But no fear, Mr Gates or his granddaughter will frequently pop up to explain when I click on something for the first time. The maps are frequently bigger than what is shown on the screen so I have to keep scrolling. Despite the game saying that I have to hold my left mouse button and drag to scroll, I find that I can scroll simply by placing my mouse at the edge of the screen.

Verdict ★★★★
Store page (PC and Mac)

Review: Hospital Haste

Type: Time Management
Platform: PC and Mac
Price: USD 6.99 from Big Fish Games for PC and Mac

Sally graduated from nursing school. Her dream is start her own hospital to treat people but first, she has to work at various hospitals to earn her certificates.

Gameplay
In Hospital Haste, patients with various illness will arrive at the hospital and it's your job to assign them to their rooms and make sure that they get their medicine and treatment. Sally has a trolley which she wheels around and collects items to bring to the patients. Chaining the same actions together will net you a bigger bonus.

Later in the game, you will encounter different people representing different illnesses. Sometimes the same illness may need different amounts of medicine and time needed to recover. Patients will also start arriving from different entrances. After each stage, you can use the money earned to buy upgrades which makes things easier while playing the game. You can also use the hearts earned from happy patients to purchase equipment for Sally's hospital.

Thoughts
Playing Hospital Haste reminds me of another game as the gameplay is very similar. I have to move between different floors to deliver items and collect dirty laundry to bring to the washing machine. The first few stages are tutorials where they will run through the basic gameplay. Almost every stage has some new addition to the game but everything is explained clearly so I don't feel lost.

This is not a serious game despite dealing with diseases and illness. I enjoy the strange and funny diseases that the patient suffers from, like having bunny ears and slowly turning into rabbits. Sadly, quirky illlnesses such as this does not appear often and most of the time it's mundane illnesses like coughs and dizzy spells. It is satisfying to see happy patients and to see the empty hospital fill up with equipment I bought. So it's kind of letdown that when I move on to the next hospital, I lose all the upgrades I have bought previously and have to start from the beginning again.

Verdict ★★★★
Store page (PC and Mac)