![]() ![]() ![]() TEST YOUR TIME MANAGEMENT SKILLS LIKE NEVER BEFORE Master new game mechanics as you stock shelves, make milkshakes, brew coffee, bake croissants, squeeze fresh juice, and serve fresh pizza to keep your customers happy. SIX SETTINGS, EIGHTY LEVELS – THE STORY CONTINUES Open new stores in busy downtown, quiet suburbs, on sunny beach, the ski resort, and even in the tallest building in town! Play over eighty levels to achieve expert score, and watch the story unfold in front of you in beautifully drawn comic-style pictures. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve finished writing a blog post and it’s time to go run a supermarket…ĭisclosure: GeekDad received promo codes for Supermarket Mania 2 and Dress Up Rush.YOUR WAIT IS OVER! NIKKI GOES WEST TO TINSELTOWN! Multi-million-downloaded game finally receives a much-awaited sequel! Nikki and her friends Clarence, Wendy and Max are ready for the new adventure as they arrive in Tinseltown where Uncle Ross needs help with his troubled supermarket chain, and Mr. Oh, laundry’s done, time to put it in the dryer - oh, kid is hungry again, get some food - okay, time to fold the laundry - kid’s hungry again - older kid is home from school, time to help with homework - time to start fixing supper - eat -do dishes - bathe the kids - read stories - bedtime!Īnd then I sit and play games about doing these simple tasks. Some of my life as a stay-at-home dad is like a time-management game. If everything were as simple as a click of the mouse, then I could get so much done. If I could finish the dishes by just pointing and clicking (and waiting the requisite time to finish), I’m sure I wouldn’t mind it as much. Maybe part of the appeal of the games is how easy it is to complete these menial tasks. Supermarket Mania 2 I mostly played on my Mac, and it seemed to work pretty well. I ended up with a store that only stocked shoes and bags, unable to serve my customers. There was also an odd issue on one playthrough where every time I tried to add wardrobe options in the customization screen, the app crashed upon restart the level started without letting me make new purchases. Occasionally “Jane” would get stuck, unable to pick up an item that was requested by a customer. I should point out, though this isn’t a formal review, that I did have some interface troubles with the iPad version of Dress Up Rush. No matter how busy and difficult the job gets, though, the (usually female) main character remains incredibly bright-eyed and cheery. Sure, you can hire a cashier to ring up your customers and you can upgrade to a robotic vacuum to clean the floors, but you never make the jump to management - or maybe that’s the end of the game. That’s kind of how it is in Supermarket Mania 2 as well (available for iPhone, iPad, or Macs): no matter how successful you are, you’re still the one pushing the cart of groceries around, stocking shelves. Even though that’s a very real part of my own life that I don’t have a strong desire to repeat, I kept playing the game.ĭress Up Rush: more clothing options and fancy decor brings in the big spenders. In the meantime, you also had to warm the milk, wash the bottles, do the laundry, and catch the ringing phone quickly before it woke up the baby. You had to respond to the baby’s cries by feeding it, changing it, and rocking it to sleep. But then I remember playing one a few years ago that featured a ridiculously tiny-waisted mom with a baby. I was going to say that perhaps the reason I enjoy these games is because I don’t have to do them in real life. (Really, it was the employee discounts.) Yet when I come across a game like this, I find that it eats up hours of my time when I should be getting things done - somewhat ironic, given the subject matter. It’s not like these are tasks I enjoy in real life - I worked some retail both in high school and after college, and while I do think I was pretty efficient at stocking shelves and ringing customers up, it’s certainly not something I did for the sheer fun of it. I’m not sure what it is about these games that makes them so addictive to me. The one thing that all of these games have in common: tedious, repetitive tasks that you must do within certain time constraints, the faster the better. In some you bake cakes, or make sushi, or even take care of babies. The excellent board game Wok Star ( reviewed last fall) tries to emulate this genre in an analog setting, but there are tons of digital versions. Supermarket Mania 2 on iPhone: stocking shelves has never been so much fun! ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |