Diner Dash 5 Review

The “tutor” had to cancel today, and although I promised him I’d study… When I saw Diner Dash 5: Boom Collector’s Edition come out, I decided to give the restaurant biz a try! After all, that’s Economics too, right? People say being a server is tough, but I can’t believe it would be that difficult… seat the customers, take their orders, serve the food, pick up the tips, and clean up the tables… really…how hard can that be? Well, when it starts pouring on your outdoor café and more people are showing up, and you don’t have enough tables to seat them, and your café is in the process of being built while you’re running the day-to-day business… it’s much more difficult than I ever imagined! But, oh so much fun! The game starts out with a little story video— somebody vandalizes the sign above the diner that says “Fat-Free Breakfast” so that it reads “Free Breakfast”… Flo and her chef, Cookie, arrive and see the issue shortly before the crazy rush of people all pile into the diner at once! Well, the diner just cannot handle the rush, and it explodes! So now, in comes Mr. Big, think the villain on the train tracks; all that is missing is the twirly moustache! Mr. Big threatens to take over the land that Flo’s Diner was on… but helpful Hal, the construction worker who just cannot survive without Flo’s hash browns, saves the day and offers to rebuild the diner! So now, in the meantime, Flo must run her business as an outdoor café, dealing with rain, wind, earthquakes, and all sorts of different types of customers! Oh my! It’s a time management scramble to get all the customers seated and served, and each type of customer has different likes and dislikes, seating requirements, levels of patience, and generosity (the businesswomen will tip great, IF you can make them happy, but the lawyers are almost impossible to please!) You can even earn extra points by “color matching”—which is matching the customer clothing color to the seat color! All of the café activities are point, click, and drag on a colorful and fun interface that has poor Flo running all over the place. Good thing you can “buy” upgrades, such as faster running sneakers, as you gain more money at the café. Save up for the big-ticket items—umbrellas that open automatically when it starts raining (so you don’t have to think about it—so helpful!), and a new countertop that somehow helps Cookie prepare the food faster! At the end of each “day” of business, Hal also lets you do some customization work on your new diner—pretty neat! I picked stars on my sidewalk… after all, my café will eventually draw Hollywood royalty… no really… I already had some celebrities show up! And they tipped well too! The colors are bright and vivid, and the game just keeps getting better “day” after “day”! I have to tell the tutor that I totally get the economics of the restaurant biz now!