Gamertell

It’s Friday once again, and that means it’s time for another casual games update. With E3 2009 going on, everyone’s probably been caught up in all the glamorous new console game announcements. Chances are though, you’ll have to wait a while before you get to purchase and play the games you’ve been hearing about all week. There’ve been a handful of casual releases waiting in the wings this week, and now that E3’s over, it’s time to see what you missed.

Sure, there aren’t as many games as last week, but there’s still quite a few new casual games out there. In fact, this week saw a surge of Cake Mania/Diner Dash style time management games.

Jenni thinks this week’s best bets are: Big Brain Wolf and Pet Playground

The Hardy Boys - The Perfect Crime
Genre: Hidden Object
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows (XP or Vista)
Premise: You have to help the Hardy Boys solve the perfect crime by uncovering items in hidden object puzzles and other mini-games.
Demo Available: Yes

Grandpa’s Candy Factory
Genre: Puzzle (Match-3)
Availability: PlayFirst
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows PC
Premise: Play match-3 puzzles, along with hidden object searches and other mini-games, to help Cathy create candies and deserts in eight different environments.
Demo Available: Yes

Pet Playground
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Help the two fairy sisters Eugene and Ellen rehabilitate and take care of neglected pets, making them happy and healthy once again. The characters and pets look absolutely adorable.
Demo Available: Yes

Antique Shop
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: If you want to visit Greece to look for hidden treasures, you’ll need to manage and update antique shops to keep customers coming in.
Demo Available: Yes

Jessica’s Cupcake Cafe
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, GameHouse
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: It provides 42 levels of cupcak cafe managing, conducted in a manner similar to Cake Mania. It also has a cupcake cookbook built in.
Demo Available: Yes

Delicious - Emily’s Taste of Fame
Genre: Time Management
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Another Delicious game, where she’s trying to work her way towards her own cooking show “Emily’s Taste of Fame” by cooking and creating all sorts of delicious goodies.
Demo Available: Yes

Lovely Kitchen
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Alawar, Realore Studios
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Help Mary become a successful restaurant owner as she goes through four different countries, working in restaurants to learn new recipes and menus.
Demo Available: Yes

Robbie
Genre: Action
Availability: Realore Studios
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Robbie the robot has come to Earth from another planet to acquire ore to take home, and it’s up to the player to help him save his home planet.
Demo Available: Yes

Ye Olde Sandwich Shoppe
Genre: Time Management
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: The sandwich has just been invented, and that means the dawn of the sandwich shop. Make the best sandwiches you can so the idea takes off and you become a success!
Demo Available: Yes

Big Brain Wolf
Genre: Educational / Adventure
Availability: PlayFirst, Arcade Town, Shockwave
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows
Premise: It’s a fairytale land, where a sort-of pitiful wolf resides. He’s asthmatic and vegetarian, so he decides his best bet is to become a genie. Players help him achieve this goal by solving all sorts of educational puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Treasure Seekers: The Enchanted Canvases
Genre: Hidden Object
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Nelly’s brother Tom went looking for treasure in a Romanian castle and someone captured him. It’s up to Nelly and the player to solve hidden object puzzles to break the spell, find Tom and collect the treasure hiding there.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Read [Gamertell] Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade]