If you’re talking about casual games, there’s no other company to remember but Playfirst. It has already become a master of it. For those who are not in the know, casual games are those that can be played by anyone, including children. They don’t require a lot of time commitment unless you’re completely addicted to them (and you’ll definitely find yourself getting hooked very soon).
The San Francisco–based publishing company has already produced numerous games since 2005. These include Trijinx, Spellagories, Dream Chronicles, Chocolatier, Love and Death: Bitten, The Fifth Gate, and Day Care Nightmare: Mini-Monsters. However, it was their Dash Series that catapulted them to the top.
The Dash Series is perhaps the most successful time management casual game in history. Today, the they have been downloaded more than 550 million times. Moreover, they have conquered both PCs and mobile devices including iPhones and iPads. So successful was the Dash Series there are many spin-offs, such as the Wedding Dash, Doggie Dash, Garden Dash, and even Diaper Dash. But it was these three that gave them millions of dollars in the profit.
It Began with Diner Dash
Diner Dash is the very first game published under the Dash series. Released in 2005, it was first developed by GameLab and published by Playfirst, until later the latter owned it. At first, it is a game played in both Mac and PCs. With the arrival of mobile or portable devices such as iPhones, the developers decided to modify the game to make it compatible with these electronics.
Diner Dash also set the story for a lot of the succeeding Dash franchises. It tells the story of corporate Flo, who got tired with her life and decided to open up her own restaurant. With very limited money and not enough manpower, however, she had to help out in the resto, serving her guests, letting them sit, and taking their payments, to name a few.
It may sound simple, but there is a catch: she has to deal with a very complicated ensemble of guests. A lot of them have short tempers, and they could leave angrily without paying anything. Moreover, the longer the guests sit there unattended, the fewer coins Flo receives, which is bad since she needs to reach her goal every day.
When it comes to graphics, there is not much difference between the PC and the iPhone game, and we would definitely wish we can see more attractive colors. To top it off, a lot of these customers do not respond very well. Sometimes the screen becomes eerily quiet, which is so unusual in any restaurant setting. The sound effects are not also stellar, though you have the option to use your own music.
These issues, however, become minor if you simply focus on the game play. With just a short amount of time but so many things to do, you could not help but let those sweat beads form in your forehead. Thank goodness, too, iPhones have sensitive touch screens, which increase your chances of correctly pressing the right things.
There are many different levels to beat, each one offering some good challenge. In its Deluxe version, Flo gets to add more restaurant under her name, such as Undersea Adventure and Courtyard Café, so the game lets you hang on to it for a much longer time. There are new types of customers to deal with, adding more to the challenge.
Best of all, you can share your achievements in the different diners to a lot of your friends.
Diner Dash
Category: Games
Price: $2.99 / Free
Developed By: Playfirst Inc.p
Requirements: Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Compatible With: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Other OS: Android
Our Rating: 
Flo Goes Loco with Cooking Dash
So far, there are already three versions of Cooking Dash: Cooking Dash in 2008, Cooking Dash: DinnerTown Studios in 2009, and Cooking Dash 3: Thrills and Spills in 2010. Of all the three, the last one is considered to be the most exciting.
To give you a short background, Cooking Dash still features the main character, Flo. In fact, it is a progression of the story. In Cooking Dash, her chef decided to pursue other interests, and Flo has to add more responsibilities on her plate—that is, cooking.
That in itself already adds some variety into the game. As a player, you’re introduced not only to a broader range of “customers” but also several types of food that you have to prepare. If you’re seeking more challenge, upgrading your Diner Dash to this definitely makes a perfect sense.
Moreover, there are more complexities added such as dash-thru (a drive-through window). You can also gain more bonuses such as perfect cooking, provided you can properly prepare certain dishes. As if these aren’t enough, you have to handle more than one restaurant, but in order to be faithful to its being a casual game, you get to tackle them one by one.
Players can also pick between casual and expert mode. We deem this absolutely necessary, especially for those who are already adept with the Diner Dash. They may already feel so confident and find the Cooking Dash something they can tackle at the soonest possible time. The Expert mode can give them a new sense of challenge and fulfilment.
This Dash edition also introduces the mini games, which are short games that allow you to prepare dishes before the official start of the next level. This is helpful so you’ll be able to save time. Our only gripe is the mini games are far too simple and limited. We definitely wish more variety.
Another potential issue is the level of accuracy or the responsiveness of the mobile device such as an iPhone with your touch. With so many gestures to be fulfilled, it’s not really impossible to experience some lag or make a lot of accuracy mistakes in the process.
Cooking Dash
Category: Games
Price: $2.99 / Free
Developed By: Playfirst Inc.
Requirements: Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Compatible With: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Other OS: Android
Our Rating:
Hotel Dash: Not Quite Like the Others
At first we thought this is an interesting deviation from the popular Dash Series (which we already covered above) until we come across other titles with similar names—Diaper Dash, Wedding Dash—yup, Playfirst definitely put a lot of their faith on worldwide success of some of their early Dash editions.
But let us go back to our earlier point. We call Hotel Dash different or interesting for the simple reason that it doesn’t deal with restaurant or food. However, the character is basically the same. You still have Flo. For a number of players, the storyline doesn’t matter, but there are a lot who get to enjoy the game more because they can relate to the journey of its character.
There are two editions of Hotel Dash. These are Lost Luxuries and Deluxe. We’re going to talk about both.
In Hotel Dash Deluxe, you’ll find Flo helping out a friend Quinn, who is also a wedding planner. For some reason, she’s asked to head a hotel, and she tapped the “expertise” of Flo. Again, if you can remember, she’s into food. Nevertheless, we’d like to believe she’s requested because she’s able to handle multiple restaurants.
In the course of the game, you get to perform tasks, such as managing bookings, bringing up food into their room, cleaning, and improving the decorations (which could mean more money for the business). There’s also that element common among Dash editions: weird and usually demanding and impatient customers.
With Hotel Dash Luxuries, Flo, with the help of Quinn, needs to prepare DinerTown for the International French Fry Festival by sprucing up themed hotels and making them into resorts. Of course, it wouldn’t be great if it didn’t have many challenges including potential characters who are going to sabotage their projects. You also get to see the characters glide down through zip lines.
The concept is exciting and refreshing. Plus designing rooms helps you become more creative. Moving across different levels of floors may not be a huge addition, but it’s a welcome change. Moreover, Lost Luxuries is currently available in iTunes for free. (You can upgrade the game and enjoy 50 levels.)
However, Playfirst still didn’t do much on the graphics. The characters don’t stand out, and the hotels don’t really look amazing. It could have added a sense of reality to the game and giving more reasons for players to get hooked to it.
Hotel Dash
Category: Games
Price: $2.99 / Free
Developed By: PopCap
Requirements: Requires iOS 3.0 or later
Compatible With: iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Other OS: Android
Our Rating: 
Conclusion
There’s no doubt that the Dash Craze satisfies the needs of every casual gamer. For one, it’s fun and ultra challenging, especially since they are timed games. However, you’re still provided with a lot of control as you can change modes or perhaps play mini games and win bonuses. Once you get the hang of it, they are easier to play in your mobile device.
But we wish Playfirst has also invented in the graphics and sound of these games. Making them a bit closer to reality would have hooked more people since they can somehow relate to the flow of the game.
What Dash Series you love the most? Share to us your ideas.
About Aurora Freegard
