Dead Hungry Diner

Dead Hungry Diner
Developer:  Black Market Games
Category:  Miscellaneous (Click-Fest Frenzy)
Released:  May 2012
Usual Price:  £3.99
Hours Played:  2
Controller Compatible:  No
Rating:  1 Star

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There are quite a few games (match 'em ups not included), where frantically clicking around the screen like a maniac is the order of the day. Some have the word "frenzy" in the title which does go some way to explaining what's involved. Dead Hungry Diner is such a game but how well does it stack up?

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Menus, Progress & Stats

With its app-style menus, Dead Hungry Diner gets this area absolutely right. Self-explanatory icons help the user to negotiate around the menus and the overall feel is ultra-efficient, stable and rock-solid. Do not expect anything by way of innovation though. Everything is still and static apart from the waving of hair from some of the characters. At the story-screen, which is the level-select screen, the player can view 50 gravestones where each represents a level. You may redo previous levels and each one clearly tells you how many stars, out of three, you have gained for each. 

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Gameplay

As in many of these frenzy-type games, you are constantly kept busy. The premise is that you are the waiter of a restaurant that is located in a graveyard. As various ghouls, vampires and monsters line up at the gate to eat, you must start clicking away so that the customers can be seated and served their food in the most efficient manner. Click on the customer and then a table to seat them; click on the berry-tree for the food to be prepared; click on a bucket to collect the food; click on the table to serve the food; click on the table again when they've finished to collect payment; click on the empty table for the plates to be cleared...

All the while you must watch the customer's "happy meter" which runs down as they get impatient. If they do get angry, when their meter falls into the red, you may click on the heart icon at the top and then on the offending customer to reverse their mood. Unsurprisingly, there is plenty to keep your eye on and plenty to occupy yourself with. You are constantly watching the tables and the queueing customers to make sure things are running smoothly - and your waiter is always on the move. For me, the action is far too frenetic and clicking away on the screen to keep up with the demands of grunting ghouls and vampires was not really my idea of an enjoyable gaming experience.

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Conclusion

Personally, when playing a game, I like to be able to feel in control. Solving tasks or destroying waves of creeps, in some form or another, is a clearly defined task where I know what I've got to do. Do I really want a game to give me the runaround and make me feel inadequate for not keeping up? Do I really want to click around furiously only to hear the grunts and groans of those who think I'm useless? Dead Hungry Diner is just that: too much like doing hard work for a disgruntled boss!