Dream Day First Home PC Game Review

The hidden object-based Dream Day series begins with marriage and follows with the honeymoon. Jenny and Robert take the next big step in a marriage: Buying their first home. In Dream Day First Home, they need our help renovating, redecorating, and dealing with crises.

The creators behind the series continue to add new features to keep the monotony away. At the start, we get to select one of two homes that need a little fixin’ and lovin’. One is a home from the 1930s craftsman and the other is Victorian style. If you’re indecisive like — no worries, you can play both. Pick one and you’ll do the other later.

Like most hidden object games, you search for specific items in the rooms of Jenny and Robert’s new home or at specialty stores like the cookware, hardware, and garden stores to get supplies.

Whether you’re in a hurry or not depends on if you’re playing timed or relaxed mode. Timed mode — although more challenging — offers a few twists. For one, every few levels you receive a special item that adds one minute to the clock. You must remember the item because it won’t appear in the list of hidden objects. When found, the clock gains one minute.

The best twist of all comes in the superclues. These hidden objects take two steps to solve. For example, you need to find a screwdriver. Since screwdriver appears in a blue font (different from the rest), it indicates it’s a superclue item. The scene has a toolbox, so click the toolbox to open it and reveal a screwdriver. Click that and the game crosses off screwdriver from the list.

As with its predecessors, this one lets you receive more hints — this time it’s golden eggs. Each egg adds more liquid into a test tube, and when it fills — the number of available hints goes up by one. Use a hint whenever you need help and the bird shows you the way.

Also new in Dream Day First Home is The Attic Mini Games. This contains three puzzles that you can play up to four times each.

• Perfect Match: This mini game hasn’t changed from earlier Dream Day games. It requires making pairs of matches (like Concentration).



• Puzzle Garden: Pair up two items that go together like match with a matchbox and rain with umbrella.



• Fix-R-Upper: Not really a game, but resembles a slot machine. You spin for new furniture and the slot gives you design options. You can lock and unlock three slots and spin three times. If you don’t like the result, you can play again.

Again, the piano supports the game’s classy style with classical music. Classical music may not fit many people’s tastes, but it works lovely with the Dream Day series. The series also has great storylines where we contribute by picking one of three events. Dream Day First Home tells the story of Jenny and Robert moving into their home, redecorating and interacting with their community.

Dream Day games don’t last long by hidden object standards. However, Dream Day First Home lasts longer because of the two homes. Complete both homes to reveal a surprise at the end.

My “Robert” loves hidden object games and this one caught his eye. He started playing where I left off! Talk about testing a marriage He and I have the same complaint about the game — repeated use of rooms and objects in the same place. While it’s acceptable to re-use rooms and objects, this Dream Day First Home does it too early in the game and too often.

One other issue — the game would not run on a computer running Vista. It freezes near the beginning. The system requirements say the game can run on Vista, so try before you buy. The Dream Day franchise continues to stay strong with the new features of superclues and Fix-R-Upper mini game that lets you design new furniture. We don’t feel like the developer took short cuts to release another game by slapping a new story on an old formula. Three words describe Dream Day First Home: Warm, sweet, and fun.

System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 2000/XP/Vista



• CPU: 1.0 GHz



• RAM: 128 MB



• DirectX: 9.0



• Hard Drive: 134 MB