Blog 8th Birthday Celebration: Win Games!

While the games section is new to meryl.net, the original blog has been around for eight years as of June 1. meryl’s notes blog birthday celebration includes prizes and some of them are PC games! Check out the birthday celebration and how you can get entries to win prizes.

PC Game Review First Class Flurry

When you play as many time management games as I have (and many more exist that I haven’t tried), you wonder if it’s possible for a developer to come up with more undiscovered surprises. First Class Flurry answers, “Yes!” And, no it’s not an Airport Mania copy.

I don’t dream of becoming a pilot or traveling the world free as a paid flight attendant. Sure, I want to see the world, but I’ll have to do it the traditional way — shell out the bucks. Nonetheless, First Class Flurry satisfies — and way more than a Snickers bar.

Like the old airline, Braniff Airways, Starlink files for bankruptcy. But wait a minute. Like Braniff (as Braniff International Airlines, Inc.), Starlink comes back to life under a new owner. Claire, the flight attendant, happens to know the right people including the owner. The owner hires Claire as the lead flight attendant to ensure passengers are as happy as larks.

Not so fast — not as easy as you might think. You deal with sick, whiny, demanding, and honeymooning passengers of all ages. In typical time management fashion, players must reach the minimum score to move on to the next level. Time management kings and queens, challenge yourself and shoot for the expert score every time.

Claire starts working on a diddly economy flight, but play well — and she can move up to business class, first class, and finally royal first class. Her job involves making meals, fetching drinks, finding lost handheld devices and diamond rings, and handing out other comforts of the plane like headphones, pillows, and sleeping masks.

Claire tracks orders, recycles the trash, and somehow has to watch for annoying kids who cry because they can’t find mommy or they want to pester other passengers. After you earn enough points, you can buy a tray to carry three items and even four. Not often a game lets you carry more than two things and I like it!

Travelers also come with hearts for your monitoring their happiness levels. When the levels dip below unacceptable levels, you lose points. Quickly giving them what they want will keep them smiling. You also have the opportunity to simultaneously boost everyone’s happiness by spraying air freshener — can only use once per flight.

Another way — and you’re stuck with a captain who thinks too much of himself — is to quickly serve the captain whatever he (yes, “he” while the flight attendant is a “she”– don’t blame the messenger) wants. Once he’s happy, the whole flight smiles in adoration right back at the captain. The guy has an ego, but I love my job anyway.

The flights can fly in one of four locations: North America, Asia, Europe, and Africa. Pick any to start and fly for the duration of the economy flight. Finish that and you select another spot for business class. As you travel to new locations, you’ll notice some culture in the air. Plus, learn or refresh your knowledge of flags for different countries in the flight map.

Turbulence? Of course, there’s turbulence and it interrupts your work. Forget whatever you’re doing and make a run for the phone to warn passengers of impending bumpiness. Then help the lazy ones buckle their belts and get to your seat all within seconds or else enjoy a nice headache.

The game works beautifully with the mouse and its two buttons. Right-click anytime to cancel an action. Click ahead to get Claire hopping in doing a bunch of tasks in a row. It’s a lovely thing to have almost complete control over future actions. Although, the game occasionally gets me by having a passenger cancel his order and I keep trucking along unaware.

Upgrades and tasks can make or break a game. First Class Flurry aces the test. Upgrades change the look and color of the airplane, add features and d??cor to relax the passengers (hint: make them happier and more patient), and speed Claire’s movements. Some upgrades come with a few color options. With each flight class, you start over on the upgrades. You may or might not be able to buy all of them before the end of the flight class — just depends on how well you play.

Way past the game’s halfway point, the game continues to surprise with new dishes and features. So the tasks don’t feel repetitive especially in food preparation. On one flight, Claire makes burgers and fries. On another, she makes salmon (takes three steps) and sandwiches (also three steps). The station locations — such as the emergency kit and the magazine rack — also change around so you can’t get comfy.

First Class Flurry is almost perfect. Its wonderful all-around production values overshadow the few scrapes. For some, the pace can get frantic a little sooner than they would like. Some dishes are hard to distinguish especially the noodle family. That nuisance goes away after a little practice. Aptly named First Class Flurry is indeed a first class game. Take off and go play it!

Game du Jour: Week of 2008-05-19

The following games will be discounted next week on Game du Jour, the ‘one-deal-a-day’ website dedicated to indie and casual games:

Mon. May 19th: 40% off on Dream Chronicles 2

Tue. May 20th: 50% off on Mahjong Epic

Wed. May 21th: 60% off on Tale of Three Vikings

Thu. May 22th: 50% off on Runes of Avalon 2

Fri. May 23th: 50% off on Yardmaster

Sat. May 24th: 50% off on Gallop for Gold

Sun. May 25th: 50% off on Kakuro