We thought it would be fun to review some of the casual games we currently have available in our JA Casual Game Center. Needless to
say, these games are very addictive and while our enthusiastic reviews
are, for the most part short, the time spent playing these games
is not. Once you have read the review, drop by the JA Casual Game
Center and download a free trial version of the game for yourself,
but remember – you have been warned!

The
story is a familiar one: save the family business, obviously a restaurant
in this case. As the chef, you must duplicate the game’s recipes —
as well as ones you concoct yourself — as accurately as possible
while working against an increasingly unforgiving clock.

Unfortunately, Family
Restaurant suffers from an all too common casual game
malady. It starts out fun, is enjoyable for awhile, then gets so difficult
that a single mistake can blow an entire level, and satisfying both
speed and accuracy requirements becomes next to impossible.

To
compound these difficulties, the game is sluggish throughout. Many
crucial actions require several mouse clicks to accomplish where one
should suffice. Combined with the speed required to succeed, this
can really take a toll on one’s mouse hand.

Concerning accuracy ratings,
Family Restaurant is a crapshoot. You never
know when a well-made dish will be rejected (no reason given) or a
sloppy dish will be accepted.

The
game also offers no way to delete a player’s name once it’s created.
Further, the most recent name created is the one the game starts with
even if the last session was played using a different one.

I was able to complete
Family Restaurant‘s 35 levels only through brute force
and sheer tenacity. Had I not been reviewing it, I would have left
it unfinished.

The best I can say is play
this game at your own risk. If you’re new to time-management games
(or have low frustration tolerance), do yourself a favor and avoid
it altogether. I suggest going with Turbo
Pizza, Snowy
Lunch Rush,
Diner Dash, or Diner
Dash: Restaurant Rescue.

Try
Family Restaurant for Free!