The game is a nice length, so one of the better value games. Good graphics too. It's fun with a bit of a detective novelish story. It's a bit linear though. There's not really all that much to figure out as most of the objects you pick up are used close to where you found them. Side games are pretty easy too, so I'd say this is a good game for people who are newer to Hidden Object Game genre or like to play the casual ones.
It's kind of nice that they added some additional modes to things, for instance, when you help customers there is more than one game mode. Instead of just scrolling through options till you find the right one, it's random that 2 other mini-game types can pop up. One of them is pick-the-right-items out of items shown to you and the other is picking the right item out of a scrolling line of images.
There's also another new mini-game between work days where you search out all the items that customers ask for, like finding all the red shoes in the scene.
I give it a lower rating because it's rather mediocre in many ways, like graphics and the feel of the gameplay compared to the many games in this genre that I have played.
Same as the original, you can't go back to previous towns to get expert on all your days. And there's no real replay value.
There's an ultimate mode thingy, but that's just playing the game regularly and every time you reach a cash goal your shop upgrades itself till you shop is fully finished. So basically not much point unless you have some siblings or something that you really like to try to beat score-wise.
I only played this for 50 minutes, then I went to a walkthrough page to scroll down and see how much game time was left. Looks as though I completed more than 3/4ths of the game so most likely this game would be about 1.5 hours worth of play.
Also one of the easiest hidden object games I've played, although some of the objects are pretty small, so it can sometimes be a bit of a strain on the eyes.
The story seems decent though. Really the graphics could be better, but for some reason games based off of other franchises tend to be sub par.
I only played a trial period of this game, but I knew I didn't want to buy it when I ran into several items that were not recognizable.
Like you're supposed to find a drum, but it really looks kind of like a glazed vase and doesn't resemble any drum i've EVER seen. Or you're supposed to find a genie lamp, but it looks more like a key (don't ask how they managed that).
The graphics are also kiddie stylized which puts me off as well.
The story was pretty limp, graphics not so great compared to all these really great HOG games I had played right before it so due to some pixelation some items are misshapen and hard to identify.
VERY little of the story even talked about vampires.
Vampire Saga - Welcome To HellLock is the sequel and it is no better, so I'd steer away from that one as well.
I don't recommend this game.
+1point
8of15voted this as helpful.
Cake Mania: To the Max
Flashback to the neon-soaked 80s and help Jill prepare for the biggest night of her young life in Cake Mania: To the Max!
I love all the Cake Mania games, but this one was kind of a disappointment to me because you ONLY have the bakery, no other shops like in previous games and there are no mini-games.
It's nice and long, but that also makes progress slow. It takes forever to earn enough to start upgrading your equipment so it can feel excruciatingly slow compared to the other Cake Manias.
The game is set in the past when Jill was a teenager, but they didn't need to set the gameplay back as well!
Still, it is fun and worth it, just not as good as I hoped.
I recommend this game!
+74points
95of116voted this as helpful.
Cake Mania: Lights, Camera, Action!
Return to Jill Evans’ hometown of Bakersfield in Cake Mania: Lights, Camera, Action, a fun and exciting Time Management game!
Cake Mania takes a big step forward with the introduction of various types of stores in this installment. As fun and challenging as the old ones, but with lots of extras to play with!
The graphics are cute, simple, but better than most TMGs tend to be. It's quirky, comical and amusing to boot.
I recommend this game!
+160points
208of256voted this as helpful.
Cake Mania 3
Jill`s family has been zapped through time and only she can help find them in time for her own dream wedding!
The graphics are cute, simple, but better than most TMGs tend to be. The games in the series start getting longer at this point and more challenging, especially with the mini-games.