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DinerTown Tycoon pits players against the new burger joint in town that is not playing by the rules. Grub Burger is the new burger joint in town and has “convinced” the mayor they should be allowed to operate in Diner Town. Grub Burgers has an “extra added ingredient” that keeps customers coming back for more. Ingredient X, as it is referred too, was what “convinced” the Mayor and what keeps the customers coming back and not eating at the local Diner Town restaurants.

DinerTown Tycoon puts players in charge of a few different restaurants at the same time. Instead of serving up meals and providing great customer service, the player has to order the ingredients for the dishes the restaurant offers and manage the dishes the restaurant offers. Players start out with one dish for each restaurant and then have to buy more dishes when they can afford them. The goal of each section of the game is to drive Grub Burger out of that section of town. In the beginning of the game, players have to serve a set of customers 50 meals each. Later in the game, players have to serve each customer 100 meals. The meals all have to be served before the goo in the Grub meter hits the top. The more customers players attract to their restaurants the slower the goo in the Grub meter rises.

Players make money to buy more dishes by selling what they can. The player controls the price of the dish, but has to buy the ingredients to make it. The ingredient prices fluctuate from day to day and so does the ingredient that is popular. Each day there is a newspaper released that gives the player a clue on the demand they can expect and the ingredient that will be in demand that day. Players can adjust the prices of the dishes according to the popular ingredient or not.

The popular ingredient and the size of the crowd will govern how much of that ingredient the player needs to purchase. If the player runs out of any ingredient on any day the customers will go eat at Grub Burger instead. Eating at Grub Burger is not desireable since the entire goal of the game is to get customers at your restaurant and drive Grub Burger out of Diner Town.

The other item in the newspaper is the chefs challenge. If players manage to complete the chef challenges, they reduce the amount the goo increases in the grub meter. The chef challenges range in difficulty. Some challenges require players to buy a certain amount of one ingredient or sell a certain amount of dishes at premium price.

The graphics in the game are clear, crisp and in typical Diner Town cartoon fashion. The graphics fit the style of game and change by location. Each restaurant has their own set of graphics to go along with the theme of the restaurant.

Over all, DinerTown Tycoon is a fun and unique game. I have not played very many money management simulation games and that is the best way to descrine DinerTown Tycoon. The game gets really addicting and each level puts the player back at the starting screen, which makes it very easy to keep playing round after round. The concept is a great game concept and PlayFirst implemented the right amount of challenge and fun. If you are into simulation games, you can’t go wrong with DinerTown Tycoon.

THQ has announced the next installment to their Drawn to Life franchise, Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter. Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter will be released on the Nintendo Wii and DS.

The biggest addition to the new release is an innovative drawing method and enhanced drawing tools. The goal of the game is to draw your own hero using the Wii remote or DS stylus. Everything in the game is drawn from vehicles to tools and even weapons to fight off the enemies. There are more than 100 different items to be drawn.

“Drawn to Life continues to be tremendously successful because it delivers a creative experience unlike any other game out there. Gamers of all ages love drawing their hero and seeing all of their creations come to life in the game, making it their own unique experience,” said Randy Shoemaker, vice president, global brand management. “Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter raises the creative bar with a totally new experience for both Wii and Nintendo DS fans alike.”

Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter is set to be released in the Fall of 2009.

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The Enchanting Islands use to be a nice colorful place until an evil sorceress changed all that. The sorceress has spread darkness through out the land and now the player has to restore the Island to it’s one time colorful state.

Players match three or more of the same item to gain materials they need to cast their spells. The spells will return the land to the colorful place it once was. Along the way, players will uncover powerful spells and upgrades to help them out. Check out The Enchanting Island and see if you have what it takes to restore color and beauty to the island.

Pahelika: Secret Legends is a puzzle/adventure game in the mold of Myst: you travel through arcane landscapes and solve puzzles to advance through the story.

The game puts you in the role of a curious researcher who discovers a book that you are earlier told was a magic weapon that defeated an evil overlord. Sure enough, you open the book, activate a mechanism, and suddenly, you’re transported to various locations.

The puzzles are fairly elementary at first, but ramp up in difficulty as you go along. The presentation both helps and hinders the player. When your mouse hovers over an item of interest, sparkles appear on the entire item. However, often doors and portals that are supposed to be opened are hard to make out or obscure. Nonetheless, the puzzles remain logical, even when they’re difficult. In case the player is frustrated, developer Ironcode has offered a free walkthrough, much like Jonathan Blow did with Braid.

The voice acting and music are top notch, as a Myst-style game should be, and the story engages you and encourages you to move forward. The cutscenes are slow and pondering, but it fits the theme of the game.

Overall, Pahelika: Secret Legends is a nice diversion, especially for Myst lovers. You can try the demo and buy the game for $19.99 from the official site here.

Big Head Games and Dark Horse Comics have announced the release of The Terminator for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This version of the game is a fully licensed game and is based on the original movie.

Players have to battle against machines in the quest to save the world. The Terminator is an action/shooter game that is broken into a two part series. Players can opt to play in story mode or quick play mode. The story mode will take players through the entire adventure and the story is set before the movie. When players complete story mode, the movie picks up where the game left off. Quick play mode is just short little matches.

If you are into the Terminator movies or first person shooter games, check out The Terminator in the Apple App Store.