I was never a big fan of the game Monopoly. Somehow buying up hotels just didn't do it for me. But I like the idea of a game where you can go on an adventure and become a tycoon. So what if you added food to the mix instead of hotels? Would it be the perfect game for me? It might just be...

Chocolatier is a new game by PlayFirst the same company that published the game DinerDash. In the popular game DinerDash you follow the path of Flo, who leaves her office job to work in a restaurant and grows her diner into something finer--as in a fine dining establishment. Chocolatier takes you back to the turn of the century and sets you up as a budding chocolatier. You have to source products from all around the world, and make chocolate. You then sell the chocolate, buying factories and growing your business along the way. Little bits of chocolate trivia are interspersed throughout and the game is more about strategy than serious hand-to-eye coordination, although there is a bit of that too as you set up your factory operations.

If you've ever dreamt of becoming a chocolate baron and traveling the world, you'll find this to be a very entertaining game. The story line takes you from San Francisco to exotic ports of call like Merida, Trinidad and Istanbul. There are 130+ "quests" and 14 cities in all. On your quests you'll meet interesting characters, search for long lost recipes, make various chocolate confections, deliver special orders, buy factory equipment, follow the market trends and even haggle over the price of ingredients. I got sucked in and it was hard to pull myself away. A free 60 minute trial is available online. If you get hooked, don't blame me, everyone knows chocolate is highly addictive.

Labels: amy sherman, chocolate, games