by Caroline Fraissinet

Created on: June 13, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2010

PlayFirst is at it again with its series of extremely popular "Dash" games. The creators of such popular games Diner Dash and Wedding Dash bought the farm and developed Dairy Dash. When I found out that there was yet another way to manage virtual time while taking a break from managing my actual time, I was more than just excited - I dashed to download it.

The general gameplay is very straightforward, making it easy for the gamer to jump right in. For fans of the prior "Dash" games, other than a few basic changes, you're essentially doing exactly what Flo does, only on a farm. The main idea is to keep everyone happy to get a good reward for your hard work bending over backwards trying to please the consumer. Essentially, if you're familiar with Diner Dash, you simply switch restaurant patrons with animals and big tips with quality milk/cheese/eggs/ etc. If you've never played the other games, never fear; every game starts with a brief tutorial that fully explains the goals and what will score you points. The graphics aren't anything to brag about, but then again, no one plays a "Dash" game for fancy animations. Think basic 2-D cartoons running around really fast and you've got an idea of how it looks. The sound is good, complete with animal noises and victory noises.

And now for the bad news: I downloaded the free hour-long trial expecting to play it for said hour, get completely addicted to the point of mentally playing rounds in my head and then debate for weeks upon weeks about spending the $20 to get the full game, finally breaking down and crediting the game to my Paypal account. This is one of the few times that a "Dash" game failed to produce the aforementioned events. Dairy Dash is just not as much fun as its sister games, making it a lackluster, run-of-the-mill mini-game. I do give PlayFirst credit for coming up with a new, creative idea - but the lack of innovation stands out like a sore thumb. I didn't even finish the 60 minute trial and the $20 is saved for the next addictive game.

Overall, I would give Dairy Dash a 2/5; it was simply not that enjoyable, especially in comparing it to the other games the company released. Fortunately, PlayFirst has released some great, wholly enjoyable sequels to their other games that have succeeded in draining my Paypal account since the production of Dairy Dash, so all faith is not lost. So, in the end, Dairy Dash is the cheese that stands alone for PlayFirst; skip it, but skip right onto the other wonderful games that the game company has to offer.

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