by Julie Sewell-Schmidt

Created on: February 05, 2009   Last Updated: October 26, 2011

Chocolatier Decadence by Design Rating 4/5

This game is as addictive as the sweet confections you're crafting.

In this utterly delicious game which begins in post-WWII Zurich, players are tasked with buying ingredients from ports across the globe and making a variety of different chocolate bars at factories (one of the most entertaining parts of the game). Once the chocolates are produced, the player visits any one of several confection stores with the goal of selling the cases of chocolate bars at the best price. Having $10,000 in the bank and achieving the first set of quests elevates the player to CEO of the company, acting on behalf of Alex, current president of Baumeister, as she launches a search for her husband who is still missing after the war. Once promoted to CEO, more challenges await. Additional ports are opened for trade, customized creations can be developed at the Test Kitchen in Iceland, and opportunities to expand inventory with new products such as coffee are made available.

Supplies can be procured from vendors in Zurich, Cape Town, and other ports across the globe made available to the player based on experience and completion of quests. Players have the opportunity to haggle with shopkeepers over the purchase price of supplies and may occasionally catch a break, but beware. Insulting the vendor may result in higher prices or their refusal to sell their wares to you.

Once having purchased the ingredients to manufacture a variety of chocolate bars, creating them in the factory is entertaining. The player can change the chocolate recipe to include a variety of ingredients (milk, cacao, and peanuts, for example) and by using the mouse as a trigger, populate as many trays with ingredients as possible within a 60 second time frame. The number of cases completed within that minute either goes to inventory, or the gamer can try to increase the production number. Selling the inventory is straightforward and the end to end cycle is simply good, clean fun.

After downloading the application, navigating through the game was easy.

The number of "Help" screens and the plethora of information contained within them was initially a bit daunting, but immediately after beginning play, nothing was left to interpretation. The screens which guide the player through the quests were informative but didn't interfere with the flow of game play, and weren't wordy or complicated.

The graphics and sound on Chocolatier Decadence were smooth and fresh, and not overpowering. The screens were bright, not busy, and the design made for easy navigation around the application. Intuitive play for users of nearly any age, it's without a doubt worth the purchase price. Chocolatier Decadence will appeal to folks that enjoy the "tycoon" sorts of applications. Oh, and anyone that loves chocolate, of course.

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