PlayFirst Inc. has released a new fast-paced casual Mac game called Diner Dash, at this week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco. Developed by gameLab, it’s a whimsical arcade game in which you take the role of Flo as she quits her job as a stockbroker and sets up shop in a roadside diner. If you can help her get successful, eventually Flo’s epicurean empire will grow to a five-star restaurant.
Flo must get the customers to her table. Seating them quickly and getting them served leads to a higher tip. You have to take their orders and deliver their food, of course, then drop the bill and clear away the plates so you can seat new customers. Those tips add up, and can be used to buy new decorations, improvements, or restaurants. The game is spread over 50 levels and four complete re-models. Five different kinds of customers exhibit different behavior.
Diner Dash has already made the rounds as an online game, where it’s been very successful, according to PlayFirst, occupying the number one position and holding a top five spot on major online game sites. The Mac version is joined by a downloadable Windows version, as well. A 60-minute trial version is ready for download. It costs US$19.95 to register. System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.3 or higher.