Hungry Hearts Diner vs Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands
Hungry Hearts Diner
Hungry Hearts Diner is an exceptional time management game. The game has a whole lot of depth mainly through the many heartwarming storylines that you can uncover as you feed your customers at your diner. In this game, you play as a kindly old lady who, despite hard times, wants nothing more than to serve her customers with the best food she can muster. Set in the Showa era of Japan, the game will also introduce you to the many different types of authentic Japanese dishes and let you prepare them all.The best part about this game though is the many stories you'll reveal as each customer tells you about their lives over time. The old lady is also incredibly sweet, as she did her best to cheer up each customer. This is an aspect that is sorely lacking in most time management games, where apparently the common and only goal is to do everything as fast as you can to earn as much money as you can.
Although the game does seem a bit lacking after you've completed all quests and uncovered all plots, Hungry Hearts Diner is quite the revolutionary time management game. This game shows that storyline is as important as the gameplay and if we are honest to ourselves, many time management games out there definitely need to brush up on their storytelling skills if they were to compete with games like this one.
Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands
Stranded Sails - Explorers of the Cursed Islands is a farm simulation/adventure game where you’ll not only need to maintain a farm and make sure that your surviving crew’s needs are being met; you’ll also need to set off on mini-expeditions to explore the many mysterious islands within the archipelago and to discover the secrets they hide. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you might end up finding a way off the island after all!The game is really easy to get into, mainly because the game is driven by its story-based quests so by completing these quests, you be able to unlock new areas and even new tools that will allow you access to different parts of the archipelago. However, you’re given complete freedom to explore any of the islands as you wish, though there are certain parts of the island that would be “roped off” until you’ve progressed far enough into the story and have unlocked the necessary tools.
Everything you do in this game requires energy - and yes, this includes walking – and it’s the main “currency” you’ll need to keep an eye on whenever you head out for a bout of exploring or just a resource-gathering run. Due to this energy system, the gameplay here can be quite strategic, forcing you to decide when you’d want to focus on exploring and when you’d want to spend some of the energy you have to gather some resources like fishing and chopping some trees.
Being a farm simulation game, Stranded Sails also has an allocated area within your base camp for you to grow some crops and feed your crew. You can even try your luck by fishing at the ocean, and then use those raw ingredients to whip up some delicious food to fuel your adventures.
So, overall, Stranded Sails is an oddly strategic farm sim/adventure game mainly because of its energy system, and as a result, the game isn’t as casual as some players would have liked. That said, the game has an interesting storyline going for it, and the gameplay, aside from the energy aspect, isn’t too shabby either. It’s definitely a game that fans of Harvest Moon or other similar games would love to play.