Pizza Frenzy

Pros

• Bright and colorful graphics coupled with cute and peppy music
• Free trial allows you to try before you buy

Cons

• Simple game mechanics can get old quick
• Not a lot of replay value

Pizza Frenzy is an addictive puzzle game that tests your memory skills and asks you to deliver increasingly complex pizzas to your hungry customers. PopCap Games has spent the past decade as a Plants vs. Zombies factory. This original and highly popular tower defense game has been spun off into countless different other genre selections, ranging from hero based shooters to competitive card battlers, but before Plants vs. Zombies became an international phenomena, there was Pizza Frenzy. If you're looking for the type of polish and addictive entertainment you can expect from modern PopCap Games, you're likely to be disappointed, but Pizza Frenzy is still worth checking out. It has the same irreverent sense of whimsy as PopCap's more modern games along with a fun if somewhat simplistic puzzle dynamic. It's unlikely to hold your attention for that long, but it's a great choice for kids, and it's a fascinating look into the history of one of the most successful mobile game developers around.

Pizza Frenzy puts you in the shoes of the Stromboli family, aspiring restaurateurs who are trying to feed their hungry neighbors. In practical terms, the results are pretty simple. You have a limited number of pizzerias on each map, and each can only produce pizzas with one topping. Game play comes down to remembering what your customers want and which shop can deliver it. The result is a memory based challenge that asks you to match customer up to restaurant and send delivery drivers out on their way. This fundamental loop remains the same throughout the course of the game, but there are some complications to help make things a little more interesting. Multiple maps are available, each with their own unique geography, and some customers come with their own unique game play wrinkles. A number of people calling orders are criminals of various stripes. Accidentally delivering to them will cost you money, so it behooves you to direct the police to their location instead. There are other, less malicious, special customers as well. These include callers who can change the order of other customers in the middle of the game, bankers who can take over the task of collecting tips for you, and a celebrity movie star who tips a much larger sum in return for a successful delivery. Juggling all of these different character types becomes a task of strategy, as you have to weigh the advantages of who to address first.

Progressing through the game unlocks new cities as well as new toppings. These toppings range from basic ingredients like pepperoni and mushrooms to strange choices like donuts, and later choices can earn you significantly more money than you'd get with basic toppings. Three different modes are available, though they all offer variations on the same basic style of play.

Pros

• Bright and colorful graphics coupled with cute and peppy music
• Free trial allows you to try before you buy

Cons

• Simple game mechanics can get old quick
• Not a lot of replay value