Replay: Neon
Although you may have played similar games recently, such as Geometry Wars, Grid Wars, Rainbow Wars, and the like, this next one was very nicely done in Flash and requires no download other than the usual loading within a browser. Engaging from the second it starts, Neon is one of those rare games that just feels great to play. [review]
Miss Management is, in fifteen words or less, one of the most entertaining, captivating and hilarious casual games I’ve played in months. Developer Gamelab has really gone out of its way to craft unique characters that fuel the game from beginning to end, making it play like an interactive sitcom rather than your typical time management game (such as Cake Mania or Nanny Mania).
The main character in Miss Management is Denise, the new office manager starting her first day of work. Instead of controlling one character doing dozens of tasks, you must manage an entire office of people. Each employee has a unique personality and his/her own likes and dislikes, creating work days that feel more like an episode of The Office than a casual game.
Four types of jobs appear on the table at the bottom of the screen, each color-coded for easy recognition. Your overall goal is to distribute these tasks to the employees to earn cash. Each employee has strengths and weaknesses in terms of doing work. For example, Tara is the artistic type and excels in orange art tasks, while the IT guy Winston is a whiz at blue tech tasks.
The really interesting part begins when the character’s personal likes and dislikes interact with each other. Employees enjoy doing different things to reduce stress, such as making popcorn, playing videogames, or napping on the couch. But each also has his or her dislikes, and sometimes those overlap to create hilarious situations. For example, Mahavir loves to chat Tara up at the water cooler, but the poor girl can barely stand being around him. She gets annoyed when Mahavir sleeps on the couch, while Mahavir can’t stand the smell of Tim making beef strognaoff all day. It’s these subtle interactions that fill out each character’s personality, giving the game a deep and wonderful flavor of fun.
Driving the whole mass of wacky employees is a set of goals that must be completed each day. Sometimes you’ll have to make sure Tara spends at least 30 seconds drawing on the white board, or get Tim to do at least 15 jobs. The goals change each day and range in difficulty, driving the interactive sitcom and keeping you motivated. As the days tick by, characters grow and change, giving the game a definite feel of progression.
Analysis: Miss Management is an extraordinarily well-made game. It doesn’t have any real flaws to speak of, though it would be nice to be able to cancel movements after clicking (you can only queue them), as sometimes you’ll want to change tasks to handle a more urgent need but will be unable to do so. The music is extremely good and the play mechanics have been tuned to near perfection. The office setting is an environment seldom used in games, and Miss Management does a superb job of making it interesting and fun. It’s easily one of the most unique and captivating resource management games released in a very long time.
Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version
Mac OS X:
Not available. Use Boot Camp or Parallels.
Miss Management is available to download from these affiliates:
Comment Preview
Leave a comment
Favorite Games [edit]
Choose between Top Rated or random Recommended games. Setting is saved automatically.
Recommended
Casual Game Downloads
Support this site through your purchase of any game in this section. Thank you kindly. =)
Worth the trip
Recommended external site links
Recent (Flux) Visitors
Are you in Flux? SIGN-UP NOW
Support JIG
Monthly Archives
 |
 |
 |
All games mentioned and images appearing on JayIsGames are Copyright their respective owner(s).
All other content is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Game Walkthroughs
IRC server: irc.jayisgames.com
IRC channel: #casualgameplay
Comments (may contain spoilers)
Sometimes it stinks to have a Mac. Oh well, I'm sending my PC notebook in for repairs tomorrow. Can't wait!
Posted by: Nai | July 14, 2007 8:14 AM
Thats what boot camp is for :)
Posted by: some one | July 14, 2007 12:26 PM
At first when glossing over the review I thought, Oh my, Yet another restaurant server / assembly line clone. But actually its really nice! Its some kind of different, since the personal traits of the workers are really important. Actually getting the work done (assigning the tasks) proves to be one of the smallest of all worries during days :-)
For this time I'll forgive Bigfish games for their obstrusive behaviour of (re)installing their icons all over my system. <:)
Posted by: fuzzygrid
|
July 14, 2007 3:24 PM
The demo was so short, and it really made me want to buy the full game.
I love how each character has his or her own personality, and there's dialogue to support it.
You know, I might actually buy this. I really want to see how it ends!
Posted by: Thomas | July 14, 2007 6:35 PM
I'd buy it if I had money.
Posted by: Hon. David Kulessa | July 14, 2007 9:46 PM
It's a fun game, one of the best of its genre. The only problem is that there isn't an option to change the colors or label the reports. I'm red/green colorblind, and found it virtually impossible to tell the orange reports from the green ones.
Posted by: Matt | July 14, 2007 10:03 PM
I played the demo last night and loved it! Too bad I currently don't have the money for a full version.
Posted by: pintucked | July 14, 2007 10:11 PM
Did anyone else catch the "Office Space" reference? The red stapler for Timothy? I loved that.
Posted by: Julia | July 15, 2007 12:05 AM
Oof. Boot Camp is a crappy option for playing Windows-only games, not only because you have to pay over $200 to even get Windows (at least a non-crippled version), and Boot Camp doesn't work for us Mac users who have a PPC processor, which is a bit under half of us.
It would be nice if Jay is Games featured a downloadable Mac-only game sometimes to offset the virtual certainty of the weekend download being Windows-only. Better yet, only promote games which are cross platform.
Posted by: Simone Manganelli | July 15, 2007 5:24 PM
Simone - do you know of any Mac-only games out there worth promoting? Submit them and we'll take a look.
However, the suggestion that we feature only cross-platform games would reduce our relevance significantly in the downloadable casual game category.
You may know that I am a Mac user myself, one with a PPC processor, even.
Still, with 91.84% of the traffic coming to JIG using Windows, it just isn't practical for us to ignore the vast majority of excellent games being made available for the Windows platform.
Posted by: jay
|
July 15, 2007 6:44 PM
Normally I'm quite cheap when it comes to these 60 minute games, never wanting to purchase them afterwards even if they are as great as Diner Dash.
But I have to say, this one in my opinion is above even Diner Dash. It talks to me. The Diner Dash gameplay, mixed with a comic-like interface and a sitcom feel to it, it makes me beg for more. So I'm definitely putting my money into this game asap. :D
Posted by: ThemePark
|
July 15, 2007 6:51 PM
This game is so funny I couldn't believe it. I almost never buy games but I had to have this one.
Posted by: Beth Callighen | July 17, 2007 9:35 AM
I loved the demo, but when it kicked me out after the hour was up, my screen stayed in the same mode. I don't know the technical terms, but everything is bigger and looks more cartoonish. (how's that for technical?) Does anyone know how to get it back to normal??
Posted by: Monienon | July 17, 2007 4:17 PM
The full version is amazing!
I finally beat it today and started over for personal bests!
Posted by: keelin84 | July 17, 2007 5:37 PM
Monienon, playing the game changed your screen resolution to a bigger screen. To change it back, right-click on your desktop, and click on properties/settings, then drag the slider for screen resolution to the right, probably 1024 x 768 or so. You can keep trying that until it goes back to what your resolution originally was.
Posted by: Renee | July 19, 2007 8:35 AM
Thanks Renee, got it!
Posted by: Monienon | July 19, 2007 12:39 PM
has anybody figured out how to finish the level where duncan basically wants everybody to do nothing?
Posted by: ginger | July 19, 2007 8:52 PM
This game was fantastic and quite hilarious! I'm so glad I finally gave this game a chance. It gives you hours of playing time and I found it to be quite original. Great Recommendation!
Posted by: Shannon | July 19, 2007 9:30 PM
Hi everyone, I finally decided to purchase the game , it gets even more addictive, ginger, yes you have to keep everyone's temperament as low as possible, It gets worse , especially with Pearl , I actually am stuck on episode 28 it's a really hard level, anyone here get past 28 and if so any advice on how to finish the level?
Posted by: Samira21 | July 21, 2007 11:04 PM
I finally got the full version... it's really good, it's got a storyline and I luff the characters. Ok, maybe not Duncan, but I luff the others.
Shannon, try having Pearl and Timothy not to do anything on day 1, and Luke and Ashley not to do anything on day 2. You can complete those two goals on separate days. Just try to keep everyone's temper low, I used lots of doughnuts on that level.
Posted by: Ernie | July 22, 2007 5:33 PM
samira21 im stuck on level 28 too, i have been trying for ages, have you done it yet? if so any hints please?
Posted by: kerry | July 30, 2007 10:36 AM
For level 28, for what I got stuck on for a while as well, realize that towards the end of a day (30 seconds or so) you can let the tasks pile up and not get done (while you are doing something else like chatting at the water cooler), and 4 to 6 brownies eaten in pairs can keep you quite sane. :)
Posted by: Andrew | July 31, 2007 1:33 AM
I have also been stuck on level 28 forever. Been trying for well over a month or two and can't yet do it. It would be nice to figure out what would keep Denise's Stress level down to pass this level.
Posted by: Rosie | July 31, 2007 11:42 PM
I played the demo, and normally I don't buy games after that. But I also will with this game. I find myself enjoying the storyline and characters too much not to. They're all funny, lovable, and remind me a bit too much about some of the people I work with.
I sure wish my manager would let me spend my whole workday playing video games...
Posted by: nme | August 3, 2007 10:21 PM
The witty storyline combined with the easy to understand gameplay make for a unique and fun experience :)
I purchased the game, and this is one worth shelling out the money for.
It's the perfect difficulty for the average gamer.
If you can play diner dash on endless hard mode for hours on end, this game might be too easy for you.
Posted by: byebyebaby | August 4, 2007 6:29 PM
Oh boy, this is the only game I've come across that I'd be willing to pay money for. I love this game! Beat it in two days with three stars in everything. That's not to say I enjoyed every second of it!
Good art, great characters, and I liked the writing, too!
Posted by: Reibear | August 18, 2007 2:32 AM
i'm annoyed that it's only 60 minutes is there an online version prehaps?
Posted by: Waffle_Man | August 18, 2007 11:55 AM
didn't work for me, I have XP... it popped a window up and i heard sound, just no picture... all black!! :( I checked my 3d video card, it's up to date and working fine. Plenty of memory available. I'm in 600x800 resolution... What's the deal?
I would really like to be able to play it, with all these great reviews!
Posted by: ana | August 19, 2007 10:36 PM
This game is possibly one of the most fun I've ever played. Instead of you running around trying to do a thousand things at once, there are your awesome employees you can get to do things for you. I love how the game is like a comedy sitcom itself.
Oh how I envy Mahavir, he gets to sleep all day as a task...
Posted by: RoboGirlSam | August 20, 2007 1:46 PM
Fun game. I was stuck on 28 for a while. My advice is do one task at a time and keeps lots of donuts and brownies on hand.
Posted by: SidBakay | August 22, 2007 3:26 PM
How in the world to pass 29? I can hardly make it through half the day.
Posted by: Jenna | September 15, 2007 8:09 PM
On the second level, the new employee's file pops up automatically and I don't know how to close it and get back to my game. Can anybody help?
Posted by: Bittens | September 17, 2007 7:00 AM
i really love dinerdash, this game i can play for hours.
Posted by: tricia | September 20, 2007 12:21 PM
I love this game. I really do. I went into it thinking that it was just another Dash clone, but when I tried it wound up to be much more than I expected. This is definitely one of those games you'll want to invest in. ;D The characters are so great. I love them. XD
Posted by: Beepy | September 22, 2007 12:59 AM
Heh, this one's fun-ny! See, Tim gets calmed by Beef Stroganoff (wtf?) While Mahavir hates Stroganoff. Mahavir calms by sleeping on the couch, while Tim hates people goofing off, so one's mood goes up while the other goes down. the best way to keep them calm, have tim beef stroganoff while Mahavir works, and when Tim is refreshed, swap them, so Mahavir relaxes on the couch while Tim works. Or have tim cook while mahavir relaxes. Experiment, and watch the results! Oh, and... If Tim and Mahavir are relaxing at the same time, the bar goes upwards slowly.
Posted by: Matthew | September 29, 2007 1:33 PM
I'm thinking of buying this. It emulates my dad's loony workplace. That's why he won't play it.
Posted by: Dave | October 19, 2007 2:52 PM
oh ohohoo she have my name!
i must play it...
is there other gameslike this online?
Posted by: Denisse | November 14, 2007 1:03 PM
This game looks so fun. But I am a mac user. I'm bummed now.
Posted by: Amanda | December 7, 2007 11:09 PM
OK...this episode is tough!
("Down with Delegation!")
In this level, Brooke gets annoyed if anyone else does any tasks.
Goals: Raise budget to $180
Make sure Brooke does all the jobs for a day
Make sure Nadine does all of the financial (green) jobs in a day, with nobody stressing out
Make sure Winston does all of the technical (blue) jobs in a day, with nobody stressing out
Let Mahavir talk to Denise at the watercooler for 60 seconds in a day
This makes my head hurt. Anyone, help?
Posted by: Akvo
|
December 24, 2007 2:17 PM