Delicious 14: Emily's Christmas Carol

Delicious: Emily's Christmas Carol
by Blue Giraffe / GameHouse - October, 2016

Series index HERE

Available at:
Alawar as Collector's Edition
Big Fish as Collector's Edition
GameHouse as Platinum Edition
iWin as Platinum Edition
Steam as Collector's Edition



Enjoy Delicious, the award-winning cooking story game series! In this wonderful Christmas tale, Emily plans a family trip to a cute little cottage for the holidays. Everybody embarks northbound on the Miracle Express, excited for an amazing adventure. However, they soon discover someone else is already living in their cottage... What are you waiting for? Bake a big batch of cookies, nog an egg, and settle in with a hot drink to warm up your Christmas spirit!

• ENJOY THE 14TH SEASON of Delicious
  
• RUN YOUR DINERS and serve food in a variety of kitchens in 61 story levels and 31 extra challenge levels
  
• DASH THROUGH 6 wonderful Christmas locations, and cook many dazzling dishes in exciting time management levels
  
• COLLECT DIAMONDS to invite the entire family to Paige's school play
  
• ENJOY HIDDEN OBJECT ELEMENTS and see if you can find all mice
  
• GameHouse Walkthrough
  

Delicious 14: Emily's Christmas Carol (Time Management) 
Steam copy provided for Curator review, but have played it through twice on another platform -- Review updated 2019

An enchanting tale filled with the magic of Christmas

Options include separate sliders for Music and Sound, Full-screen or Windowed, Show Game Hints and choice of Difficulty

The Delicious games always have an optional tutorial, but there is also a 'How to Play" area in the Settings section if you need it.

Story:

The whole family packs up for a trip on the Miracle Express for the Christmas adventure of a lifetime!


For those who are new to the franchise, starting at #4, Emily's Taste of Fame, these games are heavily story-driven dash-type time management games, with endearing characters and great gameplay. 

The story is excellent and the characters are so distinctive that every one of them is memorable.  I was incredibly impressed with how well the devs managed the mannerisms of the children... From temper tantrums to angelic innocence and everything in between, they captured it all beautifully.

Gameplay:

Each level will present you with a challenge in addition to the usual of delivering food, etc. to customers, and each challenge completed will earn you a diamond, as will completing the Challenge levels.  Diamonds are used to invite people an in-game event.

Each of the six locations has upgrades that you can buy with the money that you earn from, per usual, but you can also tailor the menu to your play style.  New items to sell will unlock as you play, and then you can choose things like, "Do I want the drinks to fill faster, or do I want them to be spill-proof?"  Another example:


It seems like the third option would be a no-brainer since it's faster AND makes more money, but it's also a little more complex to put together!

• 61 story levels + 30 bonus levels for a total of 91 challenges/levels to play
  
• 21 in-game and Steam Achievements (some which you'll really have to work for!)
  

There are secrets scattered across the maps/levels to keep an eye out for, and a way to turn your customers into reindeer for a level.  I laughed like crazy when I found it! lol~

Sights & Sounds:

The graphics this time around are simply stunning.  It also sounds like they've gotten a full orchestra to do their music, and the result is just beautiful.  It's still very "Emily", but not the same-old, same-old that you might expect after 14 games.


Verdict:

I've played and loved every Emily game since Taste of Fame, and in my opinion, this is the best of the best.  Best graphics, best soundtrack, best storyline, best locations, best gameplay... The only negative is that 'Normal' mode is too easy.  I didn't have to replay any levels until late LATE in the game, but then, I'm an experienced player!  The beauty is that if you find Normal mode too easy, you can always switch to Expert!

Overall absolutely delightful and absolutely recommended!!

Review updated today, and this is the perfect time to play this enchanting game!