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PlayFirst Grapevine
Non-Violent Reminisence from a PlayFirst Mom
05/05/2008 08:00AM
In 2006, when Marco was one-year-old, PlayFirst, Inc. contacted me about working for them as a graphic designer. This was a no-brainer. Art, games, a vibrant local company… perfect.
PlayFirst proved to be just as good a place to work as I had hoped. This is a very family-oriented company and everyone here is okay with me being a mom first and foremost. Being a mom and working full time requires a lot of understanding and flexibility from one’s employers—I would insist on my rights anywhere, but at PlayFirst I never have to ask twice when I have to run out to get Marco to a doctor’s appointment or even bring him in for an afternoon. Not all companies are like that, as I’m sure some of you out there know.
Right from the beginning I enjoyed sitting down with Marco after work and showing him the art from our games. By the time he was two, he began to get curious when he would see me playing games at home. The first PlayFirst game I showed him on the computer was Tasty Planet. At that time he wasn’t really able to play so much as watch, but by the time Sponge Bob: Diner Dash came out he was ready to work the mouse!
I now work as the Design Manager at PlayFirst and I’ve contributed to over twenty-five games since I started working here. With Marco being a bit older, I feel very proud to work in a casual games company where I can share my work with my son without worrying that the content in the games is not suitable for him. When I tell him that I make games for living, he thinks it’s very cool. I guess I do, too. Currently Marco is having a lot of fun playing Animal Crossing, moving around and picking up fruit from the trees. He really had a blast helping me play through Doggie Dash, too. The washing and grooming of the cats and dogs brings endless fun on our playing dates. I secretly hope he will like casual games when he gets even older so that we can still enjoy our play dates. Playing together is fun entertainment, cooperative Mommy and me time, and qualitatively superior to having him just sit in front of the T.V.
Though I am sure his dad is hoping for them to one day play Grand Theft Auto together, it’s important to me that PlayFirst has never asked me to help create a game with excessive violence. That is not what I stand for and I wouldn’t do it. I don’t want my son playing games like that, so I would not feel comfortable contributing to their production. Because we’ve played together so much, though, if he does decide to play games outside my comfort range when he gets old enough to do so, I take comfort in knowing that I will always be able to sit with him and talk about what he’s seeing and experiencing. It won’t feel out of left field to him, because it’s something we do all the time; I play his games with him and I like that he plays mine with me. We are both thrilled that there are so many games we can play together, and I am proud to work at a place that helps to sustain that.
PlayFirst hobbies, part 2 - Knitting
04/28/2008 03:00PM
PlayFirst hobbies, part 1 – Salsa
04/22/2008 08:00AM
Now I’m onto a new hobby that involves needles. I’ll tell you more in part two!
What new hobbies are you learning? What do you like to do (aside from playing games!)?
4th Birthday thoughts from our CEO
04/14/2008 07:00PM
Hello, Friends of PlayFirst!!! Tomorrow, April 15, is the four-year anniversary of the founding of PlayFirst. As I reflect on the amazing progress we have made over the last four years, I thought you might like to hear a bit of the story behind the company we have built. You are a critical part of that “we,” because we couldn’t have done it without you. And there’s a lot more coming; I’ve never been more excited about the products (we are building. I hope you stick around to help us take it to the next level. So, with that introduction as to why I’m writing, I’ll start the story.
Today PlayFirst is a company of 85 people. We had almost $10 million in revenue in 2007 (note that it’s ‘revenue’ and not ‘profit,’ as we are not yet profitable). But not so long ago we were much, much smaller. This time four years ago, all there was to PlayFirst was me, my co-founder Brad, and a not-too-fancy Powerpoint deck full of our dreams to build a game company. Then, almost magically, the next day it was me, Brad, the Powerpoint deck, and five million dollars of venture capital. We were off to the races!
Of course, it’s not that easy to talk professional investors out of $5 million on just a set of slides. In fact, raising capital is one of the most difficult and least enjoyable aspects of running a business. But since neither of us had the bankroll to fund the company ourselves, it was a necessary ingredient to build our dream. In addition to the slides, we did have between us over thirty years experience creating software and ten years or so working with video games, which is really what our “Series A” investors were betting would pay off. We have been extremely fortunate to land excellent investors. Raising money isn’t fun, but working with our investors has been a very positive experience on both a personal and professional level.
With the funding in hand, and the crazy risk of starting a company properly transferred from entrepreneurs to investors, the next set of tasks was pretty straightforward: We had to find office space, start building stuff, and hire an amazing team to help us build more stuff faster. One of our first investors, Mayfield, offered to put us up on a temporary basis in their posh office space on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park until we could secure permanent space in San Francisco. This let us hit the ground running. OK, check! Next we needed to build stuff and hire people.
“Building stuff” started with games. As a publisher, our business model was to create about 20% of our games with internal development teams and 80% with outside partners. One great thing about this model is that we could start right away, before hiring any permanent staff. So, as soon as the funding hit our bank account, I put my game producer hat on and contacted the most talented designer I knew, Eric Zimmerman over at GameLab. The GameLab crew had designed and built great web games for me when I was running the games business at Shockwave.com. This was way back in 2000 or so, but you can still play BLiX (http://blix.shockwave.com) and Loop (http://loop.shockwave.com) on the Shockwave site today. I knew that a key validation of my model was to get super creative folks like those at GameLab excited to build games for PlayFirst, and I’m pretty sure you’ll agree we were successful in this area.
As a follow-up to our conversation, Eric sent me a document entitled “Seven Downloadable Game Concepts” in late May 2004. We selected two of those seven concepts to build out into full games. We signed a contract, and GameLab started building the games we’d selected. One of the concepts was “The Underground,” which became Subway Scramble. This was and still is one of my favorite casual games. It was fun, frantic and innovative, with a simple game mechanic that gets incredibly complex to play as you progress through the 50 levels. It brought a fresh aesthetic to the genre, with graphical elements calling to mind a map of the London Underground. Unfortunately, Subway Scramble was more of a critical success than a market success. Still, we sell a few copies of this gem every day on PlayFirst.com.
The other concept was called “Lunch,” designed by Nick Fortugno (now co-founder of Rebel Monkey: http://www.rebelmonkey.com/about.html). “Lunch” is now known to over 200 million people worldwide as Diner Dash. The story ultimately diverged a bit from the original description (e.g., Flo is the one packing the tables into her own restaurant and the cook is a good-guy), but the game mechanic is still true to the original pitch. Fans of the franchise know that the game has evolved quite a bit from the original (keep sending in your ideas!), with new gameplay elements in Diner Dash 2: Restaurant Rescue, customizable outfits for Flo in Diner Dash: Flo on the Go, and too many new features to talk about here (and anyway Nemone already discussed them here) in Diner Dash: Hometown Hero.
While I was busy signing and producing games with talented outside partners, Brad was busy inventing stuff on the inside. We didn’t originally plan to create a game development kit, but we pretty quickly realized that the ideal ecosystem for creating the games we wanted to create didn’t exist. We required the power and flexibility of the C++ programming language, but raw C++ was too complicated and error prone for what we felt should be a creative, not highly technical process. Higher-level platforms like Flash and Shockwave could give our game designers a more convenient way to express themselves, but with unacceptable performance, feature and distribution limitations. So we decided to create Playground SDK (the technically minded folks out there can check it out here). Originally it was optional to our external partners, but now we require with very rare exceptions that all PlayFirst games are created on Playground. Chocolatier and Dream Chronicles are two of my favorite Playground based games. Last year we decided to release the SDK to developers worldwide for use free of charge, and now many other companies are using it to create games. Let us know if you’d like to hear more about Playground SDK and perhaps we can get Brad to make a Grapevine post.
So now we were building stuff, and we needed to hire folks to help us build more stuff. Back then most people considered us a bit nuts to think that “regular people” wanted to play games – surely games were just for teenage boys and adult teenage boys, right? So they should all have aliens or dragons, magic spells or at least big explosions, with women as exaggerated props rather than empowered protagonists!?! Not true! Again, a great topic for a future Grapevine, as that topic deserves its own spotlight. Anyway, it wasn’t easy to convince prospective employees that people other than teenage boys like to play games, but we managed to convince enough people that we were able to hire a great initial crew. And then we were truly off and running.
Back to the present. We have now raised a total of $26.5 million in external financing, and we’re well financed to continue to grow the company. Yes, this transferred the risk from the founders to professional investors, but in a way there’s actually more and more risk as we have grown: now 85 people depend on PlayFirst to provide for their livelihood and their families. This is an enormous responsibility that has certainly kept me awake at night in the past. It represents the serious side of running a company that makes video games. On the other hand, every employee is also a shareholder, so if we succeed in building PlayFirst into a company like Electronic Arts or Disney, then everyone will share in that success. And we get to have a ton of fun doing it, because we do love our games! If we’re not there yet, PlayFirst has definitely turned a corner. We’re not yet a Disney, but nor are we a rickety startup any longer. We have developed or published over thirty games, and over a million people come to our site each month to play them. Most of you aren’t teenage boys or adult teenage boys. In fact, most of you are teenage girls or adult teenage girls! So now it’s my precious first child Nathaniel (19 weeks old) that gets the honors of keeping me awake at night.
I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into the past. One of the great things about being an internet focused company is that we get to have a two-way conversation with our customers. I’ve been watching your comments over the years on the forums and in the messages sent in to Customer Support, and now I’ve started sharing my thoughts. Please let me know what you would like to hear about next and I’ll do my best to respond. Until then, please continue writing in the forums so we know what to do next. ;-)
Player of the Month: LisaAimee!
04/14/2008 08:00AM
How long have you been a gamer? How were you introduced to video games and what was the first game you remember playing?
I started gaming in general when I was a kid. We had the original Nintendo, and played Super Mario Bros until the cartridge wouldn't play anymore. I have been addicted to casual games now since Diner Dash came out.
How often do you play games?
I play games probably an hour a day when I have time. If a good game comes out, I can play a bit longer.
Any quirks as a gamer?
I am selective when it comes to games. I don't download every single game that comes out, only ones that look interesting. I am partial to the Dash games, and real time games like Virtual Villagers.
Aside from playing games, what are some other ways you like to relax and unwind?
I love to sleep! Weekends are great, because I get to sleep as late as I want. I also love to read, true crime mostly. I also love movies. "Pulp Fiction" and "True Romance" are a couple of my all-time favorite movies.
What games are you currently playing?
Right now, I'm playing Pet Shop Hop and Westward 2. I am also playing the new Diner Dash Hometown Hero Egyptian-themed restaurant.
What is your favorite game of all time?
My favorite game of all time is definitely Diner Dash: Hometown Hero. I think Virtual Villagers 2 is a close second.
Anything else?
Here's an interesting fact about my hometown from the midwest: it was featured on an MTV special from the early nineties. The subject was what people in small towns do for fun. So what did we do as teenagers? We would cruise up and down the main street, parking at the local Sonic Drive-In. Easily amused, obviously!
Meet LisaAimee and the rest of our loyal posters in the forums!
A hundred ways to play!
04/10/2008 08:00AM
So first, let’s review a few vocabulary words used a lot in gaming. Once we all know what they mean, we can explore how they apply to the astonishingly flexible Hometown Hero.
- Avatar: Though its original meaning comes from the Hindu to describe an earthly representation of a deity, in gaming the term has come to mean a computerized representation of yourself, or any character you’d like to create, that lives within the world of a game. Avatars are almost always created in the same visual style as the game in which you place them, and the best avatars are customizable, meaning that you, as the player, get to make decisions about how that little pixilated representation of you will look.
- Metamap: You know how when you’re playing a game you can pause or stop, exit to the main menu, and then come back in to a map of the game showing where you’ve been and where you have yet to go? That’s a metamap, sometimes referred to as a “level map.” At its simplest, a metamap just shows you what level you’re on and gives you a little bread crumb trail showing how many more levels you have left to go to finish the game. A more complex metamap might jump you around to explore different areas (or neighborhoods) of the game. The best metamaps are expandable, meaning that you can see the whole game the way it’s laid out when you purchase it, but you can also add new areas as the game expands, either by uncovering them during game play or by buying them separately and having them integrated into the game you already have once they’re downloaded. You can think of it like a Legos kit (or K’nex, or what have you) – you can do all kinds of things with the basic set, but you can also always add more to keep yourself engaged and entertained. This same expandability can be applied to a computer game through use of the metamap.
- Multiplayer: Think of “single player” as solitaire and “multiplayer” as poker. In gaming, multiplayer refers to any game you can play with other people, in real time, even while sitting all alone at your computer. Maybe you’ve heard of MMORPGs, or “Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games,” like World of Warcraft or Everquest or Star Wars Galaxies. In these games, people all over the world have their own avatar and literally thousands of people can meet in a virtual environment to play together. But those are all pretty hardcore, time-intensive, sub-culture games. Multiplayer can also be much simpler and less overwhelming, like a group of people gathering in a chat room and choosing one other person to play with or against in a smaller virtual environment which they control.
It’s a single player game. As with the other Diner Dash games, the game gives you access to 55 single-player levels in five new restaurants: the Safari Café, the Diner at Homerun Park, the Museum Grill, the Beach Shack at the Boardwalk, and Florence’s Groovy Disco. There’s story mode and endless mode and all the frantic-seating-serving-matching-mood-managing fun you expect from a Diner Dash game.
But say you’ve finished helping Flo get through all the levels, and you wish you could make the game more…I don’t know, personal. Diner Dash: Hometown Hero (DD:HH) Gourmet lets you create your very own waiter or waitress (called “MY WAITER”) and diner (“MY DINER”) that you can customize and play with right in the game! So yep, you guessed it:
It’s a game that lets you create your own avatar! With DD:HH, you can explore and express yourself in Flo’s world! The game comes with both a character and a diner generator that allows you to create your very own avatar and also your very own diner to place in the game. You get to choose from dozens of options (hairstyle, complexion, expression, clothing and more for your waiter, location, theme, counters, seating, food, and décor for your diner) automatically available within the game, and then have your very own diner appear on your game’s metamap right by Flo’s Diner! But what if you want even more options than the game has available? A different hair style or pair of shoes for your waitress, say, or maybe a lovely chandelier or giant marlin to hang off the ceiling of your diner? Well, you’re in luck, because:
The game is endlessly expandable! There’s an entire boutique available at DinerDash.com, brimming with over 100 clothing items and accessories for your waiter, as well as décor items and stylish, new looks for your diner. You can buy these separately or sometimes in bundles and use them to make your waiter and/or diner even more unique! Whether you want to make a funny, original character for Diner Dash or prefer to set a little version of yourself loose in the Hometown Hero restaurants, the Diner Dash boutique allows you to customize to your heart’s content. Some of the clothes can also be worn by Flo—you’ll see them show up in her closet once you’ve purchased and downloaded them. But hey, DD:HH has a pretty big metamap…what are you supposed to do with all the rest of that space? Upgrade!
PlayFirst is constantly releasing brand new restaurants! Some of the restaurants are seasonal, like the bone-chilling October release, The Crypt Café, or December’s charming Winter Wonderland. Others are part of ongoing storylines, like the hilarious Caveman Café or the just-released Pharaoh’s Feast. All of them come with tons of fun, original items for your waiter and diner, and all of them place a brand new restaurant on your game’s metamap, giving you permanent access to it anytime you want to play. You can buy all of them, a few, or even just one—whatever you want in your game.
So now you have all these great restaurants, not to mention your very own, meticulously customized waiter and diner and your mad Dashing skills…there’s got to be a way to show this all off, right? Yes, of course! In addition to allowing you to use your MY WAITER avatar as your profile picture on PlayFirst.com:
DD:HH is a fully-functioning multiplayer game, including real-time chat rooms and the ability to have another DD:HH player assist or compete against you in your very own diner! Or in theirs, or any of the restaurants associated with the game. With both cooperative and competitive play modes available, you can choose between playing nicely with others and destroying their Dash-savvy egos at whim. You can also just hang around in one of the multiplayer lobbies and chat with other Flo fans. How you use the game is truly up to you.
What all of this means is that whether you’re playing in single player or multiplayer mode, DD:HH is never the same game twice. There’s always something new to add: additional restaurants, fresh décor for your very own diner, new clothes and accessories for your waiter—all of these and more are always available in the Diner Dash boutique.
Maybe you already knew all of this, in which case, thanks for listening to my enthusiastic ramblings. But for those of you to whom some of these concepts are kind of new, please feel free to play and explore. Maybe I’ll even see you in multiplayer!
Game Addiction
03/24/2008 08:00AM
The only thing here better than the games is PlayFirstCody. There is something fabulous about being able to throw a ball down the hallway and have it returned to you during stressful moments. He has got to be the most spoiled puppy ever and he deserves it!
Pet Shop Hop is here!
03/18/2008 06:00AM
As the producer of Pet Shop Hop, I can tell you that the game was a great product to work on. The developer used 3D graphics and an isometric camera angle that successfully immerses the player in the environment of Cassie's world. For the first time in a "Hop" game, we included a simple business simulator. You must help Cassie stock her store. Different pet types generate different profits, and have a wide variety of caring needs. You must select the animals carefully, staying within Cassie's budget as you anticipate what your customers will request.
We are very excited about the launch of Pet Shop Hop. Flo's retriever Skillet agrees with me that it's sure to become a pet favorite!
Spring is Super!
03/11/2008 08:00AM
If you haven't noticed yet, we've added new avatars for Dress Shop Hop and The Nightshift Code for you to use. More are on the way, but you can always dress up your My Waiter if you want something a little more unique. I'm planning on shopping for my Waiter next week because it's a special time of the year for me. March is my favorite month - the sun is still shining when I get home (huuuge thing when you have an hour and a half commute), the trees are blossoming (pretty), and there are lot of things to celebrate like bunnies and birthdays and four-leaf clovers.
And before I sound too warm and fuzzy, let me just say in my defense that it's almost spring! Surely there's something you have to look forward to too!
Player of the Month: Lattegato
02/27/2008 12:00PM
How were you introduced to video games and what was the first game you remember playing?
My dad bought a Pong home console from Sears in 1975. It cost a fortune, about $100, and had slow, medium, and fast options. The fast was seriously hard... or at least, we thought so back then. We still have it up in the attic... hmmm, I think I hear Ebay calling!
How often do you play games?
Whenever I'm fighting off sheer boredom... normally, about a 1/2 hour every other day or so. But if it's a new game that I've been waiting for, I just play it like crazy till I'm satisfied that I did my best.
How long have you been a gamer?
Since about age 8. Besides Pong, I played a lot of arcade games -- pinball, etc. -- in the game room of a family hotel and resort that my mother managed in the late 70's. If I had a day off school, I would go there with about $2 in nickels and dimes and play for hours. Then in high school, an arcade opened in our downtown and my friends and I would save the quarters from our lunch money and go there after school and play PacMan and Frogger, then race home and pretend like we were doing our homework when my parent's got home.
Aside from playing games, what are some other ways you like to relax and unwind?
Cooking at work or at home, watching Gordon Ramsay yell at every restaurant owner on either side of the Atlantic, playing with my Australian Shepherd, Darby, and my cat, Scooter, as well as being part of the Mod squad at http://GameCafe.biz. Gable875 is the other Mod there -- however, I'm the prettier one.
Mouse or joystick?
Currently mouse. My PlayStation games are getting lonely in their box. Aaw....
What games are you currently playing?
I play all of my games on and off. Right now, I'm focused on DDHH and all the great add-on restaurants, with a little Wedding Dash, Chocolatier 2, The Great Tree, Cake Mania 2, and Roller Coaster Tycoon thrown in.
What is your favorite game of all time?
I love Turtle Odyssey. It's dorky and fun, just like me! Then again, Galaga stands the test of time... ugh, the pressure to choose is unbearable! Easier questions next time, please!
Anything else?
I bathe regularly, hence, no toe cheese.
In love again with Dream 2
02/15/2008 08:00AM
We do what we do for love, don't we? As the producer for this game, I have loved working with KatGames - four amazing guys in Spain who created the original game and the sequel. Dream Chronicles 2 has set a high standard -- the graphics are ga-ga-gorgeous, the music is moving and the gameplay is chewy and fun. We at PlayFirst and KatGames are excited and proud to offer it to you. The game is challenging, but don't give up. Love never fails. If you get stumped, just visit other players in our community forums and get some love there! And no matter what, keep Dreaming!
Happy Valentine's Day!
02/14/2008 08:00AM
On Martyrdom
02/13/2008 08:00AM
I should rather say, gifts, plural. Romance is complicated and gift-giving even more so, especially in my situation. With fourteen wives, five husbands and three decline-to-specifies, it can get tricky to make sure nobody's feelings are hurt. So let's try solving this.
If each wife desires flowers, each husband demands lands, each unknown yearns for ferns and additionally each spouse will choose a blouse, how many roses, plots, plants, tops were being shopped?
Granted, it's not exactly the most traditional of gift assemblages. Do you watch television? I do and I notice on the rarest of occasions advertisements or as I call them, advisertments, on what I need to be giving to show I want to honor Saint Valentine.
I guess some people like jewelry. Chocolate and flowers also seem popular as an expected gift. Where are the hives of bees, the rooster, the epilepsy and restoration of vision that I associate with Saint Valentine? What are you even celebrating if not the triumph of a beheaded bishop?
I guess St. Valentine's Day is one of those artificial holidays meant to sell perishable undesirables to the insecure. Like when we commemorate St. Thanksgiving and St. Mother's. Because if you can prove your love three days a year, that gives you 362 (363 this year!) other days you can slack off and ignore your loved ones. All 22 of them, if you're me.
There are plenty of people who enjoy these holidays and visions of giving chocolate, flowers, a romantic trip to scenic Detroit, Michigan. That's okay for them. But I'm a busy blogger. I can't spend all of my time doing what everyone else does. If you want something to be different, you have to go out and make it different. Like I do.
If you're thinking of celebrating the birth of Saint Rudolph Valentino I suggest you do something different with it. How about a rose made from barbed wire and leather? How about chocolate with a curry infusion? How about a romantic trip to a nearby trampoline?
I gotta go. Those gifts won't wrap themselves. That'll happen next year when I'm giving squid, macrame coffee mugs and artificially sentient pencil sharpeners, assuming all 22 of them haven't broken up with me after this year's round of gifts.
Romance and Chocolate
02/08/2008 08:00AM
Plantasia is one thing you won't have to worry about. It won't wilt and it's now playable on your handheld phone!
Another sweet deal you won't want to miss: Wedding Dash and Chocolatier 2 are available together for $24.95.
So, to ask the inevitable question, what are your plans for next week? Is it just another day, or do you look forward to it? I'm split 50/50. It's basically another day, but because it's such a big occasion, you never know what's going to happen. It's pretty exciting if you think about it that way.
Doggie Dash is here!
01/31/2008 05:00PM
Over the course of developing Doggie Dash, not only was Z a sticking point, but also X & Y. Getting the game just right required the efforts of some very talented people at PlayFirst and Viqua Games. The good news though is that all of our hard work paid off. Doggie Dash looks better than I ever imagined. The pets are cute. The music and sound effects are lively and upbeat. The upgrades are fun. The gameplay is challenging yet engaging!
What is the old adage? The harder the battle, the sweeter the victory? Doggie Dash definitely fits that. I hope you enjoy it too.
Player of the Month: candycrazy
01/30/2008 08:00AM
How were you introduced to video games and what was the first game you remember playing?
One day about eight years ago my husband brought home an old computer from work. I got addicted to playing a game called Chip's Challenge.
How often do you play games?
I play games everyday. Especially on days when I have laundry. I play a level, go check clothes. Do another level. It helps me with my tasks.
How long have you been a gamer?
I have been a gamer for 10 years.
Aside from playing games, what are some other ways you like to relax and unwind?
My favorite thing to do to relax is go forum hopping such as Justusladies, The Game Fairy and of course PlayFirst. I also like to listen to the TV show Ghost Busters.
Mouse or joystick?
I use a mouse.
What games are you currently playing?
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero and Cake Mania 2
What is your favorite game of all time?
Diner Dash: Restaurant Rescue because I bought it at a store and I needed a tip and it introduced me to the wonderful world of PlayFirst.
Anything else you want to say?
For all those people who voted for me I am really humbled. The PF forums were the first I ever got involved with and I have laughed until I cried. I have made wonderful friends. How was I to know that a forum could feel so much like being home? Thank you!
Candy
Congratulations, Candy!
Nominations are open for the next Player of the Month!
New Ice Cream Craze and DD:HH Restaurant
01/25/2008 08:00AM
Luckily, our new exclusive, Ice Cream Craze, doesn't require the heat of summer to be insanely enjoyable. All the bright colors and yummy desserts warm me right up! What was your favorite menu item from the game? Call me old-fashioned, but I liked the floats.
Speaking of sweet things, the latest restaurant for Diner Dash: Hometown Hero is out! You can get the Romantic Redezvous restaurant for yourself at the Boutique. If you want your waiter to look extra special, grab the Ready for Romance bundle which contains a sizzling red outfit and cute clip! Or put together your own romantic outfit and comment here so everyone else can take a gander.
My Diner Items on Sale!
01/17/2008 08:00AM
Things have been very busy here but I just wanted to pop in to tell you about our special sale in the Diner Dash Boutique. All items for your diner are now $0.59! Deck out your diner with the latest décor items and dazzle your patrons.
Get to it. Sale ends on February 4th!
Back to the Fun
01/16/2008 07:00AM
My time off was extremely mellow. It started out busy, but halfway through I finally switched into "vacation mode". I watched more movies in one week than I have in the past three months (Juno being one of them. Better than I expected, by far.) I also gamed a little, but mostly I recharged. Now I'm ready for some more new games! Hope you all are too, because we have a ton of new AND addicting games. And I know I say that all the time, but really, this batch is exceptional! There's Dream Day First Home (awww), Super Granny 4 (go Granny!), and Little Shop - Big City, among others. Mahjongg Investigations: Under Suspicion is another great game you might want to try. Personally, I fell in love with The Great Tree. I have a soft spot for fairies and pretty, glowy orbs.
More games to come, including one I'm sure you'll love. Keep your eye on the featured game pod!
Bah Humbug
12/21/2007 08:00AM
This is my final post for 2007, and I can't even lie - it's been fun. So before I forget, I'd like to thank KismetPF for sharing an office with me (even though she is my secret enemy), Applesun for putting up with my daily torment, Sorbet for watching out for me, Unknown_Blogger for our weird, yet somewhat intelligent lunch conversations(although it is sometimes quite difficult to understand him with that bag on his head), Site QA team for being my favorite site QA team (and yes, I know, you're the only one I know), Design team for letting me sometimes pick colors, although my suggestions rarely stay, and everyone else here at PlayFirst that has made coming to work somewhat enjoyable.
And most importantly, we here at PlayFirst would like to thank all of you for sticking with us and supporting us through another year. Without all of y'all, I wouldn't have a place to call work (well, I would, but I'm sure it'd be pretty boring... unless I was a ghost buster or something).
Happy Holidays to everyone, and if you dislike this time like I do, I wish you a content rest of December and early January.
Look out, 2008!
P.S. I've got my go go go go go go go go gadget flow
