Pastry Passion casual game review

Another day, another match three casual game. I’ll be honest, I really thought developers were overdoing it by releasing numerous games with the same premise. However, given the lack of ‘different’ games being released, I thought I would give this one a try, given it was riding high in the chart on a casual gaming website I was on.

So, anyway, Pastry Passion. A match three based on… well, pastry. You start work at a patisserie in Paris, working for a mad Frenchman. You start with a gentle tutorial and learn the basics, and then the fun really begins!

Pastry Passion is similar to many other match three casual games; you have your grid, and underneath it are various sets of ingredients which you have to add to your recipe. Once you have completed a recipe, it will magically turn into a cake of some description and be boxed up and sent to a happy customer. However, the longer it takes you to add all the items to your mix, the lower quality the cake is, and the less stars you have. It’s the number of stars which enables you to progress to the next level. At the beginning this isn’t difficult to achieve, but as the levels increase in difficulty, well, you’d better get your clicking finger in order!

After each level your number of stars is added to a total which you can then use to visit the shop and purchase various bonuses. For example, there are points boosters, bonuses to keep your cakes of a high quality for longer, and many more. Often switching and changing between these will make all the difference when trying to complete particularly tricky levels.

At the end of so many levels, you have to complete ‘exams’ – which is like a speed round. Your recipes are on a conveyor belt going from right to left on your screen. On the left is your zany boss who is ready to pull a lever at the end of belt, and when he does, say ‘bye bye’ to your cake, and your exam results. So you’ve got a mad race to match all the ingredients. You don’t get to use any of your bonuses in these levels, however, you also don’t have to worry about the quality of your pastries, just get them completed in time!

All in all, Pastry Passion is a very pleasant way to pass the time. Gone are the days of simply matching-three to your heart’s content; now there’s always an additional element to make it that much more difficult. But to a casual game fanatic, that’s a good thing. There has to be the right balance between simplicity and challenge. And Pastry Passion has it.

Cool graphics, and pleasant enough sound – you can happily sit and play this for hours, and complete it without too much stress. Bit of a girly one, but good fun nevertheless.