After all of the iterations of PlayFirst’s most popular game, Diner Dash, I would assume that Doggie Dash would be the same game, except for dogs instead of people, perhaps? However, I was pleasantly surprised at how they took the game and gave it a new twist. This time, Flo’s friends Walter and Scarlett decide to open a grooming salon. Even though the game is called “Doggie Dash”, this shop is for dogs AND cats. I’m not sure how often you take cats to a grooming salon, but I’m sure cat-lovers will tell me that it’s more often than one would think!
The raw mechanics of the game are pretty much the same. Click on something to pick it up, move it somewhere, click on something else to drop it off. The game play of Doggie Dash feels somewhat the same as Diner Dash, but the concepts and goals are completely different. You need to pick up the pet, then move it through a series of up to three stations: bath, haircut, and accessories (bow-ties). Of course, the pet owners request a variety of options, but at least there is a set order: bath always comes first, haircut always comes after bath and before accessories, and accessories always comes last. The icons will appear in order to help you out, but there is no breaking that set overall order, so that is one thing that helps wrap your mind around a successful groom!
This time though, you get to choose from two main characters to play. Each has a different bonus effect on the game – Scarlett slightly increases the worker speed at each station, and Walter slightly increases pet’s happiness. You only control one of them, and the other goes on automatic pilot for you. This is similar to the waiter function in previous games, where he “helps” you finish up your tasks. Sometimes I didn’t like it though, because they didn’t always do what you might think would make sense to maximize your score. Also sometimes the other character ditches you for a shift, so every now and then you are on your own!
There are different types of dog and cat breeds, with different grooming speeds. The big fat white cats with the old lady owners always want to be pampered, so they take longer at each station. I guess dachshunds are the slow option for dogs, maybe because of their short legs? I would have picked a different breed, maybe one of those big shaggy dogs or something. Also, the impatient characters are the Siamese cats, and the high-strung poodles! Plus, remember the guys on the cell phone that annoy others around them? Well now we have a couple of barking dog breeds that do just the same (Shih-Tzu and Yorkshire Terrier). There are also other breeds introduced, with “medium” station speeds, which really is just the default variety. This made it more challenging to figure out how the pets would act, however. Often I found myself forgetting that the poodle was a dog and not a cat, from the way they behaved! You can check out the full breed list in the “Help” section of the game. What’s funny is that they really play on the idea that owners start to look like their pets (or vice versa)!
Each pet has a happiness “heart meter”, and as time goes on, they will lose hearts. Various upgrades will help add or retain some happiness for the pet. Of course the faster you get their services done, the more hearts you retain (or gain, if you’re really quick to service them). A way to help speed things up is to upgrade the service station, up to two times, which makes the workers at that station speedier. There are also a bunch of other different upgrades that can help make the pets’ grooming experience better: the massage chair offers a place for pets to relax and stay happy a little longer than normal. You can put some decoration in the waiting area, such as a fish tank or some nice plants, to also help them stay happier, as well as a podium (looking more like a stage with a microphone), where you can entertain the pets to boost their happiness, much like podiums in previous DD games. A pet treat station helps add some happiness to a pet, just like any snack station should!
Some key different upgrades in this game help add some complexity to this game not previously seen in DD (though, I have not played Hometown Hero yet, so I’m sure there are more complex objects in that game). The playpen is an additional station that acts like the last and final station for your pet. Pets will only request it if they have a full heart meter. This will give you extra points, and can push you over the edge when you’re looking for that expert score! Keep in mind that their breed-specific speed also carries over to how long they spend in the playpen, so you’ll need to make sure that impatient dogs aren’t waiting long to get to the playpen, because they will lose hearts even if they were full at the time they requested the playpen!
Other upgrades include a jukebox, which gives all pets in the salon area a happiness boost; an X-power energy drink station that makes your character extra speedy for a short period of time; and the megaphone which helps speed up the service stations. You can even upgrade Scarlett or Walter!
When all services are complete, your partner player will take the pets and return them to their owners, and collect their payment. The trick here is that when you have a playpen, you will want to make sure they have a full heart meter at the time of their final service, otherwise they will just want to leave. So for example, if you are playing Scarlett, this means that Walter will automatically come and pick them up before you can tell him to stop!
You can get bonuses, much like the color chair bonuses from DD, by having the same type of animal (dog to dog, cat to cat) at a station multiple times in a row. You can also get bonuses with a “swap,” which means when you are carrying a pet to a station where another pet is waiting to be picked up, you get a bonus for swapping them if it is the same type of animal.
Each level you complete allows you to make an upgrade to your salon, as well as add some décor. If you completed the level with an expert score, you get a bonus décor choice! I never found it particularly hard to complete a level with an expert score, for the most part. There are those few tricky levels however that take multiple tries to achieve it!
Similar to previous games, the Endless Shift mode basically is your survival mode, where you just keep going until you’ve made too many pets angry and leave the salon. It’s always fun for a challenge after you’ve completed Story Mode!
This game is great for pet lovers and Diner Dash lovers alike! I’m looking forward to more creative ways to present the Diner Dash concept, after playing this game.
Special thanks to Caitlin Davies at PlayFirst for providing a copy of this game.