I always enjoy Gamehouse time management games and stories, this time the story sat in 19th century in London where a young girl named Jane received an inheritance from her wealthy uncle. Her life has been shifted from poor to luxurious and she struggled to fit in. Her uncle's will mentioned one thing, in order to get the inheritance, she must marry before the end of the season.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2929169972

The gameplay is just like any other game from Gamehouse, you have 60 levels to finish the story, multiple areas to play in with many challenges to receive diamonds which you can trade to decorate a garden. However, as I'm writing this review, there is a bug in one of the challenges (Level 34) where you can't earn the diamonds.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926613571

In the Library stage, the mini-game of organizing the books is clearly made for phones and not to be done by the mouse as when you drag the book it sometimes doesn't fit inside of the shelf quickly. Keep in mind this mini-game is timed and you'll lose 'hearts' of the customers.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2926859745

Pros:
+Beautiful graphics.
+Good story.
+Good character development.
+Beautiful soundtracks.
+Steam achievements.

Cons:
- Needs custom mouse cursor (Sometimes you can't see the default small system cursor when the stage is busy)
- One of the mini-games (Organizing the books) is too difficult to finish quickly while using the mouse.
- No Steam Cloud.

In the game features there is a misleading statement. (Choose between three handsome bachelors.) There is actually only one who you'll end up with as the game is linear.

𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤𝑠 𝑐𝘩𝑒𝑐𝑘 𝑚𝑦 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑎'𝑠 𝐶𝘩𝑜𝑖𝑐𝑒

GameHouse has a good reputation of publishing casual time management games with beautiful art style and wholesome narratives. Their latest release, Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor, doesn’t disappoint either, managing to convey a unique and touching story that seems to partially be inspired by the Bridgerton book series.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2929226478
The game takes place in the historical setting of 19th century London. After her uncle passed away, Jane Ashford becomes the heiress to a huge mansion, yet to claim her inheritance she must fulfill a condition stated in her uncle’s will: to find a husband before the season ends. Even with three eligible bachelors among her new acquaintances, this task proves to be harder than it seems, considering that Jane isn’t your typical noble lady, but someone who prefers to place honesty and authenticity above the standard high society etiquette and usually shares her opinions upfront instead of hiding behind pleasantries. Rivalry, secrets, intrigue, blackmail - this game has it all, but ultimately everything is revealed and all the storylines are wrapped up nicely through a very satisfactory ending.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2929226716
As far as the gameplay goes, it’s mostly like in any other GameHouse game. You’ll have to serve various items or cooked dishes to your visitors, cleaning their tables afterwards and cashing in their payments. Compared to other games, Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor has only a few items that require a timer, and restocking ingredients is a one click-operation. This, together with the fact that the minigames are unique per location, and that changing to a new location happens only once several levels makes the game somewhat easier than the rest. The player has thus enough time to learn the item placement in one location before jumping to another, and the fact that you know in advance what kind of minigame you’ll get also helps keep up the focus and pacing. Additionally, there’s also a visual hint a few seconds before the minigame will trigger which also helps you prepare for the fast clicking that it requires. Overall, I find Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor to be a well-balanced game in that regard, allowing it to provide longer levels than usual (or at least to me they seemed to take longer than in other games, around 7 minutes each). Side objectives and the collectible mouse that pops up from time to time are features consistent through all GameHouse games, and they are obviously encountered here too.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2929226704
Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor is an 8h enjoyable ride, with non-missable achievements. There is no upgrade mechanic to your kitchen equipment that allows you to spend your earned coins, but the gems you gain for solving levels can be used to purchase upgrades for your garden / park. For 100% completion you will have to replay a few levels in order to get the necessary amount of items of that type required for a certain achievement, but that should roughly take you at most 30 mins above the time you’d otherwise spend on completing all the levels. As usual with GameHouse games, there are three difficulties to choose from (which can also be switched at any time during your gameplay) and the achievements trigger no matter the difficulty mode chosen.

All in all, Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor is another well-crafted game, one with an especially fun, witty story and strong-willed characters. I loved their interactions and the writing was absolutely great.

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I really enjoyed the theme of this game and the story was engaging enough. As other reviews have stated, there is no choice for Jane to choose a partner.

Caveat: The achievements did bug out for me between levels 39 -46. Not sure which level it was, but I did not achieve 3 stars. My plan was to play a few more levels and return to that particular level and replay. Unfortunately the game ended and I was given 3 stars for every level achievement. That would have been fine except I was one star short for unlocking the garden area. Tried replaying the level but to no avail. My advice is to immediately replay any level for 3 stars, at least prior to the last level. Hopefully that will solve the problem.

I really enjoyed this game, the story is so enriched and the scenery of the manor is really beautiful. By replaying a few levels, the achievements are really easy to obtain on hard mode. My favourite rooms in the manor was the kitchen, the drawing room and I loved the music when you play the ballroom levels. Every room was so beautifully detailed and even the guests gave an extra smile when you clear the table before checking them out, I loved the feeling the game gives you of entertaining the guests and characters. The story had a great twist and the bachelor that Jane chose in the end wasn't what I expected at all, I love the cat Lottie that keeps you company in every level. I personally really liked the handsome bachelor Oakley, but his secret didn't make him my favourite anymore. In the end Jane made the right decision with who she chose, I'm excited to see what the next adventure and drama will have in store for Jane and her betrothed!!

I liked this game up until i realised i couldn't choose the suitor i wanted (the only one that doesn't seem to hate the MC) because he's now randomly gay all of a sudden. i stopped playing then, it's obvious bargain bucket Mr Darcy gets the Mc. I guess my complaint is that there's limited choice but then again i'm so addicted to these types of games anyway. As general improvements i think gems and other forms of currency should go towards improving service - wiping down tables and Quick time events are the worst so i'd love to spend 30 something gems on a cleaner or something like in the delicious series. the QTE and other actions are extremely buggy (This is a similar problem in barbarous and barabarous two, games which i adore though, 2 not so much). The QTE in general don't have any animation and literally just require clicking on the highlighted item on the screen - i'm lucky i have a mouse for my macbook or i'd be ♥♥♥♥♥♥ playing this.

Approximate amount of time to 100%: 8h
Estimated achievement difficulty: 1/10
Minimum number of playthroughs needed: 1
Is there a good guide available: You don't need a guide
Multiplayer achievements: No
Missable achievements: No
Grinding Achievements: Not really, you might need to replay a few levels
DLC-Only achievements: No
Speedrun achievements: No
Time-gated achievements: No
RNG-achievements: No
Does difficulty affect achievements: No, you an play on easy and still unlock all the achievements
Unobtainable/glitched achievements: No

Another great game time management game from Gamehouse/SQRT3 in which you complete orders. This time in a 19th-century setting where you play as Jane who has to get married before the summer or else she will lose her heritage. We'll meet Jane when she just moved in and will meet the local rich people.

For me, in this time management kind of game, the story is less important, and this isn't my typical story (I prefer fantasy stories) but this one was well done and the ending was nice. And what made this game even better is that it didn't end on a cliffhanger as the other recent Gamehouse games did. I prefer this as it feels like a reward for completing the game, and the hell can break loose at the beginning of the next title if there will be a next one in this setting.

I played Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor on the Steam Deck, which worked great. It is so nice to be able to play with a touch screen. The only thing missing is cloud saves, which makes that you can't easily switch between playing on pc and playing on the Steam Deck.

The achievement list is kinda the same as in the other Gamehouse games, complete x amount of levels with all the stars, find the mouse, and do the side objective. Do each mini-game x amount of time. Nothing you have to worry about, just focus on doing as much as possible while playing through the game and later go back to finish the ones you've missed.

Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor is a time management game developed by SQRT3 and published by GameHouse. You take on the role of Jane Ashford, who recently learned that her eccentric uncle passed away. He has left his inheritance to his adopted niece, Jane. However, there is a catch. In order to receive the inheritance, Jane must get engaged before the end of the season. There are three eligible bachelors, each with his own strengths and flaws. In addition to this, there are other obstacles that stand in Jane's path. Will she be able to overcome them? That's the basic gist of the story, and I'll end my synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that.

As for the gameplay, Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor has the same style as other GameHouse-published games. Thus, you can choose from among three difficulty levels: casual, normal, or expert. (For purposes of this review, I chose to play on normal mode.) There are a total of 60 levels. In each level, you have to serve Jane's guests or staff, depending on the locations. (Locations vary in Jane's manor from the kitchen to the ballroom.) Depending on how quickly you serve the guests or staff, you can earn up to 3 hearts (the equivalent of stars). You can earn another star from finding the hidden mouse in each level, and finally, the last star can be earned from completing the additional task. In addition, there are various mini-games in each level, such as watering plants or playing the piano. There are Steam achievements/in-game trophies although no Steam trading cards at the time of this review.

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my critique. It's probably no secret by now that I enjoy time management games by GameHouse, and this one is no exception. First, I must say that I love the story premise. It's obviously inspired by Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which is one of my favorite books (and it's very popular, having appeared in lots of media). I like that the developers were inspired by the book. Of course, the names of the characters as well as the setting and all that were changed. Jane Ashford is a wonderful protagonist. Adopted when she was very young, Jane grew up learning about the nobility, despite not having been born as one. She's a strong, willful character who reminds me of a very notable female character from Pride and Prejudice, and she's determined to forge her own destiny. However, she displays signs of weakness and vulnerability at times, which makes her human. Jane isn't alone in her quest, though. The young kitchen maid, Emily, ends up becoming Jane's confidante, and Emily helps her to learn the ropes. She tells her about Jane's various guests, mainly the bachelors as well as a couple of the female guests. Emily gives her suggestions and counsel, but it's ultimately up to Jane to make her decisions. Speaking of the bachelors, each has his own personality and such. There's the charming, affable lord, the sullen widower, and the young, dashing officer who's a bit of a flirt. (Again, you can tell which characters from Pride and Prejudice they are inspired by.) There are a couple of notable female characters as well, one who serves as Jane's rival while the other who serves to exploit Jane for her own ambitions. Getting back to the main story, I enjoyed the plots and twists, and before I keep everyone wondering, yes, it ends on a happily ever after although I felt like there was one major issue that wasn't resolved. Perhaps it was intentionally left like that for a possible sequel.

In regards to the gameplay, I had no issue obtaining all of the achievements. (I read that there were issues with a couple of achievements, but an update has since fixed that.) The only technical issue I had was with level 57. There's a task which requires that Jane clean the tables in the library quickly after guests finish using them. Although I had no trouble with most of the guests, there was one guest in which even though I cleaned the table, the timer didn't stop and thus, I'd fail the task. Now, I was able to get around this bug, which was by pausing the game and then continuing it. (I think double clicking on the table can fix it, too.) This is a bug that hopefully, the developers can get around to fixing. Regarding the art, I like the style used. It's the usual style that the developers include, which works for these games. The colors are bright, sprites are well done, and the backgrounds are beautiful, depicting that 19th century of a fictional England. In regards to the music, I enjoyed listening to the soundtrack. There are only a few tracks, but like the art, they really depict the time period the story takes place in well. The tracks are all original, and I enjoyed listening to the instrumentals, especially the ones with violin.

Overall, would I recommend Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor? If you enjoy time management games by GameHouse, this is definitely on a must-play recommend. Bonus points for the whole inspiration by Jane Austen. For the asking price, I'd say that it would be a good idea to hold off for a sale, especially since the base price has gone up a bit for customers in some countries. It took me around 9.5 hours to complete the game and get all of the achievements, but I enjoyed this latest installment by GameHouse lots, and I hope to see more of these games. ^^

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Been a big fan of the Delicious games for awhile, my first game was Emily's Taste of Fame. I've also enjoyed spin offs like Angela's games and Sally's Salon. I've also really enjoyed this game. However, I was under the impression that we were able to select a suitor for the main character. Luckily, my choice ended up being the one she chose in the end. I also miss being able to decorate the stages with upgrades. I will continue to play future games from this company, I hope one day they can make a flower shop or Asian themed one in a Boba shop or Asian cafe/restaurant. They have a lot of cool concepts for cafes and restaurants in Asia (ex. animal cafes, manga/anime cafes, flower shop cafes, etc.) Thought that would be nice to see in a game. Other than that, this game was fun! I think you'll enjoy it if you liked any of their other games in the past.

The story started out boring and slow, but it improved quickly to the level I expect from these games :) Very enjoyable. Gameplay much the same as the other games, which is a good thing.