Delicious - Mansion Mystery is a time management game developed by SQRT3 and GameHouse and published by GameHouse. It is the latest installment (according to the store page, the 19th game :o) in the Delicious - Emily series. As usual, you take on the role of Emily, and this time, she and Francois are going away on a friendcation. However, if we all know Emily, having followed her journey throughout this series, there will be plenty of work and especially, cooking involved. Emily's friend Trevor, a chef working at a mansion in Snuggford, has called upon Emily, needing her help for an engagement party that's going to be held there this weekend. Of course, Emily is happy to accept, and Francois is along for the ride. However, as Emily and Francois are working at the mansion, one of the guests is mysteriously poisoned (but thankfully, Alison Heart, from another well-known series, is there to save the day). Francois can't help getting excited, seeing that there's finally a mystery afoot, and Emily is now the one along for the ride. Can Detectives Emily and Francois solve this case? I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. XD

With the gameplay, it is per usual. You can choose from among three difficulty levels. (For review purposes, I chose to play on normal mode.) There are a total of 5 locations with 60 story levels and 30 challenge levels. In each level, you can earn up to 3 stars, depending on how quickly you serve the guests, each of whom can have a maximum of 5 hearts. There's an additional task for each level, such as quickly serving guests, as well as finding Carl the Mouse. Thus, you can earn up to 5 diamonds per level as well as earn coins, depending on the score. Coins are used to purchase restaurant upgrades in each location, such as a tray that can increase the number of items that Emily can carry. Diamonds are used to purchase decorative items for the wedding venue (purely for cosmetic purposes).

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3268778461

Of course, there are new mini-games in the levels that have tutorials on how to play them. In addition, there are lots of Steam achievements/in-game trophies that count towards a user's global total.

Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. It's exciting to see the Delicious series make a comeback, with the start of Delicious - Cooking and Romance (please check out my review of it here). I got even more excited with this latest game, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the story goes back to the days when Emily and Francois would go on the road together, working at various restaurants. Also, Delicious - Mansion Mystery has mystery with investigative elements, and mystery is one of my all-time favorite genres. :D With the story, I enjoyed how the focus was on Emily and Francois, working at the mansion while solving the case of who tried to poison the soon bride-to-be. They make such a great pair of best friends, and I enjoyed watching their antics and banter. There's a cast of non-playable characters, like Oscar (the fiance) and Clarissa (the grandmother and head of the famous apple pie business that has earned the family's wealth). With the mystery of who poisoned Juliet, the soon bride-to-be, and all the twists and turns, I loved following the story. The reveal turns out to be shocking but has its resolution, and even the very ending leaves off on a cliffhanger (and possibly, with Emily and Francois having another potential business as partners).

Regarding the gameplay, I found it very doable, but then again, I've been playing a lot of time management games now, so I know what's to be expected (for the most part). I had no difficulties earning the maximum scores and such although those last couple of levels can prove to be quite challenging, especially with those customers quickly entering the venues and Emily having to serve them without them losing too much patience (a.k.a. hearts). All of the achievements are obtainable although you may have to grind to earn a few of them. In particular, the ones for replaying levels, playing mini-games in the conservatory (first venue), and customers leaving were where I had to replay levels.

The art is lovely as always. It's in that familiar, cartoony style that is pretty much a signature mark on all GameHouse games. The backgrounds and sprites are drawn and colored well, and the style really gives off that feeling of being in a spooky mansion at night. With the music, there are many new tracks, which is a refreshing change, although there are familiar ones, too. The tracks fit perfectly with their respective venues, and my favorite track has to be the one for the ballroom, as it gives off that feeling of elegance and sophistication, with the classical, relaxing track.

Overall, would I recommend Delicious - Mansion Mystery? If you're a fan of time management games and especially the ones by GameHouse, this is definitely worth checking out. I adore Emily and Francois, and it's wonderful getting to play more Delicious games and seeing how far Emily has come since her early days. I hope that there will be more games in this series and we'll get to see Emily and Francois together again more. ^^

Finally, I want to give a major thank you to GameHouse for the review copy. I just love these wonderful time management games with the addictive gameplay and heartwarming stories, and I'm already excited for more. :D

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

[i]Delicious - Mansion Mystery[/i] is a time management game developed by SQRT3 and GameHouse and published by GameHouse. It is the latest installment (according to the store page, the 19th game :o) in the [i]Delicious - Emily[/i] series. As usual, you take on the role of Emily, and this time, she and Francois are going away on a friendcation. However, if we all know Emily, having followed her journey throughout this series, there will be plenty of work and especially, cooking involved. Emily's friend Trevor, a chef working at a mansion in Snuggford, has called upon Emily, needing her help for an engagement party that's going to be held there this weekend. Of course, Emily is happy to accept, and Francois is along for the ride. However, as Emily and Francois are working at the mansion, one of the guests is mysteriously poisoned (but thankfully, Alison Heart, from another well-known series, is there to save the day). Francois can't help getting excited, seeing that there's finally a mystery afoot, and Emily is now the one along for the ride. Can Detectives Emily and Francois solve this case? I'll end my story synopsis here to avoid spoilers and all that. XD With the gameplay, it is per usual. You can choose from among three difficulty levels. (For review purposes, I chose to play on normal mode.) There are a total of 5 locations with 60 story levels and 30 challenge levels. In each level, you can earn up to 3 stars, depending on how quickly you serve the guests, each of whom can have a maximum of 5 hearts. There's an additional task for each level, such as quickly serving guests, as well as finding Carl the Mouse. Thus, you can earn up to 5 diamonds per level as well as earn coins, depending on the score. Coins are used to purchase restaurant upgrades in each location, such as a tray that can increase the number of items that Emily can carry. Diamonds are used to purchase decorative items for the wedding venue (purely for cosmetic purposes). https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3268778461 Of course, there are new mini-games in the levels that have tutorials on how to play them. In addition, there are lots of Steam achievements/in-game trophies that count towards a user's global total. Now that I've gone over the story and gameplay, I'll move onto my thoughts. It's exciting to see the [i]Delicious[/i] series make a comeback, with the start of [i]Delicious - Cooking and Romance[/i] (please check out my review of it [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/calliestar/recommended/2324440?snr=1_5_9__402]here[/url]). I got even more excited with this latest game, and it certainly doesn't hurt that the story goes back to the days when Emily and Francois would go on the road together, working at various restaurants. Also, [i]Delicious - Mansion Mystery[/i] has mystery with investigative elements, and mystery is one of my all-time favorite genres. :D With the story, I enjoyed how the focus was on Emily and Francois, working at the mansion while solving the case of who tried to poison the soon bride-to-be. They make such a great pair of best friends, and I enjoyed watching their antics and banter. There's a cast of non-playable characters, like Oscar (the fiance) and Clarissa (the grandmother and head of the famous apple pie business that has earned the family's wealth). With the mystery of who poisoned Juliet, the soon bride-to-be, and all the twists and turns, I loved following the story. The reveal turns out to be shocking but has its resolution, and even the very ending leaves off on a cliffhanger (and possibly, with [spoiler]Emily and Francois having another potential business as partners[/spoiler]). Regarding the gameplay, I found it very doable, but then again, I've been playing a lot of time management games now, so I know what's to be expected (for the most part). I had no difficulties earning the maximum scores and such although those last couple of levels can prove to be quite challenging, especially with those customers quickly entering the venues and Emily having to serve them without them losing too much patience (a.k.a. hearts). All of the achievements are obtainable although you may have to grind to earn a few of them. In particular, the ones for replaying levels, playing mini-games in the conservatory (first venue), and customers leaving were where I had to replay levels. The art is lovely as always. It's in that familiar, cartoony style that is pretty much a signature mark on all GameHouse games. The backgrounds and sprites are drawn and colored well, and the style really gives off that feeling of being in a spooky mansion at night. With the music, there are many new tracks, which is a refreshing change, although there are familiar ones, too. The tracks fit perfectly with their respective venues, and my favorite track has to be the one for the ballroom, as it gives off that feeling of elegance and sophistication, with the classical, relaxing track. Overall, would I recommend [i]Delicious - Mansion Mystery[/i]? If you're a fan of time management games and especially the ones by GameHouse, this is definitely worth checking out. I adore Emily and Francois, and it's wonderful getting to play more [i]Delicious[/i] games and seeing how far Emily has come since her early days. I hope that there will be more games in this series and we'll get to see Emily and Francois together again more. ^^ Finally, I want to give a major thank you to GameHouse for the review copy. I just love these wonderful time management games with the addictive gameplay and heartwarming stories, and I'm already excited for more. :D [quote]For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44702020/]The Introverted Gamer[/url], prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^[/quote]