The kids and I have a new obsession, Chocolatier. No, not chocolate. Although that is part of the fun, too. Chocolatier is actually a new computer game. The object is to travel around the world, and build a chocolate empire all the while collecting recipes for the confections and reuniting a divided family. If that sounds complicated, it’s because the game is complicated. Don’t worry though, the game starts easy enough and the players can learn as they go along.
The player has to travel to different ports around the world for supplies. The boys actually learned a little geography as they visited the ports of London, Hong Kong and Trinidad. Each port has its own ingredients, key people to visit, and chocolate shop. Eight of the ports have factories. Once you gather the ingredients to make the recipes you head to the factory. There you aim and fire the ingredients to set your production rate. And then it’s off to another to port to find more recipes, to carry information for characters in the game, to make a special recipe, and to buy ingredients.
I like the game because it’s not at all violent. I also like that the player has to make a lot of decisions as to how many supplies to buy, which recipes to make, when to change production, when to buy additional factories and shops, where to buy supplies, and where to sell the chocolates produced by the factories. Towards the end, the game requires a lot of multi-tasking.
After playing Chocolatier for a few days we all had chocolate on the brain. During out weekly trip to the grocery store we noticed a sale on gourmet chocolate bars. We bought a few bars and had a tasting party. Getting to eat bars with similar names as the chocolate we’d been producing in the game was great fun.
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