Diner Dash Hometown Hero is the latest casual game to feature Flo, one fast waitress with big dreams. In Hometown Hero, Flo returns to her hometown to visit her grandmother. What she discovers saddens her and makes her determined to do something to bring about change. Diner Dash Hometown Hero continues the fun and challenge of the series.

All of her favorite places are basically in shambles. The town is barely a town and really needs to make something happen. Flo sets her sights on helping the local zoo, which was one of her favorite places to go as a child.

Players begin the game with a quick tutorial that explains the basic game play of Diner Dash. Once that first level is completed, players move on to the next round that has a higher earnings goal. Each level comes progressively harder as the earnings goal continues to rise. There are five restaurants to save in Hometown Hero beginning with the one located at the zoo - the Safari cafe. At the end of each round, you get to choose an upgrade for the restaurant. Sometimes it’s decor like different tables or plants. Other times it might be faster shoes for Flo or a new stove. You have to choose wisely which upgrades will be of most benefit to you.

There are some new challenges for Flo with the new Diner Dash Hometown Hero game. Flo must train waiters to take over when the time is right and tables for two can now be pushed together to accommodate up to four people. Reserved tables are for guests that will only sit at that table. Each table has a countdown clock so you will know when to expect the patrons. Here is a screen shot of Flo training the waitress Amie. While you may be training, to get past the level you must score more points than they do.

The Diner Dash Gourmet Edition is available only on the PC version but features a boutique where users can create avatars, design their own restaurants, or take part in a multi player game of Diner Dash. Diner Dash is from the casual game company PlayFirst and retails for $19.99. As with most casual games, there is a free demo version, so you can try it before you buy it.

Last night was our weekly -sometimes bi-weekly - D and D game. It never fails that the gathering time is around 4pm, but we never get to gaming until around 7:30pm. Guitar Hero III for the week took center stage for a while. Once we ate and leveled our characters since something “big” was coming, we got to playing.

The DM had told my husband that he had something special planned just for his character, a Bard/Dragon Shaman. It was something big and special alright- a red dragon. Being a newbie role player, I hadn’t encountered a dragon yet but luckily my D&D coach - my hubby - gave me advice on what to do. We were able to defeat thanks to the DM. Had it not been for the dragon landing, we would have been toast.

It was a fun time. But it really shows just how little I know about things when it comes to D&D. I have much reading to do.