by Nikko Nicandro

We talked about Streetfood Tycoon a while ago, and now we feature Grillin’ Pablo (0.99 on the iTunes Store) by Icannhas Inc..

Grillin’ Pablo is a time management game available only for the iPad and the iPhone. You play the cook of a street food kiosk where you battle your childhood rival Pablo in the streets of Sunnyville. Win over customers by serving isaw, betamax, and other popular Filipino street foods, and fulfill your dream of becoming the best cook in town. (And yes, this game was developed by a group of Filipinos)

The game starts by narrating to you the bitter past of the main character when he was a kid. After a few years, he comes back to Sunnyville with a mission: to put Pablo out of business and be the best cook in town. Serve your way up to different types of customers with isaw and many more. Finish each level with a certain amount of money or try getting a Silver or a Gold star by selling more.

But BE WARNED, getting a Gold star is really challenging (and somewhat frustrating). You have to manage your supplies well because every move will cost money. Unlike other time management games where you can just make lots of burgers even without customers (Burger Queen, anyone?), Grillin’ Pablo is much more challenging as you will run out of money if you try to make a lot of isaw but your first customer only wants gulaman.

Each time you finish a level, you earn money that you can use to purchase new recipes and upgrades. The more recipes you have, the more fun and challenging the game will get. The upgrades are there to make the game a little easier for you.

The graphics are decent enough and can be very attractive especially to kids. The background music adds hype to the game, and did I mention that you will hear a Tagalog line “Hoy, magluto ka na!” at the start of each level?

Overall, Grillin’ Pablo is game that you should pick up if you love time management games. It’s one of those games that’s not very popular but given the chance, it will shine.

Likes

• It’s really challenging. Finishing a level with a Gold star will usually take more than just one attempt.
• I like the Pinoy feel

Dislikes

• I think the game needs more levels
• It could have been better (and more challenging) if serving gulaman and goto were done the same way as serving isaw by putting them in their respective containers first

Guest Writer

email: guestwriter@technoodling.net