"Viva Pinata" Review (PC)

Pros:

• Comical animations
• Adult & Kid friendly
• Fun of discovering new pinatas

Cons:

• Random crashes
• Clumsy interface
• Camera limitations

• Grow a garden that will attract pinatas and encourage them become residents.
• Build homes and buy accessories for the pinatas.
• Lure in over 60 types of pinatas.
• Trade pinatas through online play.
• Buy seeds and plant vegetables, fruits, and trees.
• Get the romance going and the pinatas will mate. Lead the pinatas through mazes to collect coins and find the its mate.
• Pinatas are full of sweets! Some are good for other Pinatas to eat, while others cause harm.
• Visit shops, such as the General Store or Builder's Yard, to buy goods (or receive services) to help your garden and pinatas.

"Viva Pinata" is a game about making a home and caring for little pinata animals. These animals look like just like pinatas and if beat with a shovel enough will explode with candy. Don't judge "Viva Pinata" solely on the bright colors and comical looking pinatas. It's not all about the cute. Hitting a pinata with a shoveling feels almost brutal in the cutesy world. Sometimes it has to be done. Whether to get rid of a bad pinata or take a dying one out of their misery (didn't have enough money for the Doc a few times).

The garden doesn't take care of itself. Pinatas will come to your garden after you start cleaning it up (getting rid of junk, making paths, setting down grass) and planting seeds for plants pinatas want. A tutorial will walk you through a garden in its infancy. You'll meet up with people that will help you take care of plants, care for the pinatas, or build homes. There are no mysteries as to what you need to attract the pinatas to have them become residents (they will roam around your garden, without actually moving in). The help will tell you what requirements have been met and what the pinata still needs to accomplish. The discovery of new pinatas is where most of the fun came in for me and seeing their animations.

Managing and keeping an eye on the pinatas can be daunting at first. It is nothing that a young gamer can't handle. A couple of hours and some curiosity should be enough to get into a groove. The constant guidance of the tutorial and help book are always there if a problem does arise.

"Viva Pinata" has the gameplay that is kid friendly and the controls - mostly. The controls were ported over from the Xbox leaving the navigation feeling clumsy. It's a small annoyance, one that's not big enough to keep someone who enjoys the gameplay from playing.

"Viva Pinata" is a whimsical game for young players and fans of life games, like "The Sims." My son asked to play more than once and loved watching me play and telling me what to do. "Viva Pinata" has passed the kid with no problems.