Diner Dash: Hometown Hero is the fourth installment in the Diner Dash series of casual games. It was developed by PlayFirst and published by PlayFirst, KatGames, and Big Splash Games. it was launched on September 25, 2007. Diner Dash: Hometown Hero is a strategy game that simulates running a restaurant. It has an ESRB rating of E for everyone.
Flo returns to her hometown to visit her Grandma, Florence, only to find that the place has become a run-down ghost town. Flo decides to use her culinary skills to rejuvenate the town by improving the restaurants at all the formerly popular hangouts.
Gameplay involves seating customers as they enter the restaurant. One must drag and drop each group of customers to a table appropriate for their group size. Extra points are given for seating a customer in a chair that is the same color as the customer's clothing. Then, Flo must take their orders, send the order to the kitchen, deliver the food, give the group the check, and clean the table for new customers. There is hardly ever only one group of customers at a time, so the player must use time management in order to keep all of the customers happy. Each group of customers has a row of hearts at their table in order to show their mood. If the mood drops low enough, the customers will leave and you lose money. However, if the customers remain happy, they will stay and tip well. Each level has a money goal that one must reach in order to continue on to the next level. As the player moves from level to level, they are able to select new upgrades for the restaurant. New elements are also added such as spills or desert in different levels in order to make the game more challenging and interesting. The player also has the option of playing a "continuous shift" where there are no levels or story. You just continue to play to see how much money you can earn.
Source: Wikipedia, "Diner Dash: Hometown Hero", available under the CC-BY-SA License.