Secret Diaries – Royal Wedding

The second installment of GameHouse’s Secret Diaries time management series is set in the same universe as its predecessor, Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor, but centers its story around a different character, while also preserving the main cast from the first game. Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor tells the story of Jane Ashford coming to Red Orchard to find a husband before the end of the season to fulfill the terms of her uncle’s will and thus receive her promised inheritance, but eventually finding love instead and giving up on everything else.

Secret Diaries – Royal Wedding is told from the perspective of Emily (to not be confused with the Emily from the Delicious series) – Jane’s maid who she befriends in the first game because of their similar backgrounds and dreams. Emily is tasked with dealing with all the issues that come up during the preparation of Jane’s wedding, while also trying to find her place in high society. As Jane’s maid, she is treated by the majority of the guests as an errand girl, but as a close friend of Jane, she expects to be asked to be her bridesmaid, which might not be appropriate due to her commoner status. The obstacles she encounters are made even more difficult due to her not being in a position of power, thus not being taken seriously or in any way as a priority. Compared to other GameHouse games, the inner struggles of the protagonist seem intensified and more clearly fleshed out. But, as it is still a GameHouse game, the story maintains a constant heartwarming vibe and soon enough Emily receives some well-deserved support from two kind characters and also falls in love.

In regards to the gameplay, Secret Diaries – Royal Wedding has the exact same mechanics as any other GameHouse game. You’ll play as different characters, fulfilling customers’ orders and billing them. However, the gameplay seems to be comparatively easier than other similar games, both in regards to how many orders you’ll have to deliver in each level (the “rush” factor), as well as how comfortable your pathing is. More so, only one of the locations (in fact, only some levels from that location) contains a dish that requires timed preparation, while in other games there is usually at least one (often two) of these in each location. The “Normal” mode here plays like the “Easy” mode in similar games, which makes Secret Diaries – Royal Wedding a very relaxing experience. The achievements are also designed so that they can be obtained in a single playthrough without having to replay any level (to reach a certain number of minigames completed in one location, for example), as long as you make sure to find the mouse in each level, complete the level objectives and get the 3-stars score.

If you haven’t played any GameHouse games before, Secret Diaries – Royal Wedding would be a good introduction to the franchise due to it being easier than others. You won’t need to have played Secret Diaries: Manage a Manor beforehand; although the stories of the two games connect, they can be experienced individually from each other, and in the second game you’ll get the plot from the first game explained anyway, as a refresher.