Simply Adorable

In Carrie the Caregiver, you play as a young woman fresh out of Nursing School. Before you can even hang up your diploma, you're accepted into Caregivers International and your adventure begins! Can you keep up with all the troublesome toddlers that come through your nursery room? Will the stress of dealing with the delicate ones finally get you? Only one way to find out!

The gameplay in this product operates in a similar manner to that of Diner Dash, expect that instead of seating customers and serving them food, you're laying down babies and feed them bottles. Oh, and you thought the dirty dishes were bad? Wait until you have to clean the dirty diapers.

Babysitting 101

As each baby comes in, you'll have to do a number of tasks to keep them happy. These tasks include heating and serving their bottles, burping them, washing their bottles, and finally changing and disposing of their stinky diapers. You'll need to make sure to keep your hands clean during the whole ordeal. In the bottom right corner of the screen, you'll see the sanitation meter. The lower the bar drops, the filthier your hands are. Get to the sink and wash them! Every so often a "delicate" baby will be brought into the nursery. If you care for one of these infants with your sanitation below 50%, the baby will get sick and you'll have to give them medicine.

It takes one heck of a caregiver to look after just one baby, so imagine what it must take to look after dozens! As you perform your nursing duties, you'll run out of energy. To keep your energy replenished, you can eat and drink various snacks that will be brought to you through the side door. We never see the face of this mysterious gift-giver, but bless them for all that they do!

Routine

The appeal in this game comes in the way that it progresses. Just as you get used to your routine (lay baby, get bottle, warm bottle, etc;), it throws something new your way. It took me a little while to get the steps memorized, and as soon as I thought everything was going good, the game introduced a storybook that I could read to the babies in order to keep them happy.

Things like this really add to the already hectic nature of the gameplay and really keep the mechanics from getting stale. The game is difficult enough to provide a worthwhile challenge but not so hard that it feels frustrating and cheap.

Caregiving Has Never Been This Much Fun

Carrie the Caregiver has absolutely everything going for it: a good premise, a lovable main character, and enough fun and replay value to last you for a good while. There are several levels, but even after you beat it, you'll find yourself coming back to get better scores. This is a game that is going last for a long while before getting old. This one is a keeper, it's as simple as that.