In this hectic world we live in, many times work and appointments must come before the fun and joys in our lives, including that of getting to play videogames whenever we want. Gone are the days when we could fire up a game of our choice and spend hours toiling away – now we seem to game in stolen moments here and there. With that in mind, perhaps it is no wonder that casual games have become such a popular gaming choice (especially with women who make up the vast majority of casual game players), as casual games allow us to either jump in and get those quick fixes of gaming bliss or either play them for as long as we want when we do have the time. In honor of the casual game, we'll be bringing you a new Casual Game of the Week every Monday to help you find that fix you might be needing in your life, and this week we have: Burger Rush.

I'm somewhat of a connoisseur when it comes to burgers, though I'm very particular in how I want it – buns, meat, cheese, and ketchup. No lettuce. No onion. No tomato. No none of that stuff. The big restaurants of McDonalds, Burger King, and Wendy's all have their own style and taste, and I refuse to rank them in order, given I can enjoy one over the other on any specific given day. So with my love of burgers in check, I was ready to delve into this week's Casual Game of the Week in the form of Burger Rush.

In Burger Rush you play as Heidi, a young woman who wants to take her love for burgers and spread the word across the world, showing others that burgers aren't simply fast food, and can really be quite high cuisine. You start off with nothing more than a little place to call your own, but by exceeding and doing well each day and meeting your quota of money, you'll find yourself with bigger and better places.

The gameplay of Burger Rush is setup like a mixture of Diner Dash and Bejeweled, with perhaps a more leaning towards the Bejeweled side of things. The way things go is that the main board has different icon images arranged in rows, with the icons representing that of ingredients that go on a burger. You've got the burger patty itself, lettuce, ketchup, cheese, and other ingredients as you go along. You'll make money off customers, who will come in wanting specific burgers, such as one with just the meet and cheese. In an order tray on the right hand side, you'll see the icons of the objects you need, with a specific number beside them as well. In order for that burger to have the necessary ingredients, you must make enough three or more up and down or left and right matches to subtract from that total. Once the burger is complete, you click on it, and then you collect the money from the patron, and start with the next one.

Like all puzzle games, things start off small and easy, but gradually work their way to more and more difficulties. When you only have a few ingredients on the boards, matches happen easily without much need for planning. However, unlock recipes for burgers with lettuce and tomato, and suddenly you might find yourself unable to quickly matchup some ketchups because there are too many other pieces on the board of other things. Another dilemma comes in frozen food, which act as immovable blocks that you can only gain points towards the burgers by matching up with it (the problem is you can't move the frozen food, so to thaw it requires luck or skill to have pieces fall into place so you can have them count towards a burger). But you'll have some help and dealing with new problems as they come up, such as microwaves, which can take a whole row out depending on where you trade it out, and all those pieces will count towards your burgers.

In order to beat each day (level in other words) you need to make a certain amount of money. Early on, quickly making matches and getting patrons in and out is all that you'll need, but you'll have to use tokens you collect to upgrade to give yourself an easier time with things. For example, by making matches, you'll build up such upgrades as the soda machine and fry machine, and if you add those to a burger order, you'll make more money, so you want to get those out as quick as possible. The problem is the machines take several matches to build up, and even then it happens slowly, so a good idea would be to use your tokens to upgrade the quickness and less matches you need to make to be able to use said items. You can also upgrade their flavor, which gets you more money too. You'll also use your tokens to purchase newer burger recipes, which will net you higher money.

Of course, your patrons aren't the most patient people in the world, so though they might be willing to pay you a given amount to start with for a burger, the longer you take to make it the less and less money they'll eventually give you; their patience is represented by a counting down health meter-esque bar. At least you have counter treats like candy and pie that you can give to them, and doing so will increase their meter so they'll wait longer. Getting the maximum amount for your burger and serving as many people as you can is the key to meeting the needed amount of money each day, or even helping you surpass the expert level of cash.

Burger Rush is a really fun game, which you can play in stops and spurts if you want, because no day takes really long to complete, so you can dial in a few days, upgrade, and go about your daily business if you so choose. The matching mechanics come easily and naturally, and the difficultly level never comes on too quick, as the gradual crawl into new problems means you'll never feel hopeless as you try to make your money for the day. And though it is a pleasing game to play, don't think it's smooth sailing, because you will need some quick reflexes and dexterous eyes to see what you need to make a burger, quickly scour the board to find the items, and then figure out the best way to get them. The action is fast, and you will find yourself racing and your heart beating a little faster when you are getting down to the wire and you aren't sure if you'll be able to make enough money.

The graphics are nicely pleasing, as the main board and upgrade menu are easy to understand and never complicated, and the item representations are simple and easy to figure out. The boards are also really colorful, with some nicely drawn customers waiting in the wings for their food. The sizzling noise of burgers and cash machine chings of making item matches sound good, as does the little thank you comments from the patrons.

The only downfall of Burger Rush – and it's a major one in our opinion – is that there is only one mode, which isn't enough for this game. The only mode in question is the Story Mode, which has you playing as Heidi as you go through the levels. Now, there are a good bit of levels to keep you busy, but after that there isn't any other modes, and you'll have to do Story Mode over again. Based on gameplay, it doesn't seem as if it would've been that hard to add a never ending mode or an arcade mode of sorts, but sadly none of that is here. Heck, and though not a fan of the time attack modes, even that would've been preferable over nothing else.

Despite the one glaring flaw, Burger Rush is still a top-notch casual game and one that should find a large audience with a lot of players. The gameplay is of the "match three" type that everyone seems familiar with these days, but the added elements to the formula make it more unique and interesting than just an average "match three" game. My only word of caution is that you should go ahead and prepare to be hungry while playing the game, as you'll be craving your own preferred burger as you mix and match the pieces.

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