Given the overall theme of“Daycare Nightmare”, I was planning on posting this review closer to Halloween but it’s been kind of a slow week (with the mega launch of Halo 3 and all) so here ya go my little goons and goblins, enjoy.

Bru-ha-ha-ha!!

You ever see an unruly kid in the supermarket and think to yourself “Wow, that kid sure is a real monster!”

Of course, we don’t mean it literally just figuratively, but in the case of the children in “Daycare Nightmare” they're seriously monsters and this isn't an insult!

Vampires, ghosts, baby Cyclops, and fire-breathing dragons need TLC too you know. They also need feeding and changing, just like human kids.

The story centers around Molly, who unfortunately got “trapped” into running a daycare for little beasties. This is how it all began. One day a monster-mother pretending to be a human brought her child to the bakery where Molly worked. She got a call from work and said she had to leave her kid, when Molly declined she showed her true monster face and made Molly look after the little mutant threatening to eat her! Um, okay monster-mother-lady-thing now where did you say you keep his diapers?

Think “Carrie the Caregiver” meets the “Adams Family”.

The typical day starts at 8:00 am and ends at around 4:00 pm. To get through the 49 levels in the game, Molly must keep the little imps happy. These babies play (fight) together on the mat, demand to be fed, cry to be changed, whine for naps, and whatnot.

Your job? Carry the baby blobs from one spot to another. Throughout most of the game, you’ll find yourself running around with one baby in hand and switching his place with another baby, it seems like one of them always needs something.

One downside to mention-you can't chain actions! Given the time management aspect of this type of game it is odd that this gameplay strategy was omitted. It can get pretty chaotic at times when multiple babies want to be in the same spot all at the same time. For awhile it seemed like a frustrating lost cause that had me stuck on certain levels for way too long! At one point I wasn’t been able to get past a particular level for 2 whole days. I have found the best way to deal with this is to carefully pick your upgrades.

The faster you meet their needs the happier they get. The happier they are when their parents come, the more money you make in tips. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, don’t forget they are monsters which mean they can be very demanding. And oh, watch out they bite! If they are feeling cranky and ignored, a baby vampire can bite you and will slow down your moves. Angry dragon cubs when left without proper care will release fire and burn neighboring babes and damage your furniture.

Why you little @#%&!!

If the happiness meter falls below a certain point, then it's game over and who knows what happens to Molly.

Molly receives tips based on each beastie's happiness meter - the higher the happiness, the bigger the tip.

The daycare starts with a monster's little place but as you progress through the levels the houses soon change.

The change in scenery is not only nice and refreshing but it also ups the challenge since the diaper changing table, high chair, play mat and crib for naps change spots in each location.

For example, in one house, the crib might be in the left hand corner while in another it's in the right hand corner. When Molly sets up shop at Count Vlad's castle, the crib is a crypt. You can buy upgrades from the shop in between levels from the cash you earned. Horrible stuff like human-eye lollipops, dragon-skin diapers, blankets made out of human hair and other awful stuff, in later levels they are a big help though.

The game's controls are a horror at times, which puts Molly in danger. Usually, the best way to move a monster is to swap it with another. On occasion, the game doesn't recognize the click so the swap isn't made and since I'm moving quickly, I don't realize that Molly is still holding the complaining beast.

While it has a cute theme the game lacked charm for some reason. I know it’s a story about ghouls and all but it still felt cold and a little dead at times.

Sure monsters need love too, but “Daycare Nightmare” very often felt more like a nightmare than a dream come true.