Game update: 26/02/14

Time to disco! This week the game update is all about partying like it's the 70s!

Notification for Disco/1970s themed update

Let's get right on it, with a list of all the new content:

Tables:

• Flower Power - 3 gems

Chairs:

• Furry - 24,000 coins

Wall decorations:

• Disco Ball - 11 gems

Floor decorations:

• Disco Cake - 14 gems
• Disco Party - 38 gems (LTO)

Wallpapers:

• Peace Sign - 28,000 coins

Counters:

• Bean Bag - 50,000 coins

There's also a new recipe on the Basic Stove. More on it in a moment.

There are obviously a couple of the new items which don't really land in the disco theme. The Furry chair is the next step up from the Fur chair released last week. Costing more than three times as much, this new chair is among the more expensive and is yet another leftover from winter which the game's developers decided to just release after the event.

The Flower Power table is another piece which may look out of place in this update. However some research has informed me that 'flower power' was a slogan commonly used at the time of the Vietnam War by those opposing it. This was around the time that the disco genre rose to prominence, so there's your link! Likewise, the peace symbol was widely used at that time, so that's why the Peace Sign wallpaper is in this update.

You may be noticing that so far I haven't discussed any disco themed content. I think it's pretty clear that this update is actually revolving around the 1970s rather than disco in particular. This is backed up by the Bean Bag counter. Again this isn't a disco related item, but bean bags did hit shops in the 70s, so again it looks like this week's update is focusing on that decade. The 50,000 coin asking price for the Bean Bag makes it the tied fourth most expensive counter in the game. I just wonder why it wasn't released as a chair? That is what it is after all - you wouldn't balance a thousand portions of Oysters on it in real life!

Now moving on to the disco stuff, we start with the limited time offer.

Disco Party limited time offer

The Disco Party is 4x4 in size. Here's a closer look:

Preview of Disco Party

I think this is one of the better LTOs. The strobes are well designed, and the characters are all well positioned in various dance moves. At 38 gems, it is worth thinking about. If you bought the New Year Party a couple of months back then you might be inclined to add this to your collection as they make a nice pairing. And New Year at your restaurant would be a blast!

The Disco Cake doesn't light my fire. It's quite small for 14 gems investment and also a bit dull looking. I'd have expected it to be bright and wacky like the Disco Party. Lastly the Disco Ball is a wall decoration which looks great. There's a glow to it which really helps convey that sparkle. It's just a shame there's no way of hanging it from the ceiling rather than the wall - a new tab in the market is needed me thinks!

The new recipe on the Basic Stove (initially positioned third in the list) is Disco Fries:

New recipe on Basic Stove

Maybe it's just because I'm not one to eat on a night out and feel physically sick when I see others doing so (chips and cheese at 2am!), but these fries look disgusting.

But I dare not complain because the statistics for this 2 hour dish are good. It's the first time in a while that we've had a favourable review for a recipe, so savour it! The XP gain is the highlight, with the 78 XP being far and away the best in the duration ahead of the NY Strip Steak (Basic Grill) with 51 XP. It doesn't set a record for portions or profit, but does rank well above average.

Looking closely at the XP yield, I'm actually concerned that there may be an error. Dividing through by two gives us a ratio of 39 XP per hour, which is the highest of any recipe past or present that takes more than an hour to prepare. In fact the next best across all recipes of duration greater than one hour is the NY Strip Steak, which as already stated is far inferior.

So if you're able to visit your diner regularly throughout the day (i.e. every 2 hours) but not able to attend continually (i.e. every 2 minutes to reel off a mountain of French Toast) then the fries are the perfect recipe to cook if you want to gain lots of XP. Of course you will lose out a bit through the night, so I suggest plugging the gap with some 7 hour Flower Salad (Basic Stove) or 8 hour Escargots with Lamb (Basic Grill) to further your XP growth.

That concludes the analysis of this week's update, which came with a brief history lesson, a deciphering of the actual theme of the update, and a real reason to boogie with an outstanding XP recipe.