Game update: 17/09/14

Ever wanted to design a really cool kitchen area in your restaurant? Now you can!

Notification for latest update

This week's update is all about a box - the Classic Kitchen to be precise - which contains a variety of kitchen themed content. It costs 24 gems to buy the box, but there are some terrific items to win. Remember that purchasing the box only results in the awarding of one item at random, with the bigger and better pieces the most difficult to obtain.

The TeamLava Blog has got a picture with all the Classic Kitchen's goodies:

Items from Classic Kitchen as shown on TeamLava Blog

I've added numbers to the image, so that you can match them up with the following distribution list, most of which is yet to be certified:

First Prize (1% chance)

• Chef's Station (1)

Second Prize (10% chance)

• Prep Station (2)
• Ticket Station (3)

Third Prize (35% chance)

• Culinary Artist (4)
• Dishwasher (5)

Fourth Prize (54% chance)

• Classic Chef (6)
• Industrial Fridge (7)
• Pie Rack (8)
• Pots and Pans (9)

Some of the item names above are placeholders as I'm still waiting for the actual titles. If you are tempted into opening the box and can verify any distribution positions or names do feel free to leave a comment. I'm particularly unsure about some of the third and fourth prizes - there could quite easily be an error so don't take my estimate as gospel!

So what do I think of this box? Well, the main feeling I'm experiencing is bemusement. And that's because I was actually going to call for this exact update in this weekend's Suggestions Box! I swear on Action Chef Lee's locks that this was the exact spiel I was going to write:

A little while back in Bakery Story there was a new box called the Basic Baker's Crate introduced which included a variety of items all in the theme of a kitchen. This box was received with critical acclaim across the playing fraternity, with a lot of players spending real money for the gems to have several dips into it.

I'd love to see something similar in Restaurant Story. I've already got a kitchen area on the go, and with the recent addition of the Pizza Toss it is looking swell. But a 'Culinary Crate' with a heavy duty oven, sink, fridge, dishwasher and a cook would be great for allowing me to design an original kitchen zone to my own tastes. And I believe it would go down just as well all over as the Basic Baker's Crate did. Think of the in-app purchases TeamLava!

Well there you have it - TeamLava aren't just reading my published posts, they're also reading my drafts!

In all seriousness, this looks to be an excellent box, or a classic box if you will. The most pleasing aspect of it is the quality of the lower prizes. There's not a really weak prize in there, although I would say that the Fridge is a little dull, and certainly not worthy of a 24 gem investment.

The only other downer lands with the two second prizes. Both the Prep Station and Ticket Station include multiple cooks, but for some reason they are smaller than the normal figures. This makes it look like a scene from a school cooking class, which is not the angle I'm looking for! It would be great if the game's developers could scale up the chefs to the same size as usual.

Update: It turns out the cooks are the normal size after all! Click here for an image which shows the true scale of the kitchen staff.

Other than this, there are quite literally no faults with this update. Unsurprisingly it's another update focused on actual restaurant content that has me tingling with excitement. The Chef Station is unsurprisingly a beautiful first prize, with three chefs overseeing a variety of jobs on a massive counter. There's three hobs each with different delicacies simmering away, a sink, a salad drawer, a deep fryer and space for chopping up ingredients. Even one of the sides has numerous drawers and knobs. I love the recent Pizza Toss goal prize, but this piece tops it. I'd go as far as to say that it's actually one of the best items I have ever seen in the game.

Looking past the infant cooks, the Serving Station is lovely. TeamLava could quite easily have just stuck with the pass (I love the little tickets with orders!) but they've gone one step further and included two more chefs taking a look at a dish before it is served up. And the Prep Station is also a great addition, with the two chefs both hard at work.

And the remaining prizes are nice too. The Dishwasher is substantial for a third prize, and will fit snugly alongside your appliances. I even like how the bloke scrubbing away has his mouth open as if he's panting from the strain! Not sure the Culinary Artist should have her mouth open, but if that's what she needs to do to concentrate then so be it! It's a cool piece, and conveys some classiness which I like to think is associated with The Garlic Tree...

The Pie Rack is straight out of the Basic Baker's Crate in Bakery Story, but still works in Restaurant Story. The only issue I have is that it has an elegant feel due to the curly frame, and this isn't replicated by the rest of the items. This makes the Pie Rack stand out for me, but if you're only opening the box once or twice then it's no big deal.

The Classic Chef and Pots and Pans may not be worth 24 gems, but I wouldn't exactly be distraught to get either of them. Each is just the kind of decoration you'd want to use in a kitchen section. The same applies to the Fridge, although it's bland appearance does make it less appealing. Yet on the flip-side, it is 2x1 in size which is very rare for a fourth prize. The same applies to the Pie Rack.

So I'm delighted by this update. It seems to be one good, one bad at the moment, although this one is a real highlight. It's a shame that the gamemakers don't open up the boxes for the first few days - I'd be all over it! Instead I'm grudgingly turning my back on it, with deep hopes of some of the stuff being available on Black Friday. If we weren't at this stage of the year I'd probably have taken the plunge, but am determined to remain in gem lockdown at least until the Halloween updates commence.

The quality of this update is such that I'm not even disappointed at the continuing lack of Autumn content. Hopefully that will come next week, but regardless I've redecorated my outdoor zone for the new season:

Autumn section of The Garlic Tree

The Cider Bar is obviously the centrepiece, and I'd like to add one or two more major decorations this year. However that would require lots of gems, and I've claimed to be in lockdown!