Game update: 04/02/15

Update night is date night in Restaurant Story as we install some romance ahead of Valentine's Day!

Everything in the update is unlocked at level 12, including a new set of goals which need to be worked on to gain access to some of the content. Here's the list of all the additions:

Tables:

• Romantic Dinner Table - 8,000 coins

Chairs:

• Romantic Dinner Chair - 4,000 coins

Wall decorations:

• Candle Holder - 6,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Romantic Divider - locked by goal
• Romantic Lounge - locked by goal
• Romantic Pond - locked by goal

Wallpapers:

• Modern Romance - 3,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Rose Petals - 1,000 coins

Appliances:

• Romantic Stove - 20,000 coins
• Love Potion Maker - 25,000 coins

Counters:

• Romantic Countertop - 8,000 coins

Boxes:

• Classic Bundle* - 80 gems

(*) This is not actually a box, although is listed in the boxes tab.

So in a surprise twist, the two appliances are both unlocked from the outset. I reckon this is a first - we have seen the first appliance without a padlock from the start before, but certainly not the second. I do suspect this is a mistake on TeamLava's part and that each appliance will be locked by goal before long, so buy them up while you can!

This is particularly useful because there are two new parts on the go.

New parts required for goal appliances

The Heart Knob is used in both of the new machines while the Glass Heart is utilised only for the second appliance, the Love Potion Maker. So as it stands you can stockpile Glass Hearts while you're still working through the goals leading up to the point where you need to build the Love Potion Maker. Then when the relevant goals appear, you can be better prepared!

Introduction to goals

For much more detail on the goals, take a look at my dedicated post here.

For a glimpse of the goodies in store as you proceed through the quest, check out this image offered by the TeamLava Blog:

Items from update as shown on TeamLava Blog

As usual I'll get deeper on the goal items including the new recipes in a goals content report once I've obtained them, but at a glance the Romantic Lounge (presumably the final prize) is a cracker. It appears to be 4x4 and although it has two sides, they aren't completely solid and thus blocking the view of what is behind. Therefore you are less restricted when it comes to placing it. And with the Romantic Pond (not shown above) too, I'm envisaging a really peaceful setting in my outdoor section this Valentine's!

Moving to the readily available content, the Romantic Dinner Table seems to match the pond very nicely. The rose petals scattered on the tablecloth remind me of the recently removed Fall Leaves Table, which was also a hit.

To go with the table there's the Romantic Dinner Chair. I can't quite decide if the two work together that well, but in isolation the chair does impress me. The red cushioning and curly frame make it quite a fancy seat which you'd expect to see in a classy restaurant. And it's flexible too - a Valentine's Day theme isn't necessary to use it. A real nod of appreciation from me on this one.

For stacking your romantic meals there's the Romantic Countertop. The gamemakers can't help but get some glass in there, with a heart-shaped arrangement of rose petals contained within. Of course when you place food on this counter you lose the design on top and are left with what's on the sides. Sadly the sides aren't so attractive, with bland white panelling.

And that panelling is replicated on the Modern Romance wallpaper as a wainscot. It looks much more at home here - I do like the use of panelling on wallpapers to add a little more detail, and that certainly is achieved with the Modern Romance. My only niggle comes with the pattern appearing on the red area - there's nothing wrong with its design, but I'd like to see it being more distinctive from the background tone as currently it is almost lost to the background.

To add extra ambience via your walls, you can hang up a Candle Holder. Like with the chair, the spirals emanate elegance and the general simplicity of the candle itself is satisfying. There's nothing too silly going on, and that is very much welcomed. Sometimes less is more.

Lastly there's the Rose Petals floor tile. There's a similarity with the Romantic Dinner Table here, with the petals scattered on a white surface. I'm not so enthused with this piece though - when placed in bulk (as in the blog picture) the white becomes somewhat overpowering. Considering the refined and stylish nature of much of the rest of the content the starkness of this tile is off-putting.

Nevertheless, it is overall a very strong update in my view. And with the range of Valentine's stuff already in the market from previous years, there's lots of things you could do to ensure the bots enjoy the perfect date night. I had held off on buying any of the limited time gem decorations until the goals update in case there were major treats to be had. It turns out that was a good tactic! I don't think I'll be spending any gems this Valentine's simply because there's so much to work with for coins - I'll save my restricted gem fund for more difficult times.

On the subject of those limited items, there are no further removals have been announced this week. In addition to being great news for me (in particular for my fingers!) this is probably an indication that the Valentine's removals picked out last week will be the only ones.

There is one more feature up for discussion though. On the day that the Solid Gold Coffee Bean collection was removed for good, we've got a new element called 'item bundles'. For now at least this feature is only available for players on iOS devices, with an app update to 1.7.5 required.

Introduction to item bundles

So what is an item bundle? Located at the end of the boxes tab, a bundle comes at a premium gem price and gives you a range of items from all the categories and which are linked by some theme. And most importantly, there's no luck involved. You can see exactly the decorations and quantities you're getting for your investment, and there are some box items even included! For more details on this exciting new feature, head on over to the TeamLava Forum.

The first bundle on offer is the Classic Bundle, which includes 10 distinct items.

Classic Bundle

So this bundle contains some of the realistic décor which I have championed so much over the years! Impressively there are six of the prizes from the Classic Kitchen box included - three fourth prizes (two of which are the same), two third prizes and a second prize - and it's all available for 80 gems.

Is it worth it? It is! The box content alone would set you back at least 144 gems if you were to obtain it via the traditional box method, and that assumes you get very lucky with your dips. The rest of the bundle's treats total 25 gems and 11,000 coins, meaning to shop around the market for these pieces would almost certainly cost you more than double the bundle price!

It's an amazing opportunity to get some quality items for a serious discount. The only obvious problem is accruing the 80 gems to actually buy the bundle. Even with my scrimping I'm a bit short although I've got enough recipes at 'mastery minus one' to make the asking price if I want to. For many others it won't be that easy, and no doubt that's what the game's developers will be preying on. This is a really alluring offer, and I can imagine a significant pool of players caving in and spending real money to get the gems they need. At last TeamLava have come up with a concept which is a sales winner!

And at least for now there is no time restrictions in place for this bundle - it is not an LTO. The only constraint is that you can only buy it the once. So I can take some time to really ponder whether it's a wise move to rip a hole in my gem bag! Maybe by the time I make my call another bundle will be along which is even more enticing!

I'm not sure why this update hasn't arrived for Android players yet. As mentioned it has come with an app update on iOS so perhaps it's just a case of waiting for the next app update on Android. I can't see how implementing the feature itself on Android is any more of a problem than on iOS, so presumably the issue lies with the need to update the app.

Whether or not you're going to be spending Valentine's Day as a singleton, this update ensures that either way you'll be very happy! Some really nifty Valentine's content, a fresh collection of goals and a great new feature which actually provides the players with a deal which can save them gems! I love it!