Suggestions Box (Jun 2015)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

 #106: Allow market items to be 'favourited'

This idea is based on a comment Fat Bear made on my wall in-game. I've discussed lots of ways to make the ever expanding market easier to navigate, and this is another. The game's developers should consider allowing us to 'favourite' a selection of items which are then easier to access than at present.

Whether this comes in the form of a new tab of favourites or the décor is simply fixed to the start of the relevant tab, it could make for a much less finger numbing experience since it would provide a solution to the problem of placing a removed item, which sends you back to the start of the tab. I've voiced my concerns about this unnecessary bug before, and this would be a way around it - you could 'sticky' a well used decoration to the start of the tab which would prevent the jump.

And having redecorated earlier this week, this feature would make redecorating less strenuous. I lost count of the number of times that I had to tap through the floor decorations tab for the Fancy Wood Divider because I needed another one. Keeping it at the front would be bliss!

 #107: Show wall and news feed when logging in

At present when you log into the game it's only a limited version of the Messages window which appears, consisting of pending gifts and part requests. The news feed does not appear at the bottom of this window (as it does when accessed via the menu) nor does your wall.

Messages window at log in (prior to latest iOS app update)

I'd like to have access to all of this when the game first loads up. I'm happy to admit that awaiting gifts and outstanding requests are more important than seeing who has visited recently and what they've had to say, but that doesn't mean they're not important enough to see at the outset.

This would be particularly useful when you're only logging in for a short time specifically to check for correspondence. Having to deal with the gifts and requests screen and then tap on the Main Menu and Messages buttons to access your wall and news feed is unnecessary. God I'm lazy!

 #108: Make restaurant dimensions square

Since the two new expansions were introduced I've noticed a good few players requesting that Storm8 change the dimensions of the restaurant to make it square. The uneven lengths of the two walled sides hasn't often annoyed me personally, but there have been one or two occasions when it would have been of benefit.

 Previous Suggestion Box posts

 25/05/15 May 2015
 25/04/15 April 2015
 28/03/15 March 2015
 21/02/15 February 2015
 24/01/15 January 2015

And there are quite a few out there who have a touch of OCD and would really appreciate the ability to produce a completely symmetric diner. With the current dimensions this is impossible.

Of course to square off our restaurants would require a decision from the gamemakers - do you add a couple of extra strips of floor for free or do you remove a couple?! Clearly the latter is undesirable, and indeed isn't really implementable as it could mean players losing content they've got placed on the removed floor!

 #109: Allow appliances to be used as décor

There have been a few occasions when we've had a new appliance added and I've thought it looks good enough to use as a floor decoration. But only once have I ever actually done that, with the Confection Lab for Halloween last year.

Laboratory section of The Garlic Tree at Halloween 2014

The reason I don't do it more is because it means sacrificing an appliance slot. Without spending gems you can only access 18 cookers at any one time, so leaving some aside for decorating will make for less productivity.

So I'm calling on Storm8 to introduce a feature which allows an appliance to be converted into a floor decoration, thus relinquishing its status as an appliance in use. This would really add an extra dimension to the game since there are have been many nice appliances on the market over the years. The Fire Pit Grill, Sushi Counter and Fruit Bar all stand out as fine candidates for 'decorationifying'.

 #110: Add proper booth chairs

Here's a long term gripe. There is so much excellent stuff out there for the retro diner theme, yet the game's developers have still never managed to add a proper booth chair. I'm talking here about a chair which, when two are placed side-by-side, combine into one long seat.

To date the Diner chair and Booth Chair are the only attempts at a proper booth, and both are woefully short. Each of them is too narrow, meaning that when placed adjacently there's a gap.

So I'm asking Storm8 to come up with a booth seat which actually passes my thorough test! It shouldn't be too hard - they only need to widen the two aforementioned chairs and all will be well!