This week it's all about school, with a range of new content including a fresh goal set for your enjoyment. Here is the complete list, with it all becoming available at level 12...
Tables:
- Apple Table - 7,200 coins
- School Chair - 3,200 coins
- Paper Balloons - 5,400 coins
- School Flowers - 9,100 coins
- Teacher's Desk - locked by goal
- Coloring Corner - locked by goal
- Cafeteria Fun - locked by goal
- Chalkboard - 2,800 coins
- Primary Colors - 800 coins
- Cafeteria Oven - locked by goal
- Lunchbox Stove - locked by goal
- School Counter - 7,600 coins
The main headline coming from this update is that the goals cost coins. In some ways this isn't really news as it's just the same format as it always has been, but with the Bakery Story goals in July requiring several expensive gem buys there was grave concern that Restaurant Story might have its turn at a premium goal set. Fortunately that's not the case, and everyone can enjoy the new goodies.
This is actually the second time we've had a back to school theme in the game. The first such update was in August 2013, and was a small update which was pushed out on a Thursday. It remains the last normal update which wasn't released on a Wednesday, and was something of an afterthought since it came the day after a new goal set and featured only a few items.
This time the back to school theme is being given the full treatment, and you get a glimpse of most of the additions on the Storm8 Blog:
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| Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog |
There are three floor decorations shown, two of which are goal prizes. The Teacher's Desk is missing, although based on the tiny thumbnail in the market it looks like it could be a quality piece. The Coloring Corner and Cafeteria Fun I'm not so sure about, but I'll reserve judgement until the goals content report. For all the details on how to get hold of these as well as the two new appliances, take a look at my dedicated goals post here.
The School Flowers is freely available to purchase, and consists of a bouquet of glittering sunflowers on a white end table. I have no idea why there's a glint there, but overall this is a good decoration. Having a couple of flower heads lying on the table top ties the two components together well, and the end table is quite satisfying in its simplicity. The one thing I would say against it is this: what makes these flowers relevant to a school theme?! I don't get it, but it's a cool enough item that I'm happy to overlook that.
Moving to the wall decoration, and the Paper Balloons features an artwork with a house dangling from a bunch of balloons. Since most balloons are a little transparent I presume that it is meant to be tissue paper which this design is made from, although that texture isn't well executed as the colours are all solid. Nevertheless it's a cheerful addition.
The same can be said for the Apple Table and the School Chair. Their use of bright green and blue respectively is systematic of a school classroom, and if you mix and match between these and the Pencil Table and Pencil Chair of the earlier back to school update then there's potential for a cute layout. Having the table in the shape of an apple is innovative, and I can't help wondering why something similar wasn't done with the chair, which consequently looks a bit plain.
Staying with the colourful stuff, the Primary Colors floor tile is one of those which is split into four squares, each of a different colour. The inclusion of yellow in this flooring is factually dodgy since yellow is not a primary colour, but again it's a suitable item so I'm not too put off by its name. The stars add further childlike innocence, and leave me feeling that this tile would not only work for a school theme but also for any kids play area (which is at least something which is plausible in a restaurant!) Combine with the Foam Mats flooring from the kids playground update in January and you've got a really nice setting.
Now for the Chalkboard. No classroom is complete without one, and for us it comes in the form of a wallpaper. There's lots fitted in on this blackboard and in various different colours. What I find quite amusing is the contrasting levels of mathematics on show: in orange we have '1+1=2' while above that there's a diagram of a triangle with labelled vertices and Pythagoras' theorem - definitely not the work of a young child!
The last addition to comment upon for now is the School Counter. On first viewing I thought this counter was rather mundane, but a closer inspection reveals that the four yellow strips around the top are actually pencils. That certainly makes it more interesting, but I can't help but feel that overall this counter is little more than a large white block. It doesn't really make me think of school the way that most of the rest of the new content does.
Overall I do think the back to school theme is a winner. It's one which I've seen plenty of support for over the years and there's definitely enough potential stuff to merit its release in a goal week. I still think more could have been added as well (gymnasium equipment, the school bus, pupil's desks and so on) but this is still a decent effort.
As has become the norm, there's one last item on the agenda, and that's the Value Pack which was offered to iOS players last Friday for a limited time. Until now, I believe that the offer has been given to all iOS users who are using the most recent (and still fully bugged!) version of the game, but that changed with this Value Pack. Many players - myself included - didn't get the deal meaning that those grumpy Androiders out there have some company! Thanks to babyxdoll1 for posting the offer (UK version) on the Storm8 Forum.
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| Limited time Value Pack including coins, gems and Picnic Party |
We can't be sure of how the Value Pack was distributed, but I suspect it may be exclusive to those who have not previously made a real money purchase. This certainly adds up with me as I have bought gems before (just once) in the game, while I have never done so in Bakery Story, and low and behold I did get the offer in the sister game.
So what of the deal? Usually £3.99 only gets you 24 gems, so we're already in good shape with the 75 gems being offered here. The 15,000 coins are pretty irrelevant, but the Picnic Party was valued at 70 gems when it was on the market, so that makes this a really impressive pack. Indeed for once I'd actually describe it as a Value Pack! It's probably even better than the 75% off that is advertised. If you were thinking of buying gems anyway then this pack represented an excellent opportunity.
That's the bell ringing now, so I better return to class. I believe we're doing goals this afternoon...
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| Introduction to Back to school goals |
The school chairs may look plain, but they do look like chairs that you find in elementary schools. I wish they had the connected chair/desk thing too.
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