Game update: 05/08/15

The opening update of August is all about the tasty sandwich that is the panini.

You can access all of the new stuff from level 23. Here's the comprehensive list:

Tables:

• Panini Cafe Table - 9,000 coins

Chairs:

• Panini Cafe Chair - 4 gems

Wall decorations:

• Panini Sign - 7,200 coins

Floor decorations:

• Panini Piano - 24 gems
• Panini Corner - 30 gems
• Panini Case - 22,000 coins

Appliances:

• Panini Oven - 13,200 coins

The biggest talking point from this update is of course the lack of goals. Looking back, two of the last three goal updates have come on the second Wednesday of the month, with the exception being the Independence Day goals in July, which obviously needed to be on the first Wednesday to avoid arriving after the event had passed. So rather than climbing on to my soapbox and shaking my fist I'm going to accept that the goals may have a new schedule.

To this week's additions then, and we'll start with the Panini Oven. This appliance costs coins rather than gems, and thus continues a growing trend of alternating the currency required. In some ways this is a relief - it would be really sad if all non-goal cookers in the future were to come with a gem price tag - but clearly this is not the perfect scenario either. All appliances for coins is definitely a stance that the vast majority of the playing community hold, but remember that we had gone many months without any non-goal appliances being added at all. Something's better than nothing.

Anyway, the Panini Oven is a constructible cooker. You'll need 5 Mallets, 5 Iron Presses and 5 Masala Seals to put it together.

Iron Press

The Iron Press is pictured and highlighted in bold because it is a new part. The Mallet continues a run of regular appearances, while it's surprising to see the seemingly specialised Masala Seals reused so soon after the Indian update a fortnight ago.

Once you've got a Panini Oven built, you'll find three recipes on board.

Panini Oven recipes

Being a big fan of panini, I'm surprised to find myself unimpressed by the look of the dishes. They look quite plain really except for the various garnishes. Perhaps it's difficult to design a good-looking panini because it's really all about the mostly hidden filling.

Getting to some numbers, the Bacon Panini makes history! It is the first ever 13 hour recipe in Restaurant Story. Until now, the durations have gone up by increments of two from 10 hours onward, so this food really goes against the flow.

Since it's the only 13 hour offering out there there's nothing to compare it to, meaning I can't provide any recipe ratings for it. However we can still make some comparisons with the recipes of similar length. The Corned Beef Hash (Basic Stove) is the solitary 14 hour dish in the game, and the Bacon Panini tops it for all of profit, XP gain and portions, despite being an hour shorter.

Things are looking good. But what about when we compare with the 31 strong field of 12 hour duration? Then things are less exciting on the profit and portion front, although the panini still holds its own and rates about average. It's XP where it shines - the Farmers Market Salsa (Basic Oven) is the only 12 hour food which yields more, while the panini lands fourth place when we study XP per hour. So overall this is a good recipe statistically.

What of the other two candidates on the Panini Oven? We can use the traditional method of analysing via the recipe ratings here...

Caprese Panini
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	7	3	10	8	5.2

Artichoke Panini
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
5	7	4	10	8	6.1

The results are pleasing! The Caprese Panini is ranked 10th among 5 hour dishes with its power play being its XP which is the seventh best in the duration. Likewise the Artichoke Panini also does its damage through XP. By coincidence it also rates 10th in its duration for XP, although this time we're dealing with a larger pool of recipes so that number is all the more impressive.

A slightly better performance in the profit and portion factors allows the Artichoke Panini to score a 6.1 overall rating, which is pretty good. It still doesn't come close to challenging the might of the leaders in the bracket, but it is nice to get a new dish which has decent stats. They've been few and far between over the last 12 months, so we should be glad for anything half positive!

To the remainder of the goodies in this update, and you can get a good look at everything in the following image that was posted on the Storm8 Blog yesterday as a teaser:

Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog

Before we start the analysis, I should point out that the wallpaper shown above is the Coffee Print, the flooring is the Frontier Floor, and the counter is the Granite counter, none of which are new in this update.

Now I've got that housekeeping out of the way, let's feast our eyes on the Panini Corner. It's the most expensive item in this update, although the 30 gem asking price is not as high as some of the recent marquee additions. It's a 4x4 sized piece, and has so much going on. Where do I start?! The two bots are well designed - one has a pink bow in her hair and the other is carrying a tray of sandwiches, while both are sporting aprons. These two stand behind a counter covered in elements ranging from a cash till and tasty samples to a box of stationary and display cases. Then there's the long unit at the back which features more displays as well as a sizeable coffee machine. There are even cloths hanging from the edge of the counter.

This is a beautiful decoration, it really is. I don't have anywhere to place it right now, but do envisage investing in it next time I redecorate. I'll probably use it as an extension of my kitchen section in the same way as the Pizza Toss has been in the past. A sandwich shop could be a really cool section in my diner!

Next is the Panini Piano. Just about anything would be a come down after the Panini Corner, but this piano is particularly disappointing. It's not cheap at 24 gems, yet is only 2x2 and involves a cat tiptoeing over the keys of an arty piano. I have to agree with the thoughts posted on the Storm8 Forum by my fine neighbour Nibble and Noms - this is definitely reminiscent of a scene from The Aristocats (that's two Disney references in as many weeks!) The only link to panini is a large sandwich on a board atop the piano, and I'm left feeling that the game's developers were just desperate to wedge a piano into this update and couldn't think of any other way of doing it.

The last of the new floor decorations is the Panini Case which features a larger version of one of the glass display cases from the Panini Corner on an elegant end table. It's an item which exudes class and if you can find the right surrounding this is definitely worth purchasing. Its up for coins too which is obviously a bonus.

The Panini Sign is the one new wall decoration and leaves me rather lost, which is clearly not good for a sign! Its just too small to clearly make out what the picture on the sign is. If I hadn't known that panini were the subject of the update I'd have guessed we were looking at a yellowy dessert of some sort topped with a couple of cherries! So I'm going to decline this décor and move on.

The Panini Cafe Table and Panini Cafe Chair close out this update. Both have a generic quality to them which I like. I always favour tables and chairs which are applicable to many themes, and these two both pass in that regard. The wooden texture is well achieved and the simplicity of the design is sufficient for me. The downside is the heavy cost of the chair, but I could definitely be buying up the tables at some stage.

That's everything covered! With fewer floor decorations added, the lack of a counter, wallpaper or floor tile is more noticeable and leads to a less rich update. However you can make use of a wide selection of existing content to fill out a café theme, with the coffee themed update from January being particularly relevant.

There's just time for one more discussion point, and that comes in the form of another limited time Value Pack which was available for iOS users on the most recent version of the app over the weekend.

Limited time Value Pack including three Mighty appliances

This one included three appliances - the Mighty Stove, Mighty Oven and Mighty Grill - all for £14.99 (in the UK) which is equivalent to 105 gems. The mighty appliances combine the strengths of the Sonic and Forever variants in that they cook food 20% quicker and never spoil their contents.

This is the first time these three ultimate cookers have ever been released outside of a box. They're usually confided to the Magic Box where they are a shared first prize. In that respect this is a very good deal - three first prizes for sale together is pretty enticing stuff! And when you consider the equivalent gem price, it also seems quite good - essentially you're paying 35 gems for each first prize.

But then you have to think about what these cookers are actually achieving. Of course shorter cook times and the absence of flies is nice, but when you're only going to be getting this on three of your appliance bank, is it really that useful? If you cook the same recipe across all your cookers simultaneously then having one which is faster is more of a hindrance!

In conclusion this Value Pack isn't such good value after all. If there were six of each appliance included I'd have a very different opinion, but alas that's nothing more than a pipe dream. At least this Value Pack offered something a little different and edgy!

So all in all I'm pretty cheerful with this update despite the lack of goals, mostly thanks to an appliance for coins which includes a new recipe length, and a magnificent 4x4 floor decoration which isn't absurdly priced.