Game update: 16/12/15

We're now nine days out from Christmas, and this week's update provides another opportunity to prepare your restaurant for the most important service of the year.

Notification for Holiday Crate

The solitary addition this week is the Holiday Crate, which costs 24 gems. You know the drill by now - upon opening this box you will receive one of a number of possible prizes. They are of varying quality, with the biggest and best of the decorations the most difficult to obtain.

I was anticipating a box, but of course couldn't be sure right up until the update was pushed through because of the absence of a teaser. This is the third time in recent months that Storm8 have dropped the ball in failing to offer a glimpse of what is coming, not just in Restaurant Story but across all their games where teasers are a thing.

Because of the fact that it's not just Restaurant Story that suffers when a teaser is non-existent, I'm not going to join the dots and claim that this is evidence that the game is on the way out. But nevertheless it is disappointing not to get that preview on a Tuesday evening. Teasers are certainly not the be all and end all, but they do add an extra dimension to the discussions between the players, both within the game and on the Storm8 Forum.

So without a teaser we're dancing in the dark with this new crate. The notification above shows four of the prizes, and confirms that a giant item called Park Lights is the first prize. Some detective work which has included a very insightful trip to Maxblue has yielded the content, and so we have a distribution list as follows:

First Prize (1% chance)

• Park Lights

Second Prize (10% chance)

• Let's Decorate
• Tangled Elves

Third Prize (35% chance)

• Flying Santa
• Light Dancer

Fourth Prize (54% chance)

• Sparkling Tree
• Light-Up Divider
• Ugly Sweater
• Light Up Penguin

Thanks to Rubys Palace for giving a proper name to the Let's Decorate.

Looking at the content, my initial thought upon seeing the pop-up was very much on the positive side, which is very unusual for a box. But a closer inspection leaves me with some real concerns. Firstly, the Park Lights looks somewhat ridiculous. The premise of a park scene at Christmas with lights and ornaments hanging from the trees is excellent. But the decision to have those trees looking lush and green is bonkers! I understand that it's not Summer everywhere in the world, but I am programmed to wintry Christmases, and this just looks wrong. It's a real shame because the decorations on the trees look really nice and the bots getting their photo taken are cute, but it's all just too green. We need snow!

My next big issue is with the Let's Decorate, which is the prize shown on the bottom left in the notification. This seemingly large item features four bots all enjoying themselves in the lounge, complete with a really well designed Christmas tree. All seems well, except that the Holiday Party which was added two weeks ago has exactly the same premise!

Okay there are slight differences but the two decorations are closely related. Why would you risk so many gems to get a piece when such a similar one can be bought for only 22 gems in the market?! I suppose having both means you can create a layout where there are multiple households enjoying the festive season, but for me that doesn't justify the rehash.

The item next to this plagiarist in the notification window is the Flying Santa. I've seen this decoration, and it is 3x3 in size which is good. And a Santa in his sleigh being led by the reindeer is something which has been missing from the game for a long time, so it's pleasing to finally see it added. The inclusion of fairy lights on the reins is clever, and for some reason I really like the smarmy expression on the faces of the two reindeer!

 Christmas 2015

 15/12/15 Goals content report
 09/12/15 Goals
 09/12/15 Goals update
 02/12/15 Initial update

Moving down the rarity levels, and the Light Dancer is a shocking third prize. It's a 1x1 item, with a girl draped in lights taking up an artistic position. If she were a fourth prize I may not complain much, but for a third prize this really is insufficient.

The fourth prizes don't exactly light my fire either, with the Ugly Sweater and Light-Up Divider being particularly poor. This isn't the first time a divider has been included in a box, and I cannot fathom why - do the gamemakers really think players will open a box tens of times in a bid to accumulate enough dividers to build a proper fence?!

Despite my displeasure, the Light Up Penguin does look the part, and fits really well with the light blue themes of some of the existing Winter content, especially the Frosty Feast goal prize from last week's goals. It obviously isn't worth the 24 gem investment, but since when was any fourth prize worth paying that amount for?

All in all this isn't the brilliant Christmas crate I had hoped for. The Flying Santa is probably the only prize that appeals to me, and that means I most certainly won't be pulling the trigger and parting with gems.

Since Christmas is next Friday, this coming Friday may present the last opportunity for Storm8 to re-release some of the past Christmas content in a special sale. Alternatively it could be that next week's update consists of a major re-release. I'm certainly not optimistic though, and will instead settle for the arrangement of festive décor in my place right now. With four Christmases under my belt this isn't the end of the world for me, but I know many newer players are begging for a sale. Come on Storm8 - bring some smiles to the faces of your loyal fanbase!