Game update: 12/10/16

Question: what is the most important meal of the day?

Notification for breakfast themed update

Answer: breakfast, especially when it come with pancakes!

This week's theme is indeed breakfast themed, with some particular focus on pancakes. There's a range of new content to celebrate what many would describe as the best meal of the day (not me, I'm more of a stay in bed until lunchtime kind of guy!) Everything is unlocked at level 26, so without any further ado here's the complete list of additions:

Tables:

• Pancake House Table - 6 gems

Chairs:

• Pancake House Chair - 20,000 coins

Wall decorations:

• Eat Sign - 19 gems
• Pancake Art - 19,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Coffee Cart - 20 gems
• Toppings Bar - 24 gems
• Milk Display - 5,900 coins

Wallpapers:

• Pancake House Wall - 14,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Pancake House Floor - 1 gem

Appliances:

• Skillet Stove - 39,000 coins

Counters:

• Pancake House Counter - 22,000 coins

This is one of those updates which I generally dislike. The theme is very specific and the game's developers have form for really shoehorning such themes into regular items. That means I go into this with real concern, but I'm certainly open to being pleasantly surprised! We'll start by pouring over the teaser posted on the Storm8 Blog yesterday:

Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog

The colour of pancakes is certainly reflected here, although it appears that the gamemakers haven't studiously stuck to such a palette, and have instead opted to also introduce some decor which related to breakfast as a whole rather than pancakes specifically.

The Coffee Cart is the perfect example of this. At 20 gems this piece is relatively expensive given that it is just 2x1 in size, but I can see it being mighty popular. A stall filled with coffee condiments, the sign showing the coffee bean hanging out on the right is a cute touch. I like the wooden finish and overall think this is a polished item. With the right characters around it (Barista Phoebe!) this could be a quality addition to your restaurant.

The Toppings Bar is also 2x1 yet weighs in at an even higher price - 24 gems. But again it's a beautifully constructed decoration, with so many components precisely combined to form a wide ranging table of toppings. And given that I can pick out banana, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries (others may spot more!) there's no doubt that lots of effort has gone into designing this one. My only slight issue is the yellow tablecloth which may restrict the settings in which this beautiful bar will fit. That's small fry though.

The last floor decoration added in this update is the Milk Display, which doesn't necessarily have to tie-in with a breakfast theme. Here we have classic bottles of milk stacked in a dark rack. I'm not sure what the purpose of the panel on the front of the rack is - if it's supposed to be a sign it's missing some writing! - but otherwise this is another success. I suspect many players will be plonking this rack down in their kitchen areas.

It's from here on in that we start getting pancake specific, although it's quite subtle. Take the Pancake House Table and Pancake House Chair which are related to pancakes only in colour. The table looks lovely with it's cloth draped over the top, especially with the frayed end. And I think the colours are intelligently chosen - it has become typical of Storm8 to go all garish at times but there's no evidence of that here. The same can be said of the chair, which also has an element of class about it courtesy of the patterned cushion.

The Pancake House Wall follows on from the table and chair in that there's nothing particularly 'pancake feeling' about it. White wooden panelling reaches around three quarters of the way up the wall, with the remainder a plain yellow. For me this is too much panelling, with many wall decorations not able to be placed effectively. So this wallpaper goes down as a good idea poorly executed.

Design-wise I've got nothing bad to say about the Pancake House Floor. In some ways I feel like this tile is actually filling a gap in the market since we do have plenty of floorboard tiles already, yet very few are light in tone. There's only really the Whitewash which is a rickety and deliberately rough and ready flooring. The problem is of course the gem price tag. One gem may not look all that formidable, but the costs of floor tiles can really spiral out of control quickly.

There's one other gem buy in this update I've not yet covered, with that being the Eat Sign. A wall decoration, this item displays the word 'EAT' with each letter emblazoned with tiny lights. It looks alright, but at 19 gems is daylight robbery. There are very few wall decorations that expensive, and I just can't justify the expenditure. There's got to be better ways of spending 19 gems (such as the Coffee Cart!)

From 19 gems to 19,000 coins, the Pancake Art is as 'pancakey' as it gets, with an image of a pancake pile smothered in some thick concoction (surely syrup) and topped with a slowly melting lump of butter. This takes me back to a road trip to the US a few years ago where at one stop this was exactly what we had for breakfast - a great way to kick off the day but not something I'd want to make a habit of! Anyway, the only time I could see myself utilising this frame is if I have the Chalk Menu out and want to put an image of one of the options next to it. Beyond that I can't really justify having a picture of pancakes in my diner.

The Pancake Counter returns us to a less black and white link to pancakes. In fact I'm not seeing the link at all with this counter, other than the title and the wooden colours on the sides. And on the subject of the sides, am I the only one who, at first, saw two wooden panels attached at random angles? After screwing my eyes up it turns out that they are tilted squares (diamonds if you like) which are forming a simple pattern. It's a rather unfortunate optical illusion (or maybe I'm just slightly losing it).

Last but not least we have the Skillet Stove. This is the first time since March that we've had new appliances added in successive non-goal updates! It's a significant moment in that sense, and leaves me really hopeful that new cookers outside of quests are returning to being a regular thing. Now we just need the occasional fresh recipe on the basic appliances and I'll be able to die a happy man.

When it comes to building the Skillet Stove, 6 Black Kettles, 6 Iron Presses and 4 Skillet Screws are needed.

Skillet Screw

The Skillet Screw is a new part which looks ridiculous. But on the plus side the Black Kettle and Iron Press are both coming in from the cold after long periods without being called for. The Black Kettle's last appearance was with the Turkey Cooker way back in November 2014! And the Iron Press may have been one of the most popular parts in the past, but hasn't popped up since the Honey Oven released with the bee goals in March. Following on from the Picnic Basket and Pastels last week, it's great to see these older parts brought back to the fore.

Homing in on the recipes, here's the three offerings on the Skillet Stove:

Skillet Stove recipes

Buttermilk is the order of the day! Best not come to The Garlic Tree for breakfast if you prefer a healthy lifestyle! The only point I want to make here is with regards to the Buttermilk Biscuits - they are not biscuits! As someone from the UK I like to think I'm something of an authority when it comes to biscuits, and I can tell you right now that what is featured here is a scone, not a biscuit! I'm feeling quite touchy about this, after all us Brits do like dipping biscuits in our cups of tea!

Now that the biscuit police has said its piece, let's peruse the recipe ratings for this trio of dishes:

Buttermilk Pancakes
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	1	5	7	8	3.8

Buttermilk Waffles
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
4	3	4	10	8	4.5

Buttermilk Biscuits
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
6	4	5	10	8	5.7

The most special thing for me about these recipes is that they are all statistically unique. I've been banging my head against the wall for so long when it comes to Storm8's copying of the numbers from existing foods that I've just about gone right through the wall, but at last I can rest my head.

The numbers are generally not very good mind you, with the Buttermilk Pancakes deserving of some special recognition. The 27 XP you receive for cooking this dish is the lowest ever offered by a 2 hour recipe. Bar none. It breaks a record held by the Reindeer Treat (Gift Box Stove) for nearly four years. It's a remarkable feat, if not one to be proud of!

And from one milestone to another. By my count 16 boxes have been offered at 50% off since the game's developers introduced such a sale earlier this year. And for the first time one is being discounted on a second occasion.

Notification for sale on Classic Kitchen

It is a testament to just how good the Classic Kitchen crate is that Storm8 have decided to provide another 50% off deal on it. It was at the beginning of March that this box first enjoyed a half price sale, and I can't bring myself to complain about history repeating itself.

For just about any other chest I would probably have a whinge about how many other boxes there are that have not yet experienced the 50% off treatment, but the Classic Kitchen is a special case. And that's despite me having already bagged most of the contents via the shortlived Classic Bundle when it was available.

This is one of the most coveted boxes the game has seen (perhaps even the most coveted) with every prize being nicely produced and perfect for a kitchen section. And as the prizes get bigger the quality increases too. The likes of the Chef Station and Ticket Station are among the most fancied in Restaurant Story, so I can't begrudge the opportunity for players who haven't got such items to get a shot at them.

I assume there will be a sizeable contingent of the playing population who are disappointed that this update didn't bring with it our first batch of brand new Halloween decor on the back of last week's magnificent sale. I'd certainly have felt the same way if it weren't for the high standard of this update. I think there are plenty of high quality decorations to be had, and of course there's the pull of a new appliance too. Add in the sale on a hugely popular box and this goes down as a very successful update.

That doesn't mean we don't want Halloween stuff anymore though Storm8! Given the current pattern I'm expecting goals next week, and I really hope we're going to see a return to the seriously spooky style that made the current sale items so beloved. Scare me Storm8!