Black Friday 2016 analysis

Black Friday landed in Restaurant Story yesterday, with a throng of hungry players impatiently awaiting the mystery sale's entrance. It proved to be a long wait, with the sale not commencing until the regular update time (18:30 GMT). But was it twiddling out thumbs for? That is to be decided...

Notification for Black Friday 2016

The big headline with this year's showpiece is that with the exception of the last three to be introduced, every box the game has ever seen is available at 50% off. So that's 12 gems for a dip in the crate of your choosing. In addition to this there are a small number of floor decorations freely available to purchase in the market and another five new expansions.

Lots to get through then, but we begin with the change in the start time for the sale. In the past the Black Friday frolics had commenced at reset time (08:00 GMT) and initially lasted for 24 hours. Then we would typically see some of the deals repeated over the course of the rest of the weekend, but with lesser discounts applied.

This year the wait was significantly longer, with the curtain rising at update time. For me this made no difference as I was working all day anyway and deliberately avoided opening the game until I got home. Reading back through the restless comments posted on the Storm8 Forum during the day made for fine entertainment!

As for an end time, the sale is set to span four days, with the same content up for grabs throughout, and for the same prices, until update time on Cyber Monday.

Update: Turns out that the sale ends at update time on Tuesday!

This is a welcome variation on the chaos that we usually endure and means there's plenty of scope for pondering purchases. Considerate planning is one of my favourite aspects of the Black Friday fun, so it's great to have that bit more time to think everything through, especially when there's so much to consider.

Something else that's different about this Black Friday is the gem sale. The classic deal is 40% off the various packages, but this year the game's developers have not been so generous. I can't be sure if the same offer is available across the community, but for me it was a 30% off deal advertised, with the actual discounts varying by package.

Black Friday 2016 gem sales

The 35% off is obviously not far from the Black Friday signature, but it's not quite what we'd all have loved to see, especially regarding the smaller packages. After update time on Saturday my offers improved across the board, but still didn't reach the heights we've seen in yesteryear.

To the content included in the sale then, and in total there were 72 items marked with a sale tag, of which 68 were boxes.

Black Friday 2016 sale items

(*) Gem Dispenser is only available on iOS devices
(**) Image does not include Thankful Chef Lee and Pizza Tosser

Never before has the Black Friday sale been so volumous. And it has certainly never had this type of complexion. Bar the last three chests to be introduced (the Harvest Crate, Classy Halloween and School Crate), every single box past and present is buyable for 12 gems. This includes some of the all-time favourites such as the Classic Kitchen and Autumn Gift Box as well as the many seasonal crates not normally available such as the Valentine's Box and Easter Chest. Those crates of the latter type are framed in orange in the above image.

So is this a good sale? I have to say that when I first loaded up the game and it dawned on me that every box was marked down I was very excited. This is a far-reaching sale that guarantees there is decor of interest to everyone can be captured. The response of the players to the half price box sales throughout 2016 has been positive, with many of us capitalising when a favourite crate gets its moment in the sun.

Now the sun is shining over everything. It's an incredibly powerful position, and represents a real long-term risk on Storm8's part. By doing this they've set a precedent - the regular crate discounts had made me more wary of buying a full price box anyway, and having seen the gamemakers go the whole hog this weekend, I now doubt I'd chance spending 24 gems on one in the future knowing that there's a possibility that this sale could happen again, at least to some degree.

So it appears that Black Friday is a roaring success, right? Well, it's not quite that clear-cut. No matter what slant you put on it, the boxes represent a gamble, and that's not characteristic of Black Fridays past. A huge component of this special day is getting a chance to obtain some rare prizes from the crates for a modest fee without having to roll the dice. On this occasion you do have to buy the raffle ticket, and that isn't ideal.

 Previous special sales

 28/11/15 Black Friday 2015
 20/12/14 Christmas 2014
 29/11/14 Black Friday 2014

 30/11/13 Black Friday 2013

I understand that Storm8 are in the business of making money (even if there have been many occasions when that hasn't been clear from their actions!) and this sale should be very successful for them. Players are poised to open their purses on Black Friday, and with the uncertainty over what will be gathered from groping in the chests, there will be many out there who go slightly mad in a bid to get their hands on that first prize they've always craved.

Of course there are others who will be completely turned off by this entire event, seeing their gems as too precious to risk in a blind buy, and some may even quit the game in protest. But that band of players who will spend whatever it takes to get a particular box item (a band which has always existed) will have expanded considerably for this weekend thanks to the reduced costs, and that will be enough to make this a fruitful sale from the gamemakers' perspective.

To appease those who suffer with boxophobia there are six items on offer in the traditional manner. The Koi Pond from the Takeout Box is the solitary crate prize included, while the Lazy Sunday and Gem Dispenser featured in Black Friday 2015, but at slightly higher prices (42 and 270 gems versus 35 and 225 gems this time). However the Gem Dispenser continues to elude Android players, with this gem producing instrument continuing to only show its face to iOS users.

However the fourth floor decoration does soothe Androiders somewhat. The Jazz Band can be bought for 20 gems, with this being the first time Android players have ever had a chance to capture it. But it's also a notable inclusion for iOS players - the only previous appearance of the Jazz Band was in a Mardi Gras themed update in February 2012 when iOSers could get hold of it as part of a 75 gem bundle. This is just the kind of item you want to see offered on Black Friday!

That leaves two more pieces of decor. These are the Thankful Chef Lee and Pizza Tosser for 25 and 35 gems respectively. Technically speaking these are brand new items, but in truth they are recoloured versions of the existing Action Chef Lee and Pizza Toss, both of which are old goal prizes.

The following two comparison pics come courtesy of pixiegamer, and demonstrate the subtle differences:

Comparison between Action Chef Lee and Thankful Chef Lee

Comparison between Pizza Toss and Pizza Tosser

These recoloured prizes are only available to players who did not complete the relevant quests, with those who did procure them via goals still able to purchase them for coins. This is a neat inclusion and with a couple of past goal sets being re-released recently it continues a trend of vintage goal prizes becoming obtainable.

From my point of view, I'll probably blow most of my gems over the next couple of days on boxes. My 'mastery minus one' method has worked a treat, and I'm currently cooking round the clock to pick up the level four mastery gem across nearly 70 recipes in order to bring my gem budget for the sale to a very nice 132 gems. That's enough to open exactly 11 crates with nothing to spare.

Of course I could opt for one of the floor decorations freely available, but only the Jazz Band really appeals, and even then I'm not sure how I'd use it. Without the back wall I'd probably go for it, but with the back wall you're somewhat limited in where you can place it.

Up to this point I've had three box dips, all in the chest which topped a box wishlist I composed six month ago. That's the Chic Crate, which with the right results, would see me revamp my kitchen to make it match the elegant style adapted by the main section and foyer of my diner. Unfortunately I've only gained one third prize (Chic Fridge) and two fourth prizes (Chic Waiter's Stand and Chic Menu) thus far, but I'll cross my fingers with further efforts.

And then there's the puzzle of whether I should hold anything back. Storm8 have been in the mood for sales in recent months, which means Christmas could be a bonanza! Normally I do make sure to hold something back, but this time I can envisage being pulled in and draining everything on these boxes. Plus I may try one or two of the festive crates that are available, since their inclusion now could be a hint that they won't be given another airing in December.

The last goody in this bumper sale is an array of new expansions.

New expansions in the market

It was only last month that five new expansions were added without much fanfare, and now the game's developers have dropped another five! I expressed my dismay at the huge cost of these expansions in the Suggestions Box a fortnight ago and unsurprisingly am not pleased to see the fees rise further still with the expansions between 32x35 and 36x39. At least the gem cost is flat at 150 gems, even if it very high - I'm sure this is a clever ploy by Storm8 to encourage players to use their gems to expand, and I suspect it will work. After all saving 32.5 million coins just for one of these expansions will take a very long time.

And so we have reached the end. This is the fourth Black Friday I've covered on this blog, and it's once again lived up to the billing of being a high-profile event. And this year is perhaps the most interesting edition yet, with the sale really dividing the community when it comes to deciding how good or bad it is. For box buyers it is truly heaven, while for box avoiders it is truly hell. And for those like myself who have occasionally taken the leap of faith that is crate opening, it gives birth to a really fascinating set of decisions which I'm really enjoying scratching my head over. And for that reason I have to give Black Friday a thumbs up.

Now let me go and dangle my finger over the Chic Crate once again!