Sunday 15 April 2018

A little break

Evening everyone!

You'll have noticed that my posts have become rather sporadic of late. After five years of publishing this blog twice weekly I've reached a point where I just don't have the time to keep churning out the posts on a regular basis.

I can't deny that Restaurant Story no longer holds the charm that it did for me in the earlier years - this is more a result of me developing as a person and time passing rather than any particular issue with the game.

Don't worry, I'm not calling it a day! But I am taking a little break from the blog so that I can concentrate on other things and hope that when I return the spark will have too. And I'll still be checking into my diner when I can so my neighbours can still expect to receive that precious daily gift.

See you soon folks!

Tuesday 3 April 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #6

We're into April and that means that the wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher is just a matter of weeks away! They'll be taking their vows at The Garlic Tree on the 21st, and you are all invited to the ceremony and reception!

This week we're looking back to Thanksgiving, when our famous couple wanted to make sure they had the best time possible...

Turkey farm - Thanksgiving 2017

Yep, a trip to the turkey farm to handpick the unlucky bird! The Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher spent a long time perusing the Rustic Turkeys before the Lake Dog and Frisbee Dog chose for them. Well, it was more a case of a turkey willingly leaving the Harvest Haystacks behind.

Saturday 31 March 2018

Spring 2018 goals (in full)

Spring has arrived! And Restaurant Story is celebrating with a new quest which appears to contain some really enticing prizes.

In all there are at least three floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes which are waiting to be unlocked, so with 15 days on the clock be sure to get through the lot by Thursday 12th April.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Park Picnic' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 29/03/18

Thursday night brought with it the much anticipated spring bloom!

Introduction to spring 2018 goals

After a long, dark and frankly miserable winter it's nice to be able to look forward to finer weather and hopefully some cheery goal sets. And it starts now with a spring themed edition. As usual there's plenty of new content to be had so here is that usual list:

Tables:
  • Gingham Table - 17,800 coins

Tuesday 27 March 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #5

The Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher are just a few weeks away from tying the knot, and our look back at some their best bits to date continues with last Halloween.

Fortunately there was nothing particularly petrifying about our favourite couple's activity at Halloween, with the pair visiting a Fortune Teller.

Fortune telling - Halloween 2017

Monday 26 March 2018

Suggestions Box (Mar 2018)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

You can share your own suggestions too via the comments. If I like them, I may even include them in the next instalment!

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

Sunday 18 March 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #4

We're inching ever closer to the big day for the Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher, and today we're looking back at a rather fun trip they had to a hard to find place.

On 1st September 2017 there were Harry Potter fans across the lands rejoicing at Epilogue Day - the day upon which the final words of the book series were set. And Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher got in on the fun with a visit to Platform Nine and Three Quarters.

Platform Nine and Three Quarters - September 2017

There they saw the Hogwarts Express (the Locomotive) letting off steam as the Train Conductor whistled on its way. One or two students including the Rose Seller and Jock were running rather late, but still had time to make their final goodbyes ahead of the long journey north.

Saturday 17 March 2018

Easter 2018 goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 27th March 2018.

Easter is almost here and to get ready for it why not take on a new batch of goals?!

This quest is a 15 day edition, which means it is expected to expire on Tuesday 27th March. Until then you have the opportunity to unlock a whopping six floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes, so let's get the egg rolling!

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Hoppin Mad' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 13/03/18

Easter is fast approaching and Restaurant Story is marking this most cheery of events with a set of goals.

Introduction to Easter 2018 goals

It's the first time Easter has been covered in the game with new content since 2014, and well and truly ushers in the spring! Here's a full list of everything added:

Tables:
  • Shell Table - 17,600 coins

Tuesday 13 March 2018

Shamrock Oven goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 13th March 2018.

St Patrick's Day goals for 2018 are here with the latest update but they are a shocker when it comes to the level of difficulty!

So be warned - there are three recipes on the Shamrock Oven to be unlocked and a large floor decoration given if you finish all the tasks - but with the time available this is not for the faint of heart!

Here it is then, the 'Paddy's Day' flash goals in full:

Game update: 08/03/18

It's fair to say I'm a little late to the party, but last Thursday we did a receive an update dedicated to the Irish.

Notification for St Patrick's Day themed update

This is a flash goal set which runs over just five days and will probably have plenty of players tearing their hair out! But to sweeten the deal there's also a sale running throughout the event, with a range of St Patrick's Day content from yesteryear making a triumphant return, including the Lucky Chest at 25% off.

It's worth noting that not all of those orange framed items are seasonal decor returning - certainly the Stone Wall is a permanent entry and has been reduced for the duration of the sale. Hopefully it won't be removed post-event, but be wary because it could.

And among all of this there are actually a few totally new items (and there's no telling for sure whether these will be removed after the goals finish) so let's have a list:

Wall decorations:
  • Celtic Knotwork - 5 gems
Floor decorations:
  • Castle Ruin - 60 gems
Wallpapers:
  • Irish Green Wallpaper - 2 gems
Floor tiles:
  • Irish Green Grass - 2 gems

We have a new wall decoration! It's been a long time coming, with the last being the Towel Rack which was introduced back in August. A scandalous length of time really, but hopefully the Celtic Knotwork will be the first of many more to come. It's not a particularly attractive item, and the 5 gem price tag doesn't help its cause, but hopefully it can be a pioneer!

Indeed all three of the other new entries are also gem buys, and in the case of the Irish Green Wallpaper and Irish Green Grass that means a large expenditure if you want to use them effectively. The wallpaper is reasonably generic with its grassy ground and rocky backdrop while the flooring feels very St Patrick's Day specific thanks to those three leaf clovers.

The new floor decoration is the Castle Ruin which is a terrifying 60 gems. However this is the final goal prize, so there is an opportunity to grab it via the quest. It depicts a large fort structure which is not standing the test of time very well. Some of it is at odd angles and vegetation is taking over. This is not an Irish themed prize as such so could come in handy, especially since it's really one of a kind.

But what about the goals? I won't be finishing them, largely because I'm still on the first step having been rather busy these past few days. But even if you got going straight away you may have problems. That's because there are some lengthy recipes called for, and with a lot of focus on the Shamrock Oven, it's hard work to serve up everything you need to before the timer runs out.

And what makes it all the more difficult is the need to collect 14 Shamrocks to build the cooker. That's a tall order for a part which was not previously available to gift, and it gets all the worse when we consider that the Shamrock Oven has been around before and only needed 6 Shamrocks. Six years have passed since it's original release in 2012, and Storm8 have obviously seen fit to make it a much tougher appliance to put together.

So not a goal set worth getting excited about. I'm going to try and unlock as many of the new recipes as I can, with getting all three a long shot given how long it's taken me to get started. What a disappointing quest! With regard to those recipes, they have the following ratings:

Colcannon
Profit XP gain Portions Profit per plate Availability Rating
3 6 1 8 5 4.1

Irish Soda Bread
Profit XP gain Portions Profit per plate Availability Rating
2 7 1 7 5 4.0

Shamrock Float
Profit XP gain Portions Profit per plate Availability Rating
1 8 1 7 5 3.9

Some brighter findings here! Most notably, all three of these dishes carry 5 coins per plate which is higher than the standard 4. That's great news for players who have stacked counters and are therefore already selling the maximum number of plates per day. Raising the proportion of those plates sold which yield greater than 4 coins per plate will inevitably do good things for profit.

The trade off here is that the higher coins per plate results in fewer portions, and consequently all three dishes score in the red for the portions factor. They're not much better on the profit front, but do perform well when it comes to XP. They're on par for XP with all of the foods of the same length released in recent months. It's just that greater coins per plate which makes them a little more interesting.

And on top of all that, the Lucky Breakfast has returned. It's a 6 hour candidate on the Basic Stove which has been re-released on a few occasions if memory serves me right. This time round the gamemakers have made the mistake of placing its timer to expiry completely over the mastery meter which leaves everyone with no idea how close or far they are from mastering it. Another reason to give this update a thumbs down!

So an excruciatingly difficult set of goals and a returning recipe whose mastery meter is blocked off, but also some higher coin yields from the goal dishes and a nice sale. And a very late update post!

Saturday 10 March 2018

Magical goals content report

Before we get into this goals content report I have to apologise for the lack of a post thus far on the St Patrick's Day themed goals which were issued late on Thursday. Life has been busy this past week and I'm not around this weekend (this post has been published automatically!) so the goal post will have to wait until Sunday at the earliest.

Anyway, this week saw the conclusion of the magical themed goals, where the fairies were out in force.

Introduction to magical themed goals

It was a typical 15 day goal set, with the usual arrangement of steps and challenges. That meant a tough start due to the item request task, but after that it was straight on with the first new appliance. That was the Enchanted Stove, which required 10 Magic Moss, 6 Metal Sheets and 6 Ye Olde Knobs to build, the first of these being a new part introduced with the update.

Sunday 4 March 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #3

The countdown continues to the wedding of the Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher, with just seven weeks before they tie the knot!

This week we're heading back to last August when The Garlic Tree celebrated its fifth anniversary. It was a party to end all parties, with so many familiar faces from my restaurant through the years showing up to enjoy a drink and a dance. And once everyone was as merry as could be there was a rather large conga wound its way around the dancefloor.

Fifth anniversary party conga - August 2017

Saturday 3 March 2018

RS2 News (Mar 2018)

We're into March (although you wouldn't know it when I look out the window!) and it's time for another round-up of the latest goings-on in Restaurant Story 2. Since my last update we've seen one cruise event come and go, another bring something a little different, and Lani with her predictable goals, as ever.

But before all that I'd like to briefly discuss a new version of the sequel title on iOS. Released on 8th February, the App Store promised 'bug fixes' and 'performance improvements' had been implemented. In fairness to Storm8 I can't actually think of what these could possibly consist of given that there aren't really many glitches currently in the game, at least from my experience.

App update for iOS in App Store

To date I've only downloaded the update on my secondary device (always very wary of things going wrong with updates!) and have found just a couple of noticeable changes. First of all the Social and Messages window icons have been shifted from the top of the screen to the bottom right corner next to the Market button. Not sure what this achieves, but it certainly takes a little time to get accustomed to.

The second change is the introduction of the free gems feature which has been added to Restaurant Story (and other Storm8 titles) in recent weeks and months. I don't think I ever got round to mentioning it on here for the original game, but this is a feature run by an outside company which gives players the opportunity to earn premium currency by completing a variety of tasks, ranging from watching trailers and completing surveys to downloading other apps and making deposits.

This certainly opens up more ways to earn additional gems, if you can be bothered. I've found it to be a slightly cumbersome system and had a bad experience with it in Restaurant Story early doors when not receiving a reward for one of the tasks where the goal was to reach a particular level in another game. Of course you can always drop an email to the provider to try and resolve the situation, but life it too short.

Luckily the classic free gem videos remain available on iOS, so we do still have that avenue for earning more gems which then can't be spent on anything useful!

To some of the recent events then, starting with the Winter Olympic themed cruise event. Aligned with the real thing in Pyeongchang, at first glance it seemed quite exciting that we were getting a cruise centred on a current event. However it soon became apparent that the gamemakers had just reused the content from the Rio 2016 cruise - and that was a summer Games! Recycling is obviously standard practice these days in Restaurant Story 2, but I felt that this was a particularly nasty instance of it.

Main window for Winter Olympics themed cruise event

A poor performance in the last couple of days meant that I looked set to miss out on a medal, but a flurry of 60 quick serves and 37 gems (the latter mostly spent on forcing the restock of Peppers which were insistent on cropping up again and again!) meant that I did eventually make the podium.

The final prize was the Go for the Gold Cookies, located on the Jubilee Oven. In line with the rest of the cruise, Miguel from the 2016 edition was back again, providing the Torch which I'd already accumulated over 1000 of in the two-and-a-half years since its introduction. The cookies call for 8 Torches, 2 European Butter and 2 Sugar with the middle one of those a stamp ingredient. Always a mark against a recipe for me - I'll never master all these stamp oriented prize dishes!

Before we got to the next cruise event there was a batch of stamp goals from Lani. This was actually her second lot of the month, and I'm pleased to report that I completed five out of the six she offered up in February. The only one I didn't partake in was the one yielding two silver stamps in the second batch given that this requested the Grilled Gold, a European Butter hungry recipe. I'm so tight on the use of the stamp ingredients that I even refresh them in the early days of the cruises!

 RS2 News
 03/02/18 February 2018
 13/01/18 January 2018
 02/12/17 December 2017
 04/11/17 November 2017
 14/10/17 October 2017

Now to the current event which concludes this weekend. The Lunar New Year cruise event was released in the early hours of last Saturday morning UK time, which meant that I wasn't able to kick it off until after reset time. The result of that is a Monday finish for me which will probably mean a not so pleasant quick serve and gem spend.

We're battling for right to have Barktholomew Chowington (it is the year of the dog after all!) visit our restaurants and deliver the Red Packet, with this special ingredient feeding into the Golden Dumplings on the Celebration Stove. There's good news regarding this dish - the stamp ingredient it devours is Duck Eggs, which being the main drop from bronze stamps is much easier to come by. I have 125 in the pantry at the time of writing!

But the real success story of this cruise lies with the side goal chain. Usually this is a monotonous and dull string of steps with a gold stamp awaiting at the end of it, but not this time. We have a new ingredient! The Paper Lantern is a time limited addition to the General Store with a 2 hour refresh time. It's been a long wait for a new ingredients so this is a real treat!

General Store including Paper Lantern

The Paper Lantern is among the necessaries for the Auspicious Fish on the Diner Stove and the Prosperous Spring Rolls on the Diner Oven, both new recipes which are around for a limited time. It's great to see new dishes added outside of the two prize appliances again and greater still that the only other ingredients they need are Eggs and Tomatoes. This makes for a relatively easy challenge running alongside the cruise, especially given that the mastery requirements of both are not all that high.

The only negatives I can pull from these side goals is that there's a decoration reward at the end rather than a valuable gold stamp, and Paper Lanterns are a prize on three of the 10 days of the cruise, thus meaning fewer stamp opportunities. However this is balanced out by the fact that day eight is providing four gold stamps, which may be unprecedented.

It's fair to say that I am pretty happy with this current event. And I haven't said that in a long time. That makes it all the more baffling that I'm well behind schedule having just finished day seven halfway through what is my day eight! But hopefully we see more invention in the coming weeks as it has certainly brought me out of my Restaurant Story 2 stupor.

Sunday 25 February 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #2

Last weekend I premiered a new series of posts centred on the build-up to the wedding of the Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher. With their big day one week closer, it's time to share another fine memory from their adventures this past year.

And this time we are returning to the summer, when our favourite couple went into business together.

Summer market stall - summer 2017

The outdoor area of my restaurant was headlined by Action Chef Lee and his BBQ Island, but a corner was reserved for Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher who had set up a Jam Stand having slaved over a pan of fruit for ages the night before. Yes, fresh jam and marmalade too! All very tasty and locally made!

But the Frisbee Dog and Lake Dog felt they could top this and so decided to cobble together a Produce Stand. Why buy a jar of jam when you can make your own?! Apples, oranges, lemons and much more to create your own unique and groovy jam or for preparing a delicious tart. Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher did well, but on this occasion I think the two pooches did better!

Next: Memory #3 - Fifth Anniversary party

Saturday 24 February 2018

Suggestions Box (Feb 2018)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

You can share your own suggestions too via the comments. If I like them, I may even include them in the next instalment!

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

Chinese New Year 2018 goals content report

The magic themed goals are now in full flow, but that doesn't mean we can't step back and have a review of the previous quest. The Chinese New Year goals concluded on Tuesday, with a number of items unlocked exclusively via the numerous steps.

Introduction to Chinese New Year 2018 goals

The structure of the various tasks was as per usual, and that meant the torturous opening step which calls for requests to be sent out to neighbours for an item. This obstacle has been ever-present in the 15 day goal sets since the Christmas batch, so we best get used to it!

Thursday 22 February 2018

Magical goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Thursday 8th March 2018.

This most recent update included a range of new content, some of which could only be unlocked by completing a set of goals. And so here we are!

We have a magical and mythical theme to enjoy, with four floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes all awaiting discovery. You've got the standard 15 days to get through the complete goal set, so expect them to expire on Thursday 8th March.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Adventures Beyond Compare' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 22/02/18

Last week there was love in the air, and this week there is magic in the air...

Introduction to magical themed goals

The clipboard is back, with a magical theme as we turn our backs on winter. Let's dive straight in with a traditional list of fresh content:

Tables:
  • Mushroom Table - 18,000 coins
Chairs:
  • Mushroom Chair - 16,000 coins
Floor decorations:
  • Rearing Unicorn - 25,000 coins
  • Faerie Helpers - locked by goal
  • Wishing Well - locked by goal
  • Enchanted Forest - locked by goal
Wallpapers:
  • Mysterious Forest - 6,000 coins
Floor tiles:
  • Thaumaturgic Tile - 5,200 coins
Appliances:
  • Enchanted Stove - locked by goal
  • Faerie Fountain - locked by goal
Counters:
  • Mystical Counter - 17,000 coins

So we have 11 additions to the game, including two appliances which each house three recipes. Those two cookers and three of the floor decorations can only be accessed by making your way through the goals, more details of which can be found here.

I always find this to be a fun time of the Restaurant Story year - we've just completed the seasonal stretch and now the game's developers can throw off the shackles and do as they please with regard to themes. And they've done just that here with a seemingly random theme focusing on magic in nature. It's a subject with plenty of scope, and I think Storm8 have done a pretty good job of it.

Take the Mysterious Forest wallpaper for example. It shows tall trees and ferns, all with a clever green filter applied. This monochromatic effect has a significant impact since it really adds a sense of foreboding which allows the wallpaper to live up to its name. And yet it still carries some flexibility - I can see this being a popular choice for outdoor scenes in the coming months.

The Thaumaturgic Tile could hardly be more different with its bold design. I hope I wasn't alone in having to look up the meaning of 'thaumaturgic'! I discovered that it means a miracle and it will certainly be a miracle if I ever spell it correctly at the first attempt! The tile itself doesn't appear to follow any particular pattern, with seemingly random squiggles of light blue on a purple base. I'm sure it will come in handy for someone someday, but right now I'm struggling to think of where it could be used.

Meanwhile there's no doubting where you'd use the Mushroom Table and Mushroom Chair. Both bright blue, these furniture items will do a great job sprucing up your spring scene. They'll also go perfectly with the red Toadstool pair. Admittedly the existing table and chair are for gems so only a smattering of players will already have them, but at least we have a variation now available for purchase that has a coin price tag.

The Mystical Counter takes a different approach, with the wonders of nature replaced by an enticing and maybe mysterious unknown. Concentric circles of alternating tints of blue are the order of the day on the counter surface, with curly legs making this look more like a table. The only concern here is that when the customers are served their meal may just be sucked into an alternative universe!

The last of the new stuff which can be bought from the off is the Rearing Unicorn, a 2x2 sized floor decoration. I felt straightaway that this was an item we'd seen before in some capacity, but the only unicorn I can track down in the game is the Ice Unicorn from January 2017, and that took a slightly different form. It's out first unfrozen unicorn! She's mounted on a rounded pedestal which is a little frustrating since it rather limits what you can do with her, but nevertheless it's a safe inclusion for a magical and mythical theme.

That's everything which can be purchased from the outset covered then. It's certainly an intriguing update and goes into the 'so far so good' category. I'm in no doubt that the recipes will let us down statistically, but hopefully the prizes up for grabs can overcome that and make this a winning update!

Saturday 17 February 2018

The Wedding of Miss Parasol and Mr Fisher: Memory #1

If you read my post last weekend providing a tour of my restaurant, The Garlic Tree, you'll be well aware of the big news. But if you haven't a quick recap - two mainstays of my place, the Playful Parasol and Lake Fisher, are getting married! Mr Fisher popped the question under the Eiffel Tower, a year after the couple first met.

The wedding is pencilled in for Saturday 21st April, and preparations are already underway. Invites will be going out in the near future, but over the next few weeks I'll be recalling memories of this power couple as we countdown to their big day.

And where better to start than with their initial meeting?

Love at first sight - Valentine's Day 2017

Thursday 15 February 2018

Valentine's Day 2018 showcase

Where is the love? In your wonderful restaurants of course! It's Valentine's Day and my neighbours have marked it in style with some proper lovey-dovey settings. Here I proudly present five of them in a bumper showcase.

So let's crack right on with it, starting with a fifth showcase appearance for Cafe Lula.

Cafe Lula

Monday 12 February 2018

The five year milestone

On Tuesday 12th February 2013 I welcomed everyone aboard for an adventure. Five years later and the Restaurant Story Adventures blog is still bobbing along, having enjoyed and endured the crest and trough of many a wave.

I've come a long way since launch day when I noted 14 pageviews within the first few minutes of the blog going live, only to then discover that those were all by me as I admired my handiwork! Back in July 2017 the one million marker was passed, and with this being my 665th post, that means I've averaged a new post every 2.7 days over the past half decade.

Writing this blog has been such a positive experience, and has led me to meet some wonderful neighbours within the game. Admittedly I am not quite as enthusiastic with it as I was even a year ago, but that is largely a consequence of the game itself losing some of its charm with the continuous goals grind.

However I promised myself a very long time ago that I would be there the day that support was pulled on Restaurant Story. And I don't break promises. Whether it be next week, next month or (god forbid!) another five years away, rest assured I'll be there providing my exhaustive and flowery analysis.

Enjoy the rest of your day one and all!

Sunday 11 February 2018

Valentine's Day at The Garlic Tree

Valentine's Day is this coming Wednesday, so hopefully you've got something romantic lined up for your loved one. If not you could always swing by my restaurant, The Garlic Tree, where there's that glorious hint of love in the air.

When you first arrive there's an opportunity to take a Gondola Ride.

Gondola lake at The Garlic Tree

Upon an intimate lake, you'll be able to relax and unwind with your other half while the gondolier steers around Lotus Flowers and Turtle Stacks. There are also Flamingos in situ, with the Sea Trainer ensuring that they get their feed. The Kissing Swans is a fitting accompaniment to the gondola lake, with two swans sharing an affectionate moment.

Saturday 10 February 2018

Game update: 10/02/18

What is this, an update on a Saturday?! Love is finally blossoming in Restaurant Story with a massive sale featuring a wide range of related decor from throughout the years.

Notification for Valentine's Day 2018 sale

This isn't actually the first weekend update the game has seen. Indeed it's not even the first Valentine's Day themed weekend update - back in 2013 goals were released on a Sunday, and in June 2011 there was a meagre update on a Saturday. Nevertheless it is a very rare thing.

Thursday 8 February 2018

Chinese New Year 2018 goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 20th February 2018.

Chinese New Year is not far away, and here is a new set of goals on that very theme introduced alongside the latest update.

It's the usual structure, so that means we have four floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes all waiting patiently for you to unlock them. This quest is the only way to get hold of them, so be sure to get it done before the clock runs out on Tuesday 20th February.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Year of the Dog' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 06/02/18

After I'd gone to my bed last night a new update landed in Restaurant Story, providing us an opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Introduction to Chinese New Year 2018 goals

It's the third time Chinese New Year has been given the treatment in the game, with the previous editions coming in 2014 and 2016. Both of those were released in January, meaning that this is by some distance the latest one we've seen.

Tuesday 6 February 2018

Glow party goals content report

Another set of goals have concluded, and from my perspective they have produced a historic moment. More on that later...

So what did I think of this quest? Well, I guess I could simply say see one of my Suggestions Box entries from last weekend! After all these goals followed the same old structure yet again. I can't deny that the format has become tiresome and monotonous, and consequently I don't feel that surge of excitement when an update is released anymore.

This particular update focused on a glow party theme - at least it's something a bit different! The content which was available right from the outset really impressed me, with some stuff which is very much unique (at least within the confines of Restaurant Story). The Illuminated Tiles caught my attention the most, but the Luminescent Chair and Glowing Jar Display were not far behind.

Saturday 3 February 2018

RS2 News (Feb 2018)

We're into a new month, and that means it's time once again for a rundown of all the goings-on in the sequel title, Restaurant Story 2. The period since my last round-up has not been all that frantic - this is largely a quirk of the timing, with two cruise events and a batch of goals from the ever dependable Lani.

The first of those cruises saw actor Kevin Bacon being immortalised in the game as Kevin B. Acken. What an honour for the guy, the second occasion homage has been paid to him! But the last time it was a a goal set, so technically speaking this bacon themed cruise event was not a repeat.

Introduction to bacon themed cruise event

Friday 2 February 2018

Chocolate Maker goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 6th February 2018.

As Valentine's Day approaches I daresay the love of your life would really appreciate some homemade chocolates. So now is your chance to learn!

This is a flash goal set, which means that it runs for just five days from kick off. Therefore you can expect it to expire on Tuesday 6th February. There are four steps, with the Chocolate Maker the central appliance in each of the batches of tasks. Three new recipes have been added to this cooker and can only be obtained via this quest, and the same can be said for the final prize.

So here it is, the 'Be My Valentine' goals in full:

Note that Part 4 includes the cooking of the Chocolate Fondue and Artichoke Hearts (both Basic Stove) among its requirements, and these are both 22 hour efforts - therefore make sure you reach Part 4 with at least a day left on the clock!


 Part 1

  • Serve 10 Chocolate Kisses ... this is found on the Basic Stove and takes 2 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 10 Heart Pizzas ... this is found on the Basic Oven and takes 3 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 10 Heart Steaks ... this is found on the Basic Grill and takes 2 hours to prepare.
  • Build 2 Chocolate Makers ... these cost 10,000 coins each and requires 10 Screws, 5 Motors, 10 Paint and 5 Nozzles to build. If you have built two copies of this appliance previously then this task will auto-complete.
Part 1
Getting through that opener is worth the Toffee Hearts.

Unlocking of Toffee Hearts
This is the first of three new entries on the Chocolate Maker and is involved in Part 2.


 Part 2

  • Serve 2 Lovely Pancakes ... this is found on the Basic Stove and takes 16 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 4 Chocolate Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 4 Toffee Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
Part 2
Following completion of this step the next dish on the Chocolate Maker loses its padlock.

Unlocking of Cordial Hearts
The Cordial Hearts is another 8 hour recipe and forms a component of Part 3.


 Part 3

  • Serve 6 Valentine Cupcakes ... this is found on the Basic Oven and takes 8 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 6 Chocolate Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 6 Cordial Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
Part 3
After this lot is dealt with the Be Mine Hearts opens up.

Unlocking of Be Mine Hearts
This is another 8 hour recipe and forms a component of Part 4, the concluding step.


 Part 4

  • Serve 5 Chocolate Fondue ... this is found on the Basic Stove and takes 22 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 5 Artichoke Hearts ... this is found on the Basic Oven and takes 22 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 10 Chocolate Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
  • Serve 10 Be Mine Hearts ... this is found on the Chocolate Maker and takes 8 hours to prepare.
Part 4
And once those requirements are satisfied, you will be the proud owner of the Kissing Swans.

A 4x4 sized item, you can find this classic Valentine's piece in the floor decorations tab.

Game update: 01/02/18

Late last night Valentine's descended upon Restaurant Story...

Notification for Chocolate Maker goals

And there's no better way to please your loved one than some sweet choclate! Yes, less than a week after I pulled up Storm8 for some dodgy spelling they're at it again, and this time in a goal notification!

Looking beyond that initial mishap, this is a five day flash quest, so I recommend that you get straight to it. My dedicated post here provides all the details.

Sunday 28 January 2018

Winter fun at The Garlic Tree

It may be bitterly cold, but that doesn't mean we can't have some winter fun, right?! At my restaurant, The Garlic Tree, there's plenty of frosty merriment, largely thanks to the Chill Barista.

Outdoor refreshments at The Garlic Tree

Courtesy of this moustached chap you can take in the wintry surroundings whilst staying warm with a hot cup of coffee. You might even spot an Igloo inhabited by polar bears or Jack Frost bringing the snowmen to life! And then once you get hungry trudge on over to the Frosty Feast and Ice Bar. Here there are all manner of treats just waiting to be consumed, and the social scene is great.

Saturday 27 January 2018

Suggestions Box (Jan 2018)

Every month I list five things I'd like to see added, altered or abolished from the game. Because even though my long time of playing Restaurant Story clearly shows I love it, that doesn't mean it's perfect. Some of the ideas I'll air will be significant game changers while others will be low-key and irrelevant in the eyes of many of you readers.

You can share your own suggestions too via the comments. If I like them, I may even include them in the next instalment!

In no particular order, here are this month's entries...

Saturday 20 January 2018

A parts probe

I'm embarrassed to say that it has now been 10 months since I last gave an overview of the most regularly utilised parts for building appliances. But that means there's lots of data to play with, so let's get straight into it!

Since that previous update there are 33 new appliances have been introduced to the game, with each and every one launched as part of a goal set. All but two of these cookers have called for a part not seen previously, with the exceptions being the Marquee Oven and La Mar Oven which needed only existing parts.

So that means a heck of a lot of information to piece together. To make things easier, I'm going to cast aside any part which has not been needed more than once in the past 10 months. Doing so leaves us with 13 parts to consider. That's still a fair few, but here's a neat table which hopefully gives us a feel for the parts landscape:

Thursday 18 January 2018

Glow party goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Thursday 1st February 2018.

The latest update has us glowing and headed for the dancefloor. And it came with goals, which you can get all the details on here.

There are four floor decorations which can only be obtained by working through the numerous steps, and likewise two appliances and six recipes can be unlocked along the way. You've got the usual 15 days to work with, so that should mean an end date of Thursday 1st February.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals: 'Get That Glow' (unlocks after Step 4):

Game update: 18/01/18

Let's get the party started!

Introduction to glow party themed goals

In particular get your glow sticks out! A glow party not the theme most players were probably anticipating, but it's the one we've got, with a range of new content released alongside a fresh set of goals. Here is the complete list of additions:

Tables:
  • Phosphorescent Table - 20,000 coins
Chairs:
  • Luminescent Chair - 19,000 coins
Floor decorations:
  • Glowing Jar Display - 21,000 coins
  • Party Hipster - locked by goal
  • Underglow Fountain - locked by goal
  • Glow Party - locked by goal
Wallpapers:
  • Glowing Bokeh - 8,000 coins
Floor tiles:
  • Illuminated Tiles - 9,000 coins
Appliances:
  • Glowing Oven - locked by goal
  • Glowing Drink Maker - locked by goal
Counters:
  • Fluorescent Counter - 22,000 coins

The fact of the matter is that Valentine's Day is just around the corner. But looking at past years, it is still a little too early for any lovey-dovey stuff, so perhaps this shouldn't be all that surprising. It's one of those random sorts of updates which can seem strange and out of place at any time of the year, essentially because it isn't tied into a particular season or occasion.

My analysis has to start with the Illuminated Tiles. Since you can purchase any flooring to complete the initial step of the quest I tend to opt for something other than the new release, since they can be so expensive. But with this floor tile I didn't bat an eyelid at the price. It is a beauty. A classic glowing square design which leaves no doubt in the mind as to what you should be going when standing on them - dance!

So many times I have had a dancefloor in my restaurant but no effective flooring to make it work. Having tried the likes of the Foam Mats and Ruby Red Mosaic with mixed results in the past, I can't wait to put together a scene which calls for a dancefloor.

Sadly the Glowing Bokeh wallpaper is less enticing to me. We have a black background upon which a vast number of love hearts of every colour imaginable have been scattered. Some have borders and some are semi-transparent, meaning that it really does look a mish-mash. Bokeh is a technical term used in photography for the section of an image which is blurred when the focus has been placed on another part of the image, and I suppose the transparency with some of those hearts is the connection. But in my view this is a messy wallpaper which lacks any coordination.

In complete contrast, the Glowing Jar Display is a sleek and precise floor decoration. It's 2x2 in size and consists of two black shelves occupied by glowing jars of red, blue and green. They feel like they have been placed very regimentally which does my perfectionist nature the world of good. This could be a really nice inclusion come Halloween for a potion-making set-up, and we've got enough related decor that it's doable.

The last three items which can bought in the market from the off are the new table, chair and counter. More often than not these three are connected by the same overall style, but that is not the case on this occasion. The Phosphorescent Table is a mouthful, but beyond that it's a groovy little number with changing tones of blue in concentric circles eventually giving a white centre to the tabletop. It has a futuristic feel to it which could make it a snug fit for ultra-modern layouts.

There's also something otherworldly about the Fluorescent Counter courtesy of the many glowing speckles. Any kind of magical theme would be a natural habitat, or even a space theme. I feel that this counter has been really well rendered, making excellent use of different shades of blue to give an effective finish.

Lastly there's the Luminescent Chair. The New Chair added in the previous update set a new bar for seating in the game, but I have to admit that this entry is another quality one. The stripes of white on the pink cushioning do a fantastic job of conveying depth and texture, leaving us with an attractive chair.

We do still have three floor decorations awaiting a verdict as well as two appliances and six recipes. But they are just going to have to be patient because we need to get through the goals to access them - you can get details of the accompanying quest in my dedicated post here.

Opening step of glow party themed goals

So does this update receive glowing reviews? I think it's on the way with some fine decor which excites and intrigues in equal measure. The key question when rating an update really is thus - how will I utilise any of the content in my place? And the answer this time is in plenty of ways. All we need now are some new dishes which have a statistical breakdown that makes them actually worth cooking!

Second New Year 2018 goals content report

With us all back into the daily grind the New Year celebrations now seem like another world away. So let's wrap up the party with a review of the batch of goals we received on the 2nd.

Introduction to second New Year 2018 goals

This was of course the second New Year based update for 2018, although unlike the first this one was a full 15 day effort and focused a little more on the aftermath, with everyone setting resolutions for the upcoming year.

Saturday 13 January 2018

RS2 News (Jan 2018)

It's time for my first monthly moan of 2018 on the topic of Restaurant Story 2. In fairness it's been a fairly active month in the sequel game, with two new cruise events and two batches of goals from Lani.

But we begin with the winter cruise event which kicked off just before my previous news post at the start of December. Although the content available via this challenge wasn't new, it was the first time it had featured in a cruise event, which is more than can be said for most of the cruises in recent times.

Yancy the Yeti was the special guest we were aiming to unlock, and I did so after a four gem spend on the final day to force a restock of Potatoes. Otherwise it was a reasonably comfortable one for me, although as has become customary the wait for Yancy to show his face was less comfortable. I tend to find that a new visitor appears very infrequently early on - that could be because there are now so many special guests, but it could also be an underlying issue in the game's mechanics.

Saturday 6 January 2018

Year in review 2017

It was a long and rocky journey but we reached the end of another year in Restaurant Story. There's been high points and low points, but as we head into 2018 the game is still chugging along, even if a few splutters can be heard.

The year began with four consecutive updates of the winter variety, which included the Winter Animals crate and two goal sets. The first of these came with only eight days on the clock, while the second afforded us 15 days. In both cases it was unprecedented - quests had always been stretched out over three or four weeks, giving us plenty of time to unlock all the hidden goodies and start work on mastering the new recipes.

Items from second winter goal set as shown on Storm8 Blog

It was the start of things to come. Every goal set since has provided at most 15 days for completion, with a few mini editions giving as little as five days. It's been a hugely significant change in the game's dynamic, with plenty of occasions throughout the last 12 months where players have been unable to finish a quest before the deadline. The shorter goals have laterally involved the focus being placed upon a particular appliance of yesteryear, with new recipes added and high demands in the accompanying tasks.

Tuesday 2 January 2018

Second New Year 2018 goals (in full)

Please note that this set of goals expired on Tuesday 16th January 2018.

We had one New Year themed goal set as we prepared to move into 2018, so why not another now that we're here?!

There are at least three floor decorations, two appliances and six recipes which can only be accessed by wading through the various tasks in the quest that has been included in the latest update, so waste no time and get your New Year off to a flier! You've got 15 days to reach the end, so expect the clipboard to vanish on Tuesday 16th January.

Here is the complete list of steps:
Bonus goals 'Full of Resolve' (unlocks after Step 4):