Game update: 28/01/15

It's playtime! This update takes us to the fun house with lots of stuff to keep the kids amused!

Notification for kids playground update

As well as items for the kids theme (which are all unlocked at level 11) there is a whole load of Valentine's Day content on sale at 20% off. Although most of it is listed at the start of the relevant tabs of the market, only a few of the decorations are actually new and thus included in the traditional list.

Tables:

• Kids Table - 3 gems

Chairs:

• Kids Chair - 4,500 coins

Wall decorations:

• Heart Window - 8 gems (LTO)
• Kids Menu - 10,000 coins
• Kids Door - 50,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Be Mine - 15 gems (LTO)
• Valentine Fountain - 34 gems (LTO)
• Classic Date - 28 gems (LTO)
• Cupid's Arrow - 31 gems (LTO)
• Romantic Dinner - 33 gems (LTO)
• Bug Tunnel - 24 gems
• Tunnel Playset - 35 gems
• Gate Divider - 8,000 coins

Wallpapers:

• Sun Sticker - 1 gem
• Tree Sticker - 4,700 coins
• Bird Sticker - 5,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Foam Mats - 6,500 coins

Appliances:

• Kids Kitchen Set - 20,000 coins

Counters:

• Alphabet Block - 4 gems

We'll take a look at the Valentine's stuff (both listed above and not) shortly, but first there's a massive standout in this update: a new appliance outside of goals! The Kids Kitchen Set is among the items shown in the TeamLava Blog image previewing this update.

Items from update as shown on TeamLava Blog

When originally looking at this picture I think we all assumed the cabinet on the left was nothing more than a 2x1 floor decoration, quite possibly up for gems. But no! This is the first time since the Western update back in February 2013 that this has happened - almost two whole years!

It's fantastic to finally end this long and barren run without a non-goals appliance. I seem to recall complaining back in the day about too many new appliances and too few recipes added to the basic cookers, but over the last couple of years we've certainly suffered the reverse. Restoring some order and achieving a balance would be excellent, and now I harbour hopes that that may happen.

In terms of the appearance of the Kids Kitchen Set, it's got that crazy look you'd expect in a kids' play area. There are spots and stripes as well as lots of colours in use. I also love how when you're cooking a dish it appears in miniature on the worktop.

Since we're looking at this new appliance, it seems apt to do our duty regarding the recipes right now rather than later.

Kids Kitchen Set recipes

Being the creation of a child, these dishes are obviously not geared towards sophistication! The Smiley Pizza and Dinosaur Nuggets look cute enough, but the Owl Sandwich is the one for me! It's such an adorable snack!

There's only so long we can put off the recipe rating analysis, so here it is:

Smiley Pizza
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	3	3	4	9	3.1

Owl Sandwich
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
1	8	2	1	9	3.7

Dinosaur Nuggets
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
2	8	1	4	9	4.5

It's not a pretty picture. All three foods score dreadfully for profit and portions, with the Smiley Pizza coming in bottom for its equally measly XP gain. Thoroughly enough the pizza does actually perform above the average in the 6 hour duration for XP, but the Technicolor Cake (Basic Oven) is so far out in front that the pizza suffers for it.

The Owl Sandwich is only the eighth recipe of 9 hour duration ever, and the first since last June. And it becomes the worst non-goals addition yet in the category. Hoot hoot.

The Dinosaur Nuggets do their best to save the situation, mainly thanks to a quality XP gain. Only the Farmer Market Salsa (Basic Oven) produces more XP among 12 hour recipes, and since the salsa isn't unlocked until level 72 that makes the nuggets very valuable. However it does tank on profit and portions.

But there is another drawback to these three recipes which isn't completely clear from the ratings alone. Notice the sub-par profit per plate numbers? That's a consequence of something terrible - these three dishes offer only two coins per plate, as opposed to the usual four coins per plate. Nearly all of the foods with an unorthodox coins per plate number are original recipes, with the hundreds of dishes added since giving four coins per plate. That makes this very strange.

The reason to get worked up about it is the limiting effect these recipes will have on your cash flow. If you're selling the maximum number of plates each day that your layout allows, then it is the coins per plate which will determine your income. This is why I try to cook the Roast Chicken as much as possible, since it yields eight coins per plate, potentially doubling my income for a small time.

Yet as much as the statistics are damning I'm still feeling upbeat because of the fact these recipes have come on a new appliance. I still can't believe it!

Now it's off to the rest of the new content, starting with the Kids Table and Kids Chair. Both of these are quite bland, which is a slight disappointment considering the wacky nature of some of the other additions. I'd have liked to have seen some bursts of colour in there along with some zany patterns.

That's something we've got in abundance from the floor decorations. The Tunnel Playset is the biggest (and inevitably most expensive!) of the three, with so much going on. There are five kids on the loose, two twisting slides and an assortment of toys included. Complete with every colour of the rainbow, this is just such a fun piece!

In comparison the Bug Tunnel looks a little forlorn. There's nothing really wrong with it, but next to the Tunnel Playset it does underwhelm. And since you have to pay two thirds of the price of the larger item for this, I'd definitely be looking at the playset instead. It offers better value in my opinion.

There's also the Gate Divider which is the first 2x1 divider in the game. It's another bright one, and I quite like the fact that it comes as two dividers joined together - it feels like by buying it you save some coins! Of course depending on the size of the area you want to border with it there could be problems. An odd number of spaces on your boundary will leave you unable to accommodate the Gate Divider effectively.

Over to the walls, and there are another two coin additions, one of which is a door. With the Autumn Door removed a couple of weeks ago being the only other door for coins, it's good to see it replaced nice and quick by the Kids Door. However I'm not sure I'm digging the mini door within the larger one - it's cute but surely poses a safety risk if the menaces decide they want to escape?!

The Kids Menu continues the pioneering of the Yummy Sign last week. Another wall decoration spanning two stretches of wall, there's some great detail on this board, including the prices of the snacks advertised. This just wouldn't be possible with an item covering only one wall.

To provide a backdrop there are three choices of wallpaper, something which in itself is a bit of a novelty. The Sun Sticker is a gem each while the Tree Sticker and Bird Sticker are for coins. Forgive my possible ignorance here, but what is the idea behind these wallpapers? From the names I'd have assumed they were put together by the kids placing stickers on the wall, but the final design is too neat and tidy to make this plausible. Don't get me wrong all three are nice - it's just the names I have a quibble with.

The Foam Mats is a typical flooring for a kids play area, with lots of foam shapes joining together. The way it has been executed is very clever since you'll get a chequered pattern when placing lots of them next to one another. If you're going to add a playpen to your restaurant then this floor tile is a must.

Last but not least is the Alphabet Block. It is exactly what it sounds like, with a standard wooden cube engraved with a letter on each side. It's a good choice, although the four gem price tag will put a lot of players off.

As well as all the content related to the kids playground theme, there's a major Valentine's aspect to this update.

Notification for Valentine's Day content removal

It's terrific to be getting lots of romantic items on sale for 19 days, although the end result is that they will be removed. Almost all the stuff was already in the market, but up to six of the items are true limited time offers.

I'm actually unsure about the Be Mine sign and Heart Window. Are these completely new? I can't recall and a quick search is proving fruitless so if anyone remembers seeing either before do please leave a comment! Assuming they are totally new that means that the Valentine's season is officially underway in Restaurant Story!

Meanwhile the Valentine Fountain (Jan 2014), Classic Date (Nov 2012), Cupid's Arrow (Jan 2014) and Romantic Dinner (Feb 2014) are all definitely past LTOs which are making a triumphant return. I never really liked the Cupid's Arrow, but the other three are very much worth thinking about. The Classic Date has the added bonus of being right at home in a retro diner theme, so I'll have to weigh up whether to add it to my Bowling Alley!

As for the remainder of the highlighted Valentine's content which is up for removal, here it all is in a pretty table, with 20% discounts already applied:

Item	Cost	Category
Red Heart Table	4 gems	Tables
Heart Host Table	14,000 coins	Tables
Romantic Table	8 gems	Tables
Cupid's Table	3 gems	Tables
Love Table	16,000 coins	Tables
Red Heart	4,000 coins	Chairs
Romantic Chair	5 gems	Chairs
Love Chair	8,000 coins	Chairs
Cupid's Chair	4,200 coins	Chairs
Movie Poster	22,000 coins	Wall decorations
Cross My Heart	7,200 coins	Wall decorations
Cupid's Arrows	11,000 coins	Wall decorations
Heart Lights	5,500 coins	Wall decorations
Love Candy	22,800 coins	Wall decorations
Heart Floor Lamp	7 gems	Floor decorations
Heart Piano	39 gems	Floor decorations
Kissing Statue	28 gems	Floor decorations
Heart Statue	15 gems	Floor decorations
Valentine Candelabra	7 gems	Floor decorations
Romantic Park Bench	24 gems	Floor decorations
Amethyst Heart	15 gems	Floor decorations
Valentine Kitten	10 gems	Floor decorations
Love Snow Globe	26 gems	Floor decorations
Kissing Swans	24 gems	Floor decorations
Pink Couch	12 gems	Floor decorations
Valentine Robot	28,000 coins	Floor decorations
Valentine Divider	10,000 coins	Floor decorations
Love Birds	34,000 coins	Floor decorations
Table of Romance	19,000 coins	Floor decorations
Heart Swirls	1,900 coins	Floor decorations
Kissing Booth	14 gems	Floor decorations
Valentine Candy	16 gems	Floor decorations
Noodle Poodles*	24 gems	Floor decorations
Love Pug	6,200 coins	Floor decorations
Flying Heart	4,800 coins	Wallpapers
Hearts	5,600 coins	Wallpapers
Layered Hearts	800 coins	Wallpapers
Cupid	3,900 coins	Wallpapers
Heart	4,700 coins	Wallpapers
Candy Heart Stove	8,000 coins	Appliances
Fondue for Two	8,000 coins	Appliances
Valentine	5 gems	Counters
Romantic Counter	8 gems	Counters
Cupid's Counter	2 gems	Counters
Love Counter	6,400 coins	Counters
Date Night	10,000 coins	Counters
Valentine Chest	20 gems	Boxes
Love Chest	20 gems	Boxes

(*) Was added in an Italian themed update but now appears to be being classed as a Valentine's Day item

With 48 items set to drop, this removal is on a much greater scale to those which have come before it. And yet it doesn't quite include all the Valentine's themed stuff, which does mean there might be another to come. But with 19 days until the cull, we've got plenty of time to decide what disappearing items to invest in.

What this means for Christmas removals is anyone's guess! The market could get very busy if TeamLava opt to do a festive wipe before the Valentine's one happens, but I wouldn't put it past them!

The last matter to discuss in this update is also removal related, with the Coffee Bean collectibles collection added a fortnight ago now set to be taken out.

Notification for Coffee Bean Collection removal

It was an unusual feature, and now the game's developers have decided against it, at least for now. As well as the collection being dropped, the Gold Bean Statue will no longer be available in the market, although the four decorations making up the collection will remain accessible.

The way this feature is being removed quite formally (the notification window links to a relevant page on the TeamLava Forum) makes me believe that this was not originally planned. The reaction to this collection has been mostly negative but with lots of constructive feedback on how to improve it in the future, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see something similar again sometime with a little tweaking.

Yet again I've composed a post which is excessively long! What with two themes in one, another content removal and the ditching of a collectibles collection, it's no surprise I've gone on and on, but it's welcomed as it means there's lots happening in the game! And that's before we rejoice at the new appliance!