Game update: 18/03/15

This week there's an opportunity to invest in a new cooking style, with a rotisserie themed update.

Notification for rotisserie update

All of this week's content can be accessed at level 15. Here's the comprehensive list:

Tables:

• Sleek Table - 3 gems

Chairs:

• Sleek Chair - 5,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Rotisserie - 25 gems
• Rotisserie Station - 38 gems
• Modern Firewood - 15,000 coins
• Carving Station - 25,000 coins
• Busboy - 1,000 coins

There are also two fresh recipes on the Basic Stove and a final wave of Christmas removals, both of which we'll get to in a little while.

This is one of the most sparse updates (in non-box weeks) I can recall. We're well catered for on the floor items front with five additions, but otherwise there's only a table and chair to get our teeth stuck into. For me the floor decorations are the most important type of item so this doesn't really bother me too much, but obviously it would have been nice to have some wall décor, wallpapers and so on too.

At least the Sleek Table and Sleek Chair do look the part. They both have a polished wooden finish aided by the shine of silver metal. It's ever so slightly frustrating that the table has a black tone and the chair a touch of brown - this means they don't really go together which is a shame. Nevertheless the generic manner of these two does make them usable in just about any situation.

Now to those floor items, all of which can be viewed in this image from the Storm8 Blog:

Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog

Starting with the Rotisserie Station, it's the headline act of this update, and is massive! Height-wise it comes up as far as the walls (and maybe even beyond), and there's lots of components to it. I particularly like the cabinet case and foaming drinks but am impressed by the overall quality of this piece. Just as a matter of personal taste I'm not so keen on the roof overhead, but that may be related to the fact that it advertises 'Gran's Rotisserie' when it's clearly not Gran-Gran running the show!

If you don't have enough gems for the station then perhaps it's worth considering the slightly cheaper Rotisserie. Featuring chickens skewered and turning on the heat, this is a 2x1 item. There's an element of controversy to this one - there's already a Rotisserie in the game via the recently retired Autumn Gift Box. The one in the box is a touch more geared towards a kitchen setting, whereas this one has 'Chicken' plastered at the top, making it more suitable for being in plain sight of the punters. To be honest I think I prefer the box version.

The remaining additions are all for coins. The Carving Station is quite a size! It's 2x2 so is not on the scale of the Rotisserie Station, but it is large. The hunk of meat is bigger than the heads of the bots and the height of the table leaves them having to stand on tiptoe to get a look at the feast. Forgetting the ratio concerns, this is a cool decoration and might be a nice inclusion for Thanksgiving.

The same could be said of the Modern Firewood which has a slick way of storing logs. The slate grey frame and metallic cylinders might make it less conducive to a hearty home but it does have a quirky elegance to it which I like. I just don't have any idea how to utilise it.

Lastly there's the Busboy. Until looking it up I had no idea what a 'busboy' was! Unsurprisingly it turns out it's another American term I'm clueless about, referring to a person who is an assistant to the waiting staff. I make sure my waiters work hard enough in The Garlic Tree that we don't need a busboy! But since this lad is such a snip at 1,000 coins I'm all over it anyway, with the Busboy installed in my kitchen. After my redesign he'll work brilliantly alongside the Dishwasher from the Classic Kitchen box.

Having already exhausted the list of new decorations we move to the Basic Stove where the Braised Pork and Rotisserie Chicken are newbies.

New Basic Stove recipes

Once again it's pleasing to get dishes which are realistic and fill in a gaping hole in our cookbooks - I definitely want Braised Pork on the menu at my place! Here are the accompanying recipe ratings:

Braised Pork
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	4	6	1	9	4.0

Rotisserie Chicken
Profit	XP gain	Portions	Profit per plate	Availability	Rating
3	2	4	5	9	4.0

Crippling these foods is the 2 coins per plate on offer. This trait has developed into a trend with the last 14 recipes to be added all offering this lower coins per plate. It's now clear that this is a conscious decision by the gamemakers and it is not one which I like. I think I'll retain some of my thoughts for the next Suggestions Box...

Elsewhere the pork scores decently for portions, coincidentally offering the same number as the Roasted Pork Chops (Gas Stove) added in the mystery crime party at the beginning of the month. The chicken mirrors last week's Duck in Pastry (Basic Stove) closely with similar stats across the board and indeed earns identical ratings.

Overall I feel that Storm8 have become somewhat lazy with the recipes. Not only do new dishes tend to have figures very similar to existing ones (somewhat understandable considering the sheer number of dishes these days), but within a single update there are signs of sloppiness. Just look at the pork and chicken in this update - both cost the same amount of coins to prepare and provide the same XP gain. Plus the profit and portion yields are almost identical. And all this despite them being of different length.

I should balance things up though with a brief comment on the quantity of recipes of late. With four additions to the Basic Stove last week, we're minted with choice at present, and it all adds up when it comes to mastery gems. For players like myself who have mastered everything in the game new dishes on a timely basis cannot be underestimated in their importance - it's key to keeping things interesting.

Before I sign off there's a last round of Christmas content removals to look at, with 33 items to be erased from the market in five days time.

Notification for last Christmas content removal

Here is the full list with a complimentary 20% off everything:

Item	Cost	Category
Candy Cane	60,000 coins	Tables
Festive Table	58,000 coins	Tables
Reindeer Table	60,000 coins	Tables
Gingerbread Table	60,000 coins	Tables
Twinkle Table	1 gem	Tables
Crystal Table	7 gems	Tables
Frozen Lake Table	12,000 coins	Tables
Candy Cane	1 gem	Chairs
Festive Chair	2 gems	Chairs
Sleigh Chair	1 gem	Chairs
Gingerbread Chair	1 gem	Chairs
Winter Jacket Chair	4,000 coins	Chairs
Twinkle Chair	1 gem	Chairs
Crystal Chair	30,000 coins	Chairs
Holiday Gift Door	8 gems	Wall decorations
White Wreath	6,000 coins	Wall decorations
Santa Hat Banner	8,000 coins	Wall decorations
Hanging Ice Skates	6,400 coins	Wall decorations
Sleigh Bell Garland	7,200 coins	Wall decorations
Sled of Gifts	20 gems	Floor decorations
Snow Angels	60,000 coins	Floor decorations
Build a Snowman	40 gems	Floor decorations
Bag of Gifts	24 gems	Floor decorations
Little Helper	40,000 coins	Floor decorations
Gift Opening	36 gems	Floor decorations
Snow Globe Fountain	60,000 coins	Floor decorations
Frozen Lake	3,200 coins	Wallpapers
Frozen	800 coins	Floor tiles
Frozen Counter	8,000 coins	Counters
Crystal Gift Box	20 gems	Boxes
Winter Crate	20 gems	Boxes
Holiday Gift	20 gems	Boxes
Winter Wonderland	20 gems	Boxes

Like with the other Christmas removals, the game's developers have kindly put some festive content of yesteryear back on the market for the duration of this leaving sale.

Interestingly not all of the items in this removal are actually from Christmas updates. Indeed everything that wasn't a goal prize in the Winter update back in January is up for removal. And one of my favourite boxes - the Winter Wonderland - is being dropped which is disheartening. This is your last opportunity to pick up any of the stuff listed above so get moving!

All in all this isn't the finest Restaurant Story update of the ages, but it's by no means a shocker either. The small number of new items is a shame, as is the poor quality of the two new recipes. But any new recipe is good news for the old gem bag, and I have to give some credit to Storm8 for coming up with another theme which is actually restaurant related.