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| Notification for Presidents' Day update |
Presidents' Day is on the third Monday of February, and so this year lands on the 20th, this coming Monday. It is a federal holiday in the US, and honours George Washington, the first president of the United States.
Apologies to US readers for including that background - here in the UK we don't tend to do patriotic holidays!
Now that that housekeeping is out of the way let's get into the intricacies of this update. First of all, it is only rolled out automatically for iOS users. Android players will need to install a new version of the game enbtitled 'Restaurant Story: Founders'. Thanks to Nibble and Noms for the heads up on this!
For players at level 33 and above there are 11 new additions in this update, including an appliance which will make headlines. More on that in a bit - for now here's the complete list of fresh content:
Tables:
- Presidential Table - 7,000 coins
- Presidential Chair - 11,000 coins
- Presidential Window - 5 gems
- Washington Statue - 20 gems
- Presidential Meeting - 60 gems
- Roosevelt Bear - 20,000 coins
- Lincoln Bust - 28,000 coins
- Art Gallery - gems (LTO)
- Presidential Room - 7,000 coins
- Checkered Marble - 5,000 coins
- Founders' Oven - 5 gems
- Resolute Counter - 5 gems
The moment I saw the theme of this update I was concerned for a couple of reasons. First of all, not being from the UK I feared that I'd feel 'alienated' to some extent, with the decor being wildly patriotic and not of any appeal to me. And secondly, I was anxious that this particular theme may not be the most tactful of choices by Storm8 given the turbulent political climate at present.
Following the update's release I can't say that the second of those concerns has really influenced my thoughts. But unfortunately the first does - Presidents' Day? Really?! I'm getting on my British high horse here, but we generally detest all our politicians over here and don't take any time to revere former prime ministers, with the exception perhaps of Churchhill.
And I say all this as someone who has not long finished binge watching The West Wing (which I highly recommend - Aaron Sorkin is a genius of a writer!) American patriotism is never far away in that show, but generally I expected it, whereas that is not the case in Restaurant Story.
Of course Storm8 are an American company and have every right to provide updates which are US-centric, and in fairness they don't do so all that often. But nevertheless it may be worth bearing in mind my indifference when reading my thoughts in this post - they probably have an effect on the tone!
Enough with the patriotism lecture! Here's a glimpse of the new stuff in this update which was posted on the Storm8 Blog yesterday:
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| Items from update as shown on Storm8 Blog |
The big buy is the Presidential Meeting at 60 gems. This decoration is supposed to depict a discussion taking place in the Oval Office at The White House, although the American flag in the left corner is the only real indicator of this. Otherwise it can pass as a generic seating area where well dressed bots are enjoying a drink. To be honest I'd rather have the Slate Fireplace or Luxurious Lounge - both are 50 gems so are not competitively priced, but they are still cheaper than the Presidential Meeting and do a better job of conveying the kind of grandeur you want in a fancy restaurant. I just couldn't ever advocate such a serious gem spend on this item.
Staying with the floor decorations, the Washington Statue will set you back 20 gems. Featuring George Washington and his horse cast in glittering bronze, this is a reasonable piece which I think can justify its cost. It's quite tall and is a rare example of an item where the gamemakers' use of a speciality - sparkles - can be vindicated. I find the stars around the plinth a little garish, but it's not a bad decoration.
The other two floor decorations introduced in this update can be obtained for coins. At a glance the Roosevelt Bear is an odd way of giving a nod to Roosevelt, but some research reveals that the teddy bear was actually named after Roosevelt who was known by the name 'Teddy', even if he detested it. This bear is wearing a hat and a pair of glasses, and is holding a book. It's make believe stuff which may appeal to some, but for me it's just a little too zany.
The Lincoln Bust is much more traditional, with a bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln placed on a wooden desk. It's okay I guess, but how exactly could it be used in a restaurant?
For me the highlight of the update is the Presidential Window. We don't have all that many windows which are detailed and have clearly had lots of work put into them. This one certainly ticks those boxes thanks to golden curtains partially pulled across. Consequently it's such a shame that it weighs in at 5 gems each. But it's so attractive that I could see myself willing to fork out in the right surroundings.
The golden style is continued by the Presidential Room wallpaper and Checkered Marble flooring which fortunately are both available for coins. I like that these are of fairly generic design, meaning that they are flexible and can be used in all manner of scenarios. And the floor tile is also rather distinctive - there's nothing else quite like it already on the market.
In contrast the Presidential Table, Presidential Chair and Resolute Counter look familiar. As good a job of putting together wooden textured tables as Storm8 do these days, they have saturated the market to some degree. The Rainy Day Table, Deli Table, Panini Cafe Table and Barnwood Table are just a few examples of similar tables already available to purchase, and the same goes for the chair and counter.
Finally we have the Founders' Oven which doesn't require construction, mainly because it comes with a 5 gem price tag. This makes it only the third appliance to be made available for the premium currency after the Pub Stove and Bastille Stove in summer 2015. We've had to wait more than 18 months for another, and I sincerely hope this is a one-off and not the start of something more ominous.
I suspect I gave the same speech when those previous two were released, but cooking recipes is the core of this game, and by only making them accessible with gems, the gamemakers are inevitably going to incur the wrath of a sizeable proportion of the community. It maybe isn't all that significant for players who have not mastered every dish, but for those long timers who are always on the lookout for new food to cook, this is a big letdown.
Ultimately I did buy one of each of the previous gem cookers and will eventually do the same here, just to have mastered everything if nothing else. However for now I'm holding off as my gem bank isn't exactly as healthy as I'd like. Therefore I must thank pcabral03 over on the Storm8 Forum for posting a snap of the three recipes on the Founders' Oven:
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| Founders' Oven recipes |
The main thing to take away from these dishes is that the stuffing is served in a hat. You what?! That's just weird, but at least the Washington Apples look great. Compare a recipe like this to something from the early days of the game and you get a clear idea of how the design team at Storm8 have improved over time.
On to the ratings:
| Founders' Food Pie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 4.9 |
| Washington Apples | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 4.8 |
| Stovepipe Stuffing | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 6 | 7 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 6.4 |
Generally the outlook is pretty good. The Founders' Food Pie lands 9th spot overall in the 3 hour duration, while the Washington Apples charts at 12th in the 6 hour bracket despite there now being 77 such candidates.
But it's the Stovepipe Stuffing which seems to have the most eye-catching statistics. Green is the prominent colour, although it should be noted that the 16 hour length is scored quite highly in general. Only five 16 hour offerings can boast a higher XP gain, although one of those is the Slalom Salad (Winter Furnace) introduced just two weeks ago. Incidentally the stuffing matches the Bagpipe Ham (Folk Oven) blow for blow - usually I use this as a stick to beat Storm8 with but on this occasion I'm just quite amused since it has taken the best part of five years for a recipe to pop up with the same numbers.
Let's move on to one last item of note, with that being the Art Gallery floor decoration.
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| Notification for Art Gallery limited time offer |
I believe this item has only ever been up for grabs once before, that being in April 2014 when it was also a limited time offer. On that occasion it cost 40 gems so this deal represents a 20% saving on the original cost.
This is a pretty nice decoration which certainly comes at a size which justifies the high fee. However the built-in walls are a turn off for me as it really restricts where you can place this item in your diner. In combination with some of the new stuff in this update though you could really put together a very successful museum layout.
And with that we have reached the end. I do try to be upbeat as much as possible but fear that I may have left a moody trail in my wake on this occasion. I suppose the whole Presidents' Day concept just doesn't come easily to me, which is always the risk when releasing themes relevant only to the US. Despite this there are one or two successful additions which I'm sure will come in handy at some stage. Unfortunately the appliance is not one of them - here's hoping that the prohibiting of gem cooker releases is on the President's agenda tomorrow!
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