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| Introduction to space themed goals |
I was pretty impressed with the initial release - the selection of decor on offer gained an almost unanimous royal seal of approval, with only the Deep Space wallpaper bringing out any negative feedback. So what of the content which was accessed via the goals?
Let's start with the two floor decorations. The Infinity Dance Floor is unlocked first and is quite the groovy piece. There are three couples squished into this 3x3 item, with the range of costumes on show something to behold. Is this supposed to indicate that people from infinite eras are together in one scene? Or are they from infinite dimensions? Sorry but I'm at a loss and unfortunately I don't like it.
Space themed goals
I struggle to make sense of the concept behind this floor decoration, and the attached floor doesn't help the situation. I've always whinged about attached floors since they kind of force your hand when it comes to decorating, whereas I would prefer to choose my own flooring that goes with the rest of the surroundings.
Sadly the Galaxy Hologram also utilises an attached floor, with this one including some fairly basic stars and planets. There's a childish feel to this item which can be attributed not only to the basic shapes but also the colourful style. Typically I'd vote against this sort of decoration, but I actually think it's a fun and vibrant one. The floating stars and planets are nice and it's certainly imposing as a final goal prize should be.
The other item unpadlocked in the market is the Star Counter. It's one of those glass boxes, with stars and planets floating around inside. Because of the blue base I can't help but see this counter as a fish tank which probably isn't good news! However it is nice enough even if it is one of those glassy types which usually get me exasperated.
Now we move on to the appliance unlocked in these goals. As you'd expect the Starry Oven requires construction and calls for 6 Moon Knobs, 7 Star Knobs and 7 Star Dust.
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| Star Dust |
The last of these - the Star Dust - is a a new part located at the start of the gift list. As parts go it's a pretty cool looking one, with a stash of glittering stars stored inside a stoppered bottle. It's also nice to seee the Moon Knob and Star Knob both get another airing having each been used only once previously (for the Halloween goals in 2015).
Once you put together a Starry Oven there are three recipes awaiting (at least once you unlock them all).
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| Starry Oven recipes |
All three of these dishes are of a short duration which is not ideal for players with busy lives. And this is compounded by the eight day timeframe for this quest, which means that for a notable chunk of the community finishing the goals before the deadline will have been hard work.
The Lunar Cheese is an inspired choice for a space theme, but on the other hand the Star Cookies are so unimaginative. I reckon that's now 17 cookie recipes in the game - they're just a cop out at this point and really belong in Bakery Story.
Then there's the Jupiter Caramel Pie whose name had me stumped initially. A quick search suggests that this is based off the Jupiter caramel bar which was a confection found in Australia many years ago. Seems a bit random to me, but at least Jupiter cake is a real thing - I strongly urge you to give it a Google for some pretty awesome photos that will make you instantly hungry.
Enough on the aesthetics, let's have the ratings!
| Star Cookies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 3 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4.0 |
| Lunar Cheese | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 4 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 5 | 4.8 |
| Jupiter Caramel Pie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 5 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 4.2 |
On the face of it these three dishes are completely unremarkable on the statistical front. The profit and portions are mediocre for all three, and while the cheese and pie rate reasonably well for XP, they're not exactly out of this world.
However there's a catch in all of this, and it comes from the profit per plate. Seeing a purple score for that factor is nothing new, and since most foods will garner a similar profit per plate it tends not to be something I dwell upon. But on this occasion those ratings are almost exclusive to this trio of dishes. Why? Three words... coins per plate.
There are over 700 recipes have featured in Restaurant Story, and over 90% have come with 4 coins per plate. Of those that have not, the vast majority yield fewer coins per plate, with only a select group providing more. These three dishes have become only the eighth, ninth and tenth to join that select group, with each yielding 5 coins per plate. Just in case you're wondering, here's the full list:
| Recipe | Appliance | Duration | Coins per plate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Pies | Basic Oven | 2 days | 8 |
| Roast Chicken | Basic Oven | 2 days | 8 |
| Bacon and Eggs | Basic Stove | 3 mins | 6 |
| White Chocolate Berries | Romantic Stove | 1 hour | 5 |
| Star Cookies | Starry Oven | 2 hours | 5 |
| Lunar Cheese | Starry Oven | 2 hours | 5 |
| Jupiter Caramel Pie | Starry Oven | 3 hours | 5 |
| Creme Brulee | Basic Oven | 1 day | 5 |
| Glazed Ham | Basic Oven | 1 day | 5 |
| Stew | Basic Stove | 2 days | 5 |
So there's no doubt about it - the Starry Oven is a winner. The big benefit of a recipe with a higher than normal coins per plate comes when your counters are stacked and so you're already selling the maximum number of plates each day. The only way to earn any more income from cooking is to increase the amount you're getting from each serving, and it's coins per plate that does that.
So all in all this has been a very successful goals set. The content included has generally been of a high standard and leaves me inspired to have a go at doing a space themed section in my diner in the near future. Meanwhile the recipes bring something different and exciting to the table which is fantastic news - I spend so much time moaning amount the monotony of the dishes that it's only right that I highlight when Storm8 turn things on their head and spice them up.
The short timeframe for completing the quest and relatively short recipes was really the only major concern, and given that this has been flagged up by many players over the past week I wouldn't be surprised to see a slight tweak whenever the next batch of goals lands in the game.
Overall though, I'm a happy astronaut!
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