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| Introduction to Game of Thrones goals |
It's the first time that the game has taken on a TV or film series, and it certainly makes for an intriguing goal set. The likes of Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Hunger Games and indeed Game of Thrones itself have been covered previously in the sequel title, Restaurant Story 2, but it's a novelty to have one take the spotlight in the original game.
Perhaps the first discussion point should be the question of whether this is a suitable theme for the game. Game of Thrones is well known for its adult themes and gory scenes, but rest assured this update doesn't go near any of that. For that reason I don't think there's an issue here - to an impressionable young child this is just a fun theme headlined by dragons and wolves.
What's causing more aggravation around the community is the timing of this update. With many diners decking the halls with bows of holly, there was no shortage of anticipation for a Christmas update. But to be fair to Storm8 the goals dropped on 28th November which - in spite of the eagerness of some of my real-life neighbours to put their Christmas lights up - is not during the festive season in my book. There's lots of time for festive stuff to be released, so squeezing in a non-seasonal update was justified.
And on top of that there are some wintry elements to the update, most exemplified by the final prize from the bonus goals. So the game's developers have certainly acknowledged the most significant seasonal theme in the game, so complaints should be tempered.
However, why not put out a Game of Thrones theme while the series is on TV? The most recent season aired over seven weeks in the summer, and yet the gamemakers have opted to release when the show is in hibernation. Presumably they weren't in a position to put it out at that time, but to me that's just poor organisation and planning.
Perhaps the most impressive element of this update for me is how willing Storm8 have been to walk the copyright tightrope. Naturally anything created by the author of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R.R. Martin, and the TV series creator, HBO, is out of bounds, and yet they've included some truly great turns of phrase which come fairly close.
In particular the goals are a goldmine of puns from the realm. Followers of Game of Thrones such as myself can have a field day reading the goal text, and despite considering myself a serious fan, there are even a few which have gone straight over my head like a massive dragon flapping its scaly wings. My favourites are probably 'tales of spice and fire' and 'the fridge is dark and full of food', but I also love that the community visit goal was entitled 'Hold the Door Open'. And on top of that the caption for the tipping task was 'always pay your debts' - a lovely nod to the Lannister mantra.
I don't know about anyone else, but I usually tend to just skirt over the goal text. Feel free to tell me that that is disrespectful to Phoebe and Gran-Gran, but I'd rather just get on with the various challenges. So any quest which manages to slow me down and actually read the descriptions is doing well.
But that's enough about that - let's get to some of the unlockable content, starting with the Oven of Light. This is a 35,000 coin buy and requires 6 Metal Sheets, 6 Magical Bricks and 10 Instant Fires to build. The latter is one of two new parts introduced with this goal set, and in its green bottle is analogous to the wildfire which is so destructive in Game of Thrones.
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| Instant Fire and Steel |
For the first time ever, we have a duplicated part title. There is already a 'Steel' in the parts list, with the grey sheet first used for the Pretzel Stand back in September 2015. Fortunately they do look very different, but it's still a slight oversight by the gamemakers.
There are three recipes awaiting on the Oven of Light:
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| Oven of Light recipes |
And here's some more duplication - the Frayed Pie is a copy of the Meat Pie on the Basic Oven, albeit served up on a different colour of plate. I've said it before and I'll say it again - duplicating content from Bakery Story or other Storm8 games is not an issue for me, but from the same game? That's not right.
The Iron Enriched Scones come with a really pretty little doily, and the Brie Cheese Tart is a reference to one my favourite Game of Thrones characters, the mighty Brienne of Tarth.
Here are the respective recipe ratings:
| Iron Enriched Scones | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3.3 |
| Frayed Pie | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3.2 |
| Brie Cheese Tart | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 4.0 |
We've seen worse scores in the recent past, but that doesn't necessarily make these strong dishes. The scones have six 5 hour compatriots with identical numbers, and as you can see in the case of profit and portions these are not good numbers. The XP is more competitive, but ultimately it's just the latest in a long line of average 5 hour entries overall.
Both the pie and tart are one of five with the same statistics in their respective durations, and as with the scones, in both cases the others are all also recent additions. Otherwise there's little to say on the numerical side of things - we're dealing with fairly unexciting recipes on that front.
On to the second appliance featuring in the goals, that being The Wall Stove. Twelve Steel, 8 White Bricks and 8 Red Knobs are called for in the construction phase, with the Steel (the black brick-shaped one!) new with this quest.
Here come the new dishes:
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| The Wall Stove recipes |
I absolutely love the title Danny's Rice Pudding. For anyone not in the Game of Thrones loop, one of the leading protagonists in the series is called Daenerys. Obviously using her name outright would result in a court date, so the game's developers have come up with a cheeky way of incorporating the Mother of Dragons.
On the other hand, Tyr's Short Stack could be viewed as somewhat disrespectful. It references Tyrion Lannister, who is a dwarf. His condition is the subject of much castigation in Game of Thrones and I can't help but feel that a dish called 'short stack' is not in good taste.
The Black & White House Cookies are 27 characters long (including spaces) which makes it the second longest recipe name in Restaurant Story after the Cauliflower and Asparagus Tart which was only added last month. It is just too long to fit into the recipe list tile - I really wish Storm8 would stick to names that fit!
What of the ratings for these recipes?
| Danny's Rice Pudding | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 1 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3.2 |
| Tyr's Short Stack | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 5 | 3.1 |
| Black & White House Cookies | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profit | XP gain | Portions | Profit per plate | Availability | Rating |
| 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 2.6 |
Well, the rice pudding mirrors the Frayed Pie number for number. Such laziness! And the duplication continues with the stack which has five fellow recipes with the same make-up.
Luckily the Black & White House Cookies is more novel in the sense that it is only the 23rd food of 10 hour length we've ever had. Having said that, it does have a twin in the form of the Fruit Flowers (Fruit Bar) and ranks as the joint second worst 10 hour effort overall.
Turning to the floor decor unlocked in the goals, the King's Guard has made the long journey from Bakery Story. If your restaurant ever comes under attack then this armoured warrior may be handy. Otherwise it's a tricky one to place - some creativity may be required.
The Mad Dragon is 2x2 in size and depicts a fiery dragon emerging from some angry flames. It looks pretty cool but again there's the question of how to utilise it in a diner. My automatic thought was that it would be perfect for Chinese New Year when we get to the year of the dragon. Problem is the next one of them isn't until 2024!
The final prize is the Lone Wolf which is also 2x2. This piece is very similar to the existing and smaller Wooden Wolf, but this version has its head pointed slightly more skyward. So it's not exactly original, and this is only added to by considering the Ice Unicorn and Ice Wolves, both of which were prizes in the winter goals at the start of this year. Each of those carries a similar concept of an animal carved in ice. I guess you could maybe come up with something which makes use of them all.
All that remains are the bonus goals. I made some personal history last time out by walking away from these since I already had all of the prizes on offer. And I did the same thing again on this occasion. For a start only the final goal provides a reward which is a backward step from the Thanksgiving goals which yielded a decoration at every stage.
Game of Thrones theme
But what sealed it for me is that the final prize was the North Pole HQ which I already have in my inventory. It features some elves hard at work getting the toys ready and wrapped for Christmas. To be honest it's not an item I've ever rated very highly given that has those walls which restrict where it can be positioned. Nevertheless, having had it at hand since 2012, I've finally found a way to incorporate it into my festive layout this year. You'll see how later in the month!
Each of the bonus goals involved the cooking of one of three returning recipes on the Basic Oven. Since I wasn't partaking in the bonus goals and haven't been using my Basic Oven much of late these dishes had completely escaped my mind until a couple of days ago, and since I've been rather frantically trying to earn the level four mastery gems. Fortunately I already had the meter pretty far up so have topped them out without too much difficulty. There's no timer to indicate when (or indeed if) this trio of recipes will be removed, so I think we need to assume they will expire when the goals do on the 12th.
The bonus goals certainly have a go at appeasing those players who were craving Christmas, and also those who are less keen on Game of Thrones. I think it's a clever play by Storm8 to do this, although as usual there's plenty of knee-jerk and irrational responses elsewhere.
For me the best aspect of these goals has been reading what Phoebe had to say. Never did I think I'd say that! The integration of Game of Thrones has been really well done with the quest and the recipes, but unfortunately I'm not so sure about the decor. I always have to ask myself the question of how I would utilise the items, and on this occasion I can't come up with an answer.
But hey, if the game's developers are happy to have a go at mimicking Game of Thrones then perhaps Harry Potter will be next. Go on Storm8, I never got a chance to go to Hogwarts so bring it to me!
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