Game update: 06/02/18

After I'd gone to my bed last night a new update landed in Restaurant Story, providing us an opportunity to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Introduction to Chinese New Year 2018 goals

It's the third time Chinese New Year has been given the treatment in the game, with the previous editions coming in 2014 and 2016. Both of those were released in January, meaning that this is by some distance the latest one we've seen.

And that is important because it has serious ramifications for Valentine's Day. Valentine's has traditionally been one of the big seasonal events on the calendar, with perhaps Christmas and Halloween the only two which trump it. But with the goals accompanying this Chinese New Year update not expected to expire until the 20th, it seems that Valentine's is going to be absent in 2018.

That's huge news really, although of course there is still a possibility of a sale of some description, so no need to get too aggravated just yet!

Back on-topic, and there are 11 items have been added to the market. Here's your comprehensive list:

Tables:

• Prosperous Table - 19,000 coins

Chairs:

• Successful Chair - 18,000 coins

Floor decorations:

• Lucky Orange Display - 20,000 coins
• Red Envelope Girl - locked by goal
• Lucky Dog Statue - locked by goal
• New Year Family Meal - locked by goal

Wallpapers:

• Brushed Gold - 8,000 coins

Floor tiles:

• Festival Red - 9,000 coins

Appliances:

• Lunisolar Stove - locked by goal
• Festival Oven - locked by goal

Counters:

• Happiness Counter - 21,000 coins

Of those additions which can be freely purchased from the start it's the Festival Red floor tile which is attracting my attention. That's because it is filling a gap which has existed for virtually all of Restaurant Story's history. Previously the Red Carpet was essentially the only purely red flooring, and it comes at 1 gem each. The Festival Red is very similar but crucially can be bought for coins. That opens up a world of new possibilities for players who hadn't previously invested in the Red Carpet.

Then there's the Brushed Gold wallpaper which is another success in my opinion. It consists of a golden wall covered in brushstrokes seemingly at random. It's a solid wallpaper which could be useful in scores of situations. And there's nothing else like it already available so a big thumbs up on this one!

So far so good, but what about the Lucky Orange Display? It's the only floor decoration on the go from the outset, and depicts a range of oranges stacked on a polka-dot tablecloth. There's a couple of issues here for me - first of all the tablecloth pattern is a little out there and conspicuous. And secondly I can see sparkles! Either those oranges are really shiny or the gamemakers have relapsed into shiny syndrome. Whatever the case it's nice to see the orange given some prominence in this update given that it is a symbol of luck at Chinese New Year.

Over to the Prosperous Table, whose bejewelled legs convey some grandeur. It must be said that this is another novel design albeit one I can't see myself using a whole lot. There's clearly a decent level of effort gone into producing it, and that is always a big positive in these times of recycled content.

The Successful Chair and Happiness Counter do not follow the same general style. This will frustrate plenty of the playing population, myself included. It's always nice to have a trio that link snugly, especially in this goals only era when they can all be obtained for coins. Nevertheless, the Success Chair is eye-catching thanks to its red appearance. The greatest chair ever released it is not, but it certainly has me thinking of Chinese New Year which can't be a bad thing.

The Happiness Counter feels like a really immaculate inclusion. The reflective top has been beautifully rendered, and the relatively plain sides draw further attention to that well-crafted texture on the leading surface. The use of light and dark is even spot on for creating that bevel effect. This counter really is a triumph for Storm8's design team.

And that does it for now. There are three further floor decorations which currently have a padlock over them, along with the two appliances. In order to access all of these goodies you'll need to make your way through the goals, more details of which can be found in my dedicated post here.

Opening step of Chinese New Year 2018 goals

Once all is said and done I'll provide a goals content report rounding up the quest as a whole.

Valentine's may be cancelled, but the early signs are that the game's developers have done a grand job of representing Chinese New Year.