Cooking Fever: Restaurant Game 20.1.0

Time management games seem to be one of my favorite type of games for Android as of late. There's something addictive to the I don't know exactly what. Maybe it's constant mix of anxiety, enthusiasm and lust for coin. Come to think of it, this might be the recipe upon which our capitalistic world is running. Hmm...

Keep your gastric juices at bay!

Cooking Fever is a game about developing different types of restaurants by single handedly managing the cooking and the supplying. Depending on the type of restaurant, there will be up to four clients which you will have to serve different combinations of food and drink. The price for each item is fixed, but the sooner you fill an order, the more tip value you will receive.

Money is used between shifts for two things. You can improve your restaurant by adding and upgrading seating and other amenities to boost patron comfort. This influences how much tip you will receive and also how much patience a patron will have before going of as a sad panda for not having his bamboo sprout ready in time.

Upgrading your kitchen is also a very good investment. You will need more table space for storing more cooking paraphernalia in order to produce food faster and in greater quantity. You will also want to upgrade the ingredient quality in order to increase the item price. You will feel the difference with each upgrade, including ingredients. A tomato slice for example will look increasingly better with each level.

besides making money and upgrading, the sense of progression is also derived from two other mechanisms. You will be challenged to complete an ever increasing income threshold which requires upgrades but also speed and an efficient working style. The second thing is your career path. Once you complete your first list of challenges, more venues will be unlocked. While your first restaurant is a fast food type venue, others will focus on different products. For example the next two will be a bakery and a Chinese restaurant. They work more or less the same, but as ingredients and surroundings differ, so will the game feel fresh. At least nine times in a row.

The game feels quite happy to be played without any real cash investment... for a while. Even though during your first tour of duty you will only get to spend gems (the official crypto-currency of Freemium games) on resolving purchases instantly and unlocking third tier kitchen upgrades, after advancing you will notice that gems will creep in much earlier in a restaurant's development path. No worry, you will get free gems each time you level up. But I suspect that's not enough for the serious career cook.

Conclusion

Cooking Fever is a delight to look at, the shapes and colors are charming and very well defined. The control is good and the gameplay is engaging.

Just make sure you hold a glass of water near you while playing. Just looking at those hot dogs might make you feel thirsty.