Restaurant City

4 out of 5 Light Cycles

Facebook games are a vapid waste of time, much like facebook itself. That's why you can find me pounding on my computer keys like a drunken monkey at least once an hour a day. I'm always interested in seeing new games that deliver depth and a puzzle.

Most games are point, click and your done for the day ala Mafia Wars and Pirates: Rule the Caribbean. Restaurant City provides you with limited choices but lots of design options. You hire fellow facebookers to work in your new diner. You begin with two people. Each worker must be assigned a job; including Cleaner, Chef or Waiter. There also choices to fire them or rest them. Both of the later options are stupid.

As the imagination can sieze you need a chef to cook the food, waiter delivers and a cleaner only needs to be used once a day to take care banana peels the accumilate. The real genius of the game comes in the lay out. You really have to experiement with different items schemes to maximize your staff.

There isn't a manual on how to play so everything is solely trial and error. This appeals to my curiosity-killed-the-cat. Right now I'm making my customers walk all the way to the back wall for seating. My theory is that the lag time will free up eating space at the counter. And I just bought a radio to up the mood in the joint. Do I know if this works? Not really. The only thing I have to go on is the customers giving a thumbs up or down after their meal and a tiny percentile number in the upper right hand corner.

A second layer to the game is you're menu. Every course that you serve has three ingrediants and daily you get a new one. I can only assume the wider your menu is the more customers walk into the doors. There is also an option to upgrade a meal that you already know. I'm not cool enough to know what happens then I'm only a level 5 owner. Right now I gouge my eaters $2 for every drop of gruel I sell. I don't get to set the price or anything so I wonder if a meal upgrade produces more expensive meal... If you have other friends playing the game you may swap scraps with each other to build better menus.

Finally, you go up in levels. You garner experience for every satisfied customer. Advancing in levels nets you a bigger space or more employees.

The reason I ddin't give it 5 out of 5 is that some folks aren't going to like the open ended nature of the game. Nothing is written out, hinted at or obvious. While I may love this challenge you with plebean brains can suffer under the challenge.
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Always a Bride's Maid