Create and manage your dream restaurant! Menus, shopping, decor, staff, equipment, diners, and of course the kitchen can all be controlled in Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator.
So many sims have been released this year, and this time, it’s Chef Life: a restaurant sim from developer Cyanide where you can compete for the ultimate Michelin star recognition. When I think of restaurant simulations, I immediately think of Overcooked, which tests your patience and ingenuity in order to cook all the dishes on time, or Cooking Simulator, where you have to cook the dish as accurately as possible. , which at the end of your machinations, will definitely not look like a restaurant.
This is another game that shows that it can be fun and interesting, complementing it with nice animation and control over what is happening not only in the kitchen but also in the restaurant.
What awaits us
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator is a simulation game that allows the player to become a real chef and manage their own restaurant. The player must develop his business, create and master new dishes, improve service and manage finances.
The game has many opportunities to develop and improve the restaurant, we can choose the type of cuisine, interior design, menu and much more. At the same time, the player must monitor their finances in order not to go broke and make their business successful.
Chef Life also offers players a meal creation experience, from serving selection to form and serving. And also players can participate in various contests and contests to show their skills and earn more money.
Story and restaurant
In Chef Life, you play as a freshly trained chef who is about to open and run his first restaurant, along with a friend who will help us. The game smoothly educates us and explains the intricacies of owning and running a business. You cook food in the kitchen just like in real restaurants, improve dishes, come up with something new, and look at profitability.
The entire gameplay has the structure of a working day. In the morning you come, prepare all the equipment and ingredients and choose the recipes that will be used in the evening, in the afternoon there are improvement events or quests, or maybe the chef of another restaurant will come to you and give you a couple of tips, and in the evening the main process of the game begins – cooking.
And as you might guess, everything here is related to cooking, and what you need to learn first of all is how easy it is to cook, and to cook in the literal sense. Each recipe is broken down into key steps with a list of ingredients that you can pin in your inventory to save time, or you can prepare ahead of time. For example, for a simple meat and potato dish that requires you to prepare the meat, which is easy to do with a few strokes of the knife on the cutting board, we still need to chop the garlic and potatoes, and while the meat is cooking, we need to add the onion to make the dish come out richer, and also salt, and also put the potatoes on the stove. And this is only the initial recipe, but recipes are being added that require much more preparation and movement.
And the more you make dishes, the more you remember them, and they will be useful to you in the future. I was very pleased when you understood. Where the thought of doing said Sim action in real life might give you hives, but in game it’s somehow a more compelling experience.
The exhausted mind pre-prepares too much food that is not for sale that evening, or turns around to fry something, and realizes that all the pans are dirty or used. As you progress through the game and the workload increases, you can ask the sous chef to help you prepare food, and the more you involve them, the faster they can do more complex things, thus making your life easier. Thus, it can be difficult to let go of the reins, but it is absolutely essential to avoid frustration and overload.
Day by day on your journey of becoming a chef so does your kitchen. You can hire multiple chefs and have them work together in teams. You are also responsible for purchasing products from suppliers. More expensive products often mean better quality. After some time, you yourself compose the menu and it is already in your power to surprise everyone with your creations. Running the restaurant itself is also part of your job. Your guests need to feel welcome, so it’s also important to create a welcoming space.
The visuals in the game are simple, and the animations of cooking or eating are pleasant, which cannot be said about the characters. All characters move as if in jerks or as if their movements are accelerating. But everything that happens on the screen is pleasant, and not to say that it hurts the eyes. But still, at some points, namely most often transitional animations or during the completion of one or another animation. As for the graphics, they are simple and strongly reminiscent of the Disney Dreamlight Valley style. Even though they are not photorealistic, they are perfect for providing that high level of real life you want from a cooking simulation.
Personalization and restaurant development
The game gives the illusion of working in real time, meaning that time doesn’t stop when you’re checking email, reworking, or reviewing your main story goals and objectives on the bulletin board in your office, all that time matters.
There are additional side quests in the game that have an expiration date. Offers tasks such as “cook five meat dishes”, for which you will receive financial rewards or experience.
Getting extra money means that players can buy upgrades from the restaurant. From cosmetics for a character to kitchen appliances or items for visitors, all purchases are made through the catalog located in the office.
Gaining experience allows players to unlock items such as new recipes and new food plates. Challenges keep the game flowing, never leaving the player feeling like they have nothing to do. Choose how you spend your time wisely, as certain tasks, such as testing and refining new recipes, will play any prep time you might need overnight.
I really enjoyed the time spent in the game. The game isn’t overly complex, but offers enough depth to show how much time and effort went into it. The plot is not the best, but it is much better than others, there is a story, and a progression, and characters. Getting a Michelin star is certainly reason enough to make your restaurant the best, but honestly it doesn’t matter.
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator is now available for PC via Steam.
This review was completed thanks to a PC key from PR.
