Sometimes, happiness and peace of mind don’t require much — just spending time with friends, having fun, and, ultimately, opening your own restaurant! If this sounds familiar, then Restaurats, today’s subject of study, is for you. Polden Publishing and studio toR have announced the cooperative game Restaurats. Players join forces as a pack of giant rats running a medieval restaurant for fantastical creatures.
The cozy fantasy setting blends in perfectly with the gameplay and other aspects of the game. For instance, vampires are typically considered to be antisocial, and this is precisely how they are portrayed in the game.
While the game lacks a clear storyline in all its modes, the setting is ideal for the engaging restaurant management experience it offers players.
In this new cooperative medieval restaurant simulator, you must complete all the usual tasks: tidying up, washing dishes, decorating the interior and, of course, cooking food. At first glance, it seems like a standard chef’s job. But there’s a twist: you have to walk a mile in a rat’s shoes — literally!
Among the customers are goblins, skeletons, orcs, and other fantasy creatures. Not all of them want to sit at the same table, so managing seating arrangements is crucial. Sometimes VIP guests arrive: if it’s the king, prepare a three-course meal; if it’s a cheeky orc, you’ll first have to beat him at arm wrestling, then feed him. Some lazy gourmets even order takeaway, which you have to give to the couriers.
There are two main game modes: Career Mode and Friendslop Mode. In Friendslop mode, your goal is to survive for 21 days without leaving any dissatisfied customers or getting into debt. Each playthrough is different thanks to random upgrades that give you access to new dishes, furniture and expansions.
In contrast, Career mode focuses on the reputation you can build by successfully serving customers. Reputation unlocks new upgrades and customers. Upgrades are randomised in Career mode too, but the reputation-based gameplay prevents you from progressing too quickly, which helps to maintain balance as the game progresses.
However, there are a few issues; cooking and packaging dishes could be improved. You just need to place all the ingredients on the table for packaging, press E to package them, and then either put them in the oven if the recipe requires it or take them directly to the customer. What’s missing is interaction with the food and cooking animations, like in Schedule 1 or Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator.
Providing a little more detail about the cooking process would make it much more engaging, especially in Friendslop mode, where everything happens much faster and you can order ready-made ingredients. The key is to mix the ingredients quickly.
However, being a model owner can quickly become boring — the real fun comes from chaos.
In the basement, the rats have their own blackjack table, a cabinet, and a wheel of fortune that dispenses cosmetics and animations. You can find decorations for the hall in the chests, but these pale in comparison to the baguettes — they’re fresh, but judging by their impact, they’re stone-hard!
Is the disobedient cook slow? A preventive baguette will solve the problem. Are the imps running wild and scaring away visitors? A preventive baguette will solve that problem, too. Tired of an insolent goblin? A preventive baguette will solve the problem. Didn’t share your ushka with a friend and want to prove your independence? Grab your baguettes and have a duel!
While the game can be played alone, it is most enjoyable in co-op mode, where you can work with friends to make your restaurant prosperous. However, Restaurats loses its meaning alone: without friends, neither the original concept nor most of the mechanics work. They work, but without the main component — fun. For those who love chaos, there’s a separate Friendslop mode — 21 days of madness and endurance tests where systematic levelling and interior design take a back seat.
In addition to the hustle and bustle of the kitchen, the restaurant delights with its well-thought-out progression system. You gradually improve both your character and the restaurant itself. As you play, new recipes and dishes are unlocked; the more complex the recipe, the greater the reward for selling it. After just a few hours, you will feel as though you are Remy from Ratatouille.
The rat gains experience, levels up, and unlocks new skills. For example, it can cook faster, level up more efficiently, or carry more dishes. In special outfits, the chef rat becomes an impressive rodent.
Each rat chef has its own abilities, develops in its own way, and can be customised by the player. At the end of the working day, participants will receive bonuses affecting dishes, abilities, or income. These bonuses will boost the restaurant’s efficiency in preparation for the next invasion of evil forces.
If things go well, players can improve the restaurant with the help of blueprints, increasing its capacity and functionality. However, money is needed not only for development, but also to pay taxes. A percentage of the profit must be paid for each item in the kitchen every day, whether it is being used or not. At least it’s more interesting this way, though, because there’s a chance that there won’t be enough money for tomorrow, resulting in Game Over.
As in real life, special attention must be paid to serving VIP customers with special requests in order to receive additional rewards.
We invest the money we earn in developing the restaurant: we buy blueprints for new premises and furniture, expand the dining area and kitchen, and decorate the interior. This increases the capacity of the establishment and attracts more customers. Our dreams of creating the best tavern in the kingdom remain undiminished — it’s no coincidence that the game’s goal is to “become a legendary rat chef”.
For its genre, Restaurants seems to be a surprisingly deep game. At the same time, however, it remains accessible — you can safely skip the hardcore elements, or choose a difficulty level that allows for an easy, fun playthrough.
However, there are some nuances. The levelling system, especially the distribution of experience among team members, clearly needs refinement. If you are standing at the reception desk, for example, you can forget about a quick promotion. All the glory goes to the cooks and waiters.
Despite quick balance adjustments from the developers, the pace of progression is still too slow, and new content is unlocked too randomly. Sometimes it feels like you’re treading water, performing the same actions repeatedly for the same resources. Fortunately, such moments are rare.
Unfortunately, Restaurats doesn’t offer much to keep players engaged for long and can get boring relatively quickly. However, any shortcomings here aren’t so bad — you can experience a lot of positivity, chaos, and fun in just a few evenings, especially in the company of friends. If the developers can come up with something that sets the game apart from other cooking simulators and tavern or restaurant management games — besides rats and a few events — then the game has enormous potential. Right now, though, the game is struggling to keep players engaged. However, if you’re looking for an interesting tavern simulator, put on your aprons, grab your baguettes, and become a legend of rat cuisine. Bon appétit!
