Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon Game
- August 19, 2020
- Innervoid Interactive
- 13h median play time
Get on SteamIn Chef: A Restaurant Tycoon Game, players manage their own restaurant and kitchen, from designing the layout to purchasing equipment and ingredients. Hire staff, create menus, and serve customers while keeping an eye on finances and reputation. The ultimate goal is to build a successful restaurant empire and satisfy hungry customers with delicious dishes.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The recipe editor allows for extensive customization and creativity in dish creation.
- The game provides a fun and engaging restaurant management experience with a variety of customer types.
- The developers are responsive to player feedback and actively work on updates and improvements.
- The tutorial is unclear and does not adequately explain game mechanics, leading to confusion for new players.
- The game can become repetitive and lacks depth in late-game content, making it feel aimless after a while.
- There are numerous bugs and performance issues that hinder gameplay, such as staff getting stuck and customers leaving without being served.
- gameplay182 mentions
- 32 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The gameplay of the game has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it repetitive, simplistic, and lacking depth, particularly in its cooking mechanics and overall restaurant management. While some appreciate the potential of the recipe creation system and the variety of features, others criticize the poor tutorial, confusing interface, and performance issues that detract from the experience. Overall, the game seems to struggle with balancing engaging gameplay and user-friendly mechanics, leaving many players feeling bored or frustrated.
“The gameplay is enjoyable and my only complaint is the occasional bug.”
“Gameplay is the meat here; and the overall feel of owning a restaurant is there; in particular there is an amazing recipe creator that allows you to make what you want.”
“The gameplay is awesome, totally reminiscent of old-school tycoon games but with a lot more choices and customization.”
“The gameplay, which should be the heart of the chef, is where the game truly falters.”
“The cooking mechanics, a crucial element of the game, are disappointingly simplistic.”
“Its lackluster graphics, repetitive and shallow gameplay, poor performance, and frustrating AI combine to create an experience that is more tedious than enjoyable.”
- graphics164 mentions
- 23 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players appreciating the colorful and cute art style, while others criticize the visuals as bland, outdated, or lacking polish. Many users note graphical glitches and performance issues, suggesting that the overall aesthetic could benefit from improvements. Despite these criticisms, some find the graphics charming and fitting for a light simulation game, indicating a divide in player expectations regarding visual quality.
“Graphics and visuals: the graphic style of the game is colourful and attractive.”
“I really love this game, it's really fun and the artwork is beautiful.”
“The drawings are very cute and fit well with the game's general atmosphere; the in-game graphics are really nice.”
“First off, the graphics and presentation are underwhelming.”
“The visuals are bland and lack the polish expected from a modern simulation game.”
“The ugly visuals with ugly paintings ripped from some garbage wallpaper site are the cherry on top of this pile of shit.”
- story72 mentions
- 6 % positive mentions
- 89 % neutral mentions
- 6 % negative mentions
The game's story mode has received criticism for its lack of tutorials, leading to confusion for players who attempt to start there, while the sandbox mode is more accessible and better suited for learning the game mechanics. Many users find the story mode to be aimless and lacking in engaging quests or meaningful decisions, with some expressing a desire for a more developed narrative in future updates. Overall, while the potential for a compelling story exists, the current implementation feels rushed and underwhelming.
“Easy enough gameplay to learn through tutorials, immersive storyline, and devs who listen and take action.”
“The story mode is difficult, but I like how there are multiple strategies that work to accomplish the goals.”
“If this game continues to get regular updates, then it would be nice to get a somewhat long and progressable story.”
“Story mode also comes with an asinine 'make $50' initial quest which basically is throwing you to the wolves as a newbie, micromanaging salaries and ingredients to actually make that $50.”
“There are no quests and the decisions have no follow-up; you see no evident result.”
“Tried the story about 10 times; no matter what I do, I lose money.”
- stability60 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 97 % negative mentions
The game suffers from significant stability issues, including frequent crashes, glitches, and slowdowns that hinder gameplay. Many users report problems with object placement, recipe creation, and overall functionality, leading to a frustrating experience. While some players note minor bugs, the consensus is that the game is overly buggy and not ready for public release, with many recommending waiting for fixes before purchasing.
“Runs smoothly and not buggy at all.”
“This game is riddled with bugs, glitches, and errors.”
“Officially stuck at the loading screen and the game either freezes or crashes.”
“Frequent crashes, glitches, and slowdowns make playing chef a frustrating ordeal.”
- music42 mentions
- 43 % positive mentions
- 48 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its cute and calming qualities, while others find it repetitive and irrelevant. Many appreciate the soothing soundtrack that complements the game's aesthetic, though there are calls for more variety and customization options. Overall, while the music is generally seen as pleasant, it may not suit the game's high-intensity moments.
“I hope Luigi Di Guida was given a bonus for his amazing music.”
“The music is so good!”
“The music is pleasant and didn't become annoying in my (quite long) first gaming session.”
“The game sports a cutesy presentation and a soothing soundtrack, but don't get fooled!”
“While the game looks decent and the soundtrack is calming, the general sound ambience is minimalist to put it mildly.”
“Game music is boring and feels irrelevant.”
- optimization38 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 58 % neutral mentions
- 26 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with players reporting significant bugs, poor performance, and frustrating AI, leading to a tedious experience. Many users experienced crashes and low frame rates, particularly in late-game scenarios, and noted a lack of developer response to these issues. Overall, the game requires substantial quality of life improvements and performance optimization to enhance playability.
“Runs smoothly and not buggy at all.”
“Needs some quality of life improvements, bug squashing, and optimization.”
“I think it needs performance optimization to become a widely available game.”
“Moreover, the game is plagued with bugs and performance issues.”
“All I can say is that you should wait a little more before buying this game; some bugs are pretty big (like your head chef disappearing along with his skills) or the bad optimizations. Late game, when you have many clients, you get 18-25 fps.”
“Major bugs everywhere; you can't put decorations on some walls because they're glitchy as hell. Performance is so bad my gaming €1.5k PC couldn't run it properly, and it crashed in just 30 minutes of gameplay. The AI is stupid, and all of this makes this game so annoying to play. I've never felt so angry playing a tycoon game that was new.”
- monetization36 mentions
- 8 % positive mentions
- 14 % neutral mentions
- 78 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players feeling it leans towards a cash grab due to high advertising costs and the pressure to manage multiple expenses within tight time constraints. While the game offers various advertising options and customization features typical of tycoon games, many users express frustration over the unclear mechanics and the perceived ineffectiveness of paid advertising in attracting customers. Overall, players appreciate the depth of gameplay but are critical of the monetization strategy that can hinder their progress.
“In another, I'm dozens of hours in and still have almost no advertising available.”
“I love the idea of running your own restaurant, and an actual game instead of an app filled with microtransactions.”
“If you like old school restaurant games (not the awful in-app purchase ones that are everywhere these days) that have a lot of depth and can sometimes be tricky, this is the game for you.”
“At this point, it just feels cash grabby, and I cannot endorse it anymore... since it's pretty much the same game I played at the start.”
“So, basically, you have 1 day to make enough money to pay an entire week's rent, staff salary, maintenance, advertising, and cleaning, which feels extremely unfair.”
“I've had 3 careers now, all of which failed because I can't get anyone other than cheapskates in my restaurants who refuse to pay for anything and give me bad chef advisor reviews. I know you can pay for advertising, but it doesn't bring in many people and is very expensive.”
- grinding30 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The grinding aspect of the game is frequently criticized for being tedious and time-consuming, often overshadowing the more enjoyable elements like recipe creation and competition. While some players find the initial grind confusing but ultimately rewarding, many express frustration with repetitive tasks and a lack of engaging content, leading to a sense of boredom as they progress. Overall, the grind can detract from the overall enjoyment, making it feel more like a slog than a fun experience.
“At this point, it gets very boring and grindy, and I cannot really understand why the game got such positive reviews.”
“Most of your time is spent grinding to get to the actual fun parts, which is creating your own recipes, seeing how they do, and dethroning a virtual representation of Gordon Ramsay.”
“It's tedious and a slog to get through.”
- humor22 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by a mix of dry wit and playful absurdity, particularly evident in the quirky descriptions and the recipe editor, which allows for bizarre ingredient combinations that elicit amusing reactions from customers. While the text-based humor is generally well-received, some players note that the writing quality could be improved. Overall, the game balances its comedic elements with a challenging business simulation, making it accessible and entertaining for players of varying skill levels.
“There is an unforgiving business simulation hidden beneath the cute, simple graphics, sarcastic humor, and calm atmosphere.”
“It's surprisingly funny too, and the customer class system was an excellent idea that gives you quite a few ways to steer your restaurant (it's fully valid to be a greasy in-and-out working class hamburger joint or a sophisticated upscale fine-dining experience) with decor and marketing.”
“I love the recipe editor; it's especially funny because you can create the recipe with the weirdest combo of ingredients and names ever, and people in your restaurant will lose their minds.”
- replayability18 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 67 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
Replayability in this game is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the potential for endless replayability through mod support and yearly DLCs that introduce new content, others find little incentive to return after their initial playthrough. Suggestions like randomizing starting ingredients could enhance the experience, but several users express a lack of interest in replaying, deeming the game only worth a low price. Overall, the game's replay value seems to depend heavily on personal preferences and the desire for new challenges.
“I love the endless replayability of this game!”
“The replayability is fairly high, with little details revealing themselves through playthroughs that you will want to fix on the next go.”
“Overall lots to love about this game and the fact they allow mod support after release will make this replayable for years to come.”
“Unfortunately, I don't see any replayability in this game, since I have absolutely zero interest in ever playing it again. I would only recommend this game for like 5 dollars, to be honest; anything above that you shouldn't get.”
“Surpassing a Gordon Ramsay parody in the game's fictional best chef list only offers a brief enough distraction from the lack of replayability of the game.”
“The development company worked out a lot of the bugs regarding tables, moving customers, etc., but they have done nothing to finesse the game and make it more playable.”
- atmosphere18 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 17 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is characterized by cute graphics and a calm ambiance, but many players find it lacking depth and liveliness. While the interior design and decorative elements can enhance the atmosphere, the slow unlocking of customization options can lead to frustration, as a low atmosphere score significantly impacts gameplay. Overall, the game has potential for a more engaging atmosphere, but it currently feels hollow and could benefit from adjustments to the atmosphere mechanics.
“There is an unforgiving business simulation hidden beneath the cute, simple graphics, sarcastic humor, and calm atmosphere.”
“The recipe editor is very inventive and a lot of fun to work with, and while the customization options for your restaurant are limited at the beginning, it is very satisfying to create the atmosphere for your location.”
“The drawings are very cute and fit well with the game's general atmosphere; the in-game graphics are really nice.”
“The atmosphere feels very hollow in the game.”
“Players do not need very fancy and realistic scenes for a simulation game, and I just hope the chef can make the atmosphere (and the GUI) more lively.”
“Also, it takes forever to unlock new decorations, so you're constantly being dinged for 'atmosphere'.”
- character development4 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development is praised for its depth and customization options, allowing players to fully personalize their characters, restaurant designs, and menus. The variety in character design and effective animations further enhance the overall experience.
“I love how in-depth it gets with the recipe editor and the ability to fully customize your restaurant design, character design, and menu!”
“The character design is nice and varied, with some effective animation work.”
