Pizza Express

About

In "Pizza Express" , quickly manage a pizzeria, creating your own recipes and organizing your business, all while trying to become the top restaurant in town in just 30 days. With over 50 ingredients to unlock and a detailed management mode, this game is reminiscent of classics like Diner Dash and Cook, Serve, Delicious!

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

87%

Audience ScoreBased on 197 reviews

story20 positive mentions

monetization25 negative mentions

The game offers a surprising depth of customization, allowing players to create unique pizzas and manage various aspects of their pizzeria.
Charming retro graphics and engaging characters contribute to a fun and nostalgic atmosphere.
The gameplay is addictive, with a balance of management and arcade-style pizza-making that keeps players entertained.

The tutorial is overly long and tedious, making it difficult for players to get into the game quickly.
Mouse controls can be frustrating, leading to potential hand strain and difficulty in managing multiple ingredients.
The graphics may cause eye strain due to their pixelated nature and lack of visual filters.

story
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24%
72%
4%
The game's story is characterized by a charming and humorous narrative featuring quirky characters, with a focus on pizza-making and restaurant management. Players can influence the storyline through their choices, leading to multiple branching paths and endings, although some segments may feel lengthy or skippable. Overall, the story adds a delightful layer to the gameplay, making it engaging and entertaining for players who enjoy lighthearted narratives.
- “There's a fully involved story with quirky characters.”
- “The story is wholesome and well-thought-out; I honestly can't wait to see how it progresses.”
- “There's a branching storyline with many different characters to meet and choices to make.”
- “If you plan on following the story at all, don't - longest dialogue transitions of my life.”
- “The tutorials make my eyes bleed, the music makes me wanna die, and the story is a little silly, but you can skip/modify those things so it becomes bearable.”
- “Your character only exists in the story in a very faint way; I would have liked to have more interactions between my character and Gas (and other characters).”
gameplay
44 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
36%
57%
7%
The gameplay in this pizzeria management game is a mix of fast-paced, challenging mechanics that require players to efficiently create and serve pizza orders while managing various aspects of the restaurant. Although it can feel overwhelming at first due to the extensive mechanics and information presented, players find it rewarding once they become familiar with the systems. The game offers a high level of customization and addictive "one-more-turn" gameplay, though it may not be suitable for those who prefer less stressful experiences or have hand issues due to its drag-and-click nature.
- “The core gameplay consists of creating your own menu and then trying to serve pizzas to your clients on time.”
- “The gameplay itself is simple yet customizable in so many ways you'll never get bored of it.”
- “You can customize your pizzeria and pizzas heavily, and everything from which ingredient is on a pizza to the quality of them matters both in gameplay and in story.”
- “As for the gameplay, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like to deal with stress, as you need to deliver the orders as fast as you can to receive the best possible grade. Although you're free to develop your own menu with the desired names and ingredient combinations, it's advisable to remember them, as checking it often consumes time.”
- “Would like to play this game more, but unfortunately the gameplay involving constant mandatory and large dragging motions makes this a no-go for people with hand issues.”
- “Words cannot express how little this game expects of you, as you need to manually scroll through interactive tutorials on literally every single mechanic this game has, and wow there are a lot of mechanics for you to scroll through.”
music
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
40%
7%
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its catchy and nostalgic chiptune and 8-bit styles, often describing it as fantastic and memorable. However, some users noted that certain tracks can be repetitive and not to their taste. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a highlight, enhancing the gameplay experience despite some criticisms of its repetitiveness.
- “Loved the music choices.”
- “The soundtrack was fantastic, and often gets stuck in my head, and I really can't complain about that.”
- “Also, it has some very cool chiptune music.”
- “The music ranges from slightly grating to quite inspired.”
- “The music drives you up the f***ing wall!”
- “The tutorials make my eyes bleed, the music makes me wanna die, and the story is a little silly, but you can skip/modify those things so it becomes bearable.”
graphics
37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
32%
59%
8%
The graphics of the game are characterized by a nostalgic 8-bit art style that evokes memories of classic DOS and NES games, appealing to fans of retro aesthetics. While some players find the visuals charming and fitting for the game's theme, others criticize them as simplistic or hard on the eyes, with a few noting issues with readability. Overall, the graphics may not be cutting-edge, but they contribute to the game's unique charm and enjoyable gameplay experience.
- “I love the art style so much because it reminds me of the good old days when I was playing DOS/Win3x games on my dad's 386 PC back when I was a kid.”
- “The graphics might not be impressive like other games, but their vibe feels like a rainy night drinking hot chocolate at home.”
- “Charming retro graphics and visual design.”
- “Very low resolution art style, which I didn't like.”
- “Sure the graphics are a mere 8-bits and at times it can be a bit hard on the eyes.”
- “I am a fan of nice pixel graphics, but this one is not nice about that... text is sometimes hard to read, and overall visibility is usually low, especially before you get used to it.”
monetization
25 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization aspect of the game offers extensive customization and management options, allowing players to control everything from menu creation and ingredient quality to advertising and restaurant decor. While players can invest in various advertising strategies, some reviews suggest that advertising may not significantly impact gameplay, leading some to ignore it. Overall, the game provides a rewarding experience through its depth of management mechanics and creative freedom in running a pizzeria.
- “You will also manage advertising opportunities with radio, internet, flyers, etc. but on my second playthrough, I found advertising to not really be needed and since most choices were expensive, I ignored it for the most part.”
- “Advertising feels useless?”
- “You can also buy a wide variety of advertisements with different prices, different levels of effectiveness, different times of day, and targeted at different demographics.”
humor
15 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised for its quirky charm and entertaining dialogue, featuring amusing characters like an anthropomorphic cat named Gastone. Players find the comedic elements to be a delightful addition to the gameplay, making it an enjoyable and lighthearted experience. Overall, the game's humor enhances its appeal as a fun and engaging simulation of restaurant management.
- “The story is weirdly funny and has a unique charm to it.”
- “You’re hired by an anthropomorphic cat named Gastone who recently inherited his father’s old restaurant after it shut down, and his sole desire is to reach the top of the food authority – hilariously named F.L.A.”
- “A simple idea (making pizzas) made fresh with the addition of cute characters, funny dialogue, colorful 8-bit era graphics, and catchy (if a tad repetitive) music.”
atmosphere
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The atmosphere in the game is characterized by its charming retro style and customizable features, such as disco lights and music, which enhance the overall experience and appeal of the restaurant. Players can upgrade their pizzeria to improve its chic factor, positively influencing customer satisfaction and reviews. The delightful characters and engaging dialogue further contribute to a vibrant and immersive environment.
- “The characters, dialogue, and atmosphere are a delight, too: even the menus have charm.”
- “A retro-styled management sim plus arcade hybrid with a story campaign which is lovingly crafted, endlessly customizable, and overflowing with charming details and atmosphere.”
- “You'll want to upgrade your parlor with decorations and features (arcade? music? disco ball? wifi? high chairs?), which can improve your parlor's reviews (atmosphere) and make customers willing to wait longer (which you will definitely want).”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be excessively tedious and time-consuming, often requiring hundreds of hours to achieve 100% completion. Additionally, the slow-paced dialogue and tutorial system contribute to the overall frustration, making the experience feel prolonged and monotonous.
- “It's the most tedious, dire experience.”
- “Probably have to invest hundreds of hours of grinding to get it to 100%.”
- “The dialogue is quite tedious; it only displays about a half a sentence at a time, which makes the tutorials take forever.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Overall, the game's optimization is solid, with users reporting no performance issues at max settings on 1080p. However, gameplay elements like customer patience can impact performance during specific tasks, such as pizza-making.
- “The story is based on performance and dialogue options, which adds depth to the gameplay.”
- “I can run the game on max settings at 1080p with no performance issues.”
- “The staple customer patience, similar to Diner Dash, will naturally affect the performance of your pizza-making.”
- “The story is heavily based on performance and dialogue options, which can lead to frustrating experiences when the optimization is lacking.”
- “While I can run the game on max settings at 1080p without issues, the overall optimization still feels inconsistent.”
- “The staple customer patience, similar to games like Diner Dash, significantly affects the performance of your pizza-making, making optimization crucial.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
The game offers significant replayability, allowing players to test their speed and skills, while also featuring a dynamic story with different events and choices that encourage multiple playthroughs.
- “It has plenty of replay value too if you want to test your speed, which is an important measurement of your abilities in Pizza Express.”
- “The game is highly replayable, as different events happen each time you play through the story.”
- “You can replay the main scenario several times, with more than a few choices to explore.”
- “It has plenty of replay value if you want to test your speed, which is an important measurement of your abilities in Pizza Express.”
- “Replayable several times with the main scenario, offering more than a few choices.”
- “It is replayable, as different events happen each time you play through the story.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is characterized by a wholesome and thoughtfully crafted story, complemented by endearing characters that reflect the developers' genuine enjoyment of their concept. Players express anticipation for the narrative's progression, highlighting the simplicity and charm of the character design.
- “The story is wholesome and well thought out; I honestly can't wait to see how it progresses.”
- “The characters are also pretty wholesome, but they're simple and come from natural game developers having fun with their concept here.”