Recipe
for Disaster by developer Dapper
Penguin Studios and publishers Kasedo Games and Kalypso
Media Digital Ltd.—PC Early Access review written by Susan N.
with a copy provided by the publisher.Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Recipe for Disaster is a hilarious test
of micromanagement skills. Players must run an entire restaurant like a true
business owner by building and altering the establishment, hiring staff,
creating the menu, and managing customer expectations. With all of that,
players must complete objectives to advance to the next level.
Let's toss the fish in a barrel and light
some kitchens on fire, shall we?
Gameplay
There's a reason that restaurants tend to
fail within the first five years of opening. That is because it's one of the
hardest professions to have due to the cost. Having worked within the fast-food
environment, I'm no stranger to the basic principles of keeping a restaurant
running. Unlike other businesses where people can simply return a product for a
refund or a replacement, the restaurant business also has to make sure that
customers aren't having allergic reactions to food, adhere to safety
principles, and manage the high cost of waste. Never mind the fact that your
equipment can fail in a variety of ways. It may not seem like that is much, but
when you work in the foodservice industry, there tend to be a million aspects
that staff have to consider.
Now that we've got that out of the way,
Recipe for Disaster is exactly what you expect it to be. Players are tasked
with completing various objectives while paying attention to the minutia of
owning a restaurant. The game begins with an easy level where the objective is
to serve a certain amount of customers. The restaurant doesn't have much going
for it in terms of menu options or any of the complicated situations at this
point in the game, but your staff are newbs. They set things on fire because
they are bad cooks.
After playing the game for a decent
amount of time I find myself strangely addicted to the early access game. It is
well balanced in terms of the staff personality traits and tasks, your ability
to change and add restaurant features with ease, and checking the user reviews
immediately after they leave the establishment. These gameplay aspects help the
player to create the best restaurant experience possible as they fight fires in
the kitchen, decorate their dining area, and fight with staff to complete their
tasks. Regardless, I had a ton of fun playing the game.
However, despite the amazing foundation
that Recipe for Disaster has, there are some minor flaws and quality of life
features that I would personally like to see fixed or added.
Heating Up the Grill
(Minor Issues)
For one thing, I'd love to have a little
more variety in the build menu. A cooking game that excels at this is the Cook,
Serve, Delicious series which rewards players with decorations and upgrades.
After every level, players earn money that they can use to purchase recipes or
items. While I do really love that players can create their own masterpiece
recipes, I felt underwhelmed with the decoration options. Unlike management
games like the Sims, Recipe for Disaster only has one toilet option. What the
developers have done is opted to allow players to put a stall door on a wall
instead of a bathroom stall being its own item. When working with limited
space, it would be amazing to have a little more variety in the build menu.
Another minor grievance about the build
menu is how unintuitive it can be at times. As an example, I built a customer
bathroom because there wasn't one available (a point I'll get into
momentarily). It wasn't until much later that I discovered that I had placed
the ceiling light outside of the wall! Not only did the customers not complain
about it, but I felt that the lack of camera control was frustrating at times.
Additionally, in many countries, sit-down restaurants MUST have public
washrooms otherwise they aren't allowed to open. Just keep that in mind.
Finally, players can't designate a break
area for staff that I know of. There is often a predesignated bench located
outside that staff can take breaks at. The problem is that players cannot build
additional benches for the staff. Nor can they place a table because the game treats
those as customer-only usage. Essentially, I think what the game lacks, in this
case, is simply a small menu to create a break room.
Incidentally, the build menu isn't the
only minor grievance I have about the game. There were several points where
staff idled in the middle of the dining area, without having a server stand or
cash register. Furthermore, there were times where the staff would idle in the
bathroom! Not only did that not go over well with the customers, but I found
that the staff would sometimes return to the same location. Yes, we can move
the staff but the customers would ignore the presence of others until after
they left. Yikes.
Graphics and UI
Recipe for Disaster is graphically neat
with its cartoonish style and relatively easy UI. The characters have different
personalities as well as likes and dislikes. At any time, players can view the
thoughts of their staff, look at the desires of their customers, and manage
their restaurant accordingly. It has a decent variety of wallpaper colors and
textures to choose from. Plus, when the kitchen catches fire, it is comedy gold
for a short time.
What really makes Recipe for Disaster an
amazing title is the UI design. Players are able to switch to build mode to
modify features while in the middle of a level. They are also able to designate
cleaning areas in and out of the restaurant giving the game a more realistic
feel. In fact, there is an adjustable sliding bar that indicates how dirty a
location has to be before a staff member will go over the area. But despite
that, it was mildly annoying to have to click on individual tables to get staff
to clean them.
Pros and Cons
For the pros of the game, I have a list
of excellent aspects of Recipe for Disaster.
●
Players control everything
including the uniform look
●
Excellent foundation for an Early
Access title
●
Graphically pleasing
●
Well balanced gameplay that gives
players tons of useful information
●
Has a roadmap that will include features like a bar
area and future Twitch integration (I have horrific visions of this already!)
●
Staff level up over time. They get
perks based on the most used job function, which is a great addition in my
opinion
The cons in Recipe for Disaster are
mostly minor issues that are not game-breaking in the least. Among them are:
●
Cannot setup a break room
●
Needs more item customization
●
The physical building of the
restaurant is a bit of a pain
●
The UI size cannot be adjusted.
This can be an accessibility issue
●
There isn't yet a sandbox or free
play mode however, this is being actively worked on according to this dev update post
Final Thoughts
Recipe for Disaster is a wonderful time
sink that I thoroughly enjoyed. It has everything needed to create a fun and
challenging gameplay experience. I had a fun time managing the tasks,
customizing my restaurant, and puzzling out the needs of customers.
Of all the cooking based simulators
out there, Recipe for Disaster is quite high on my list. It is both challenging
and enjoyable to play. The UI is well laid out, the game has a great aesthetic,
and it is quite entertaining. It is complex enough to keep players invested in
their restaurants, and yet the game is rather relaxing to play. It is my
opinion that despite the fact that Recipe for Disaster is in the Early Access
stage, the game is spectacular. Management sim fans do yourself a favor and
grab this game. You will love it!
Score: 9/10
