There’s a huge advantage in the mobile gaming market nowadays, that has become crucial for a big amount of developers: you don’t need to make an eye-popping games full of superb graphics to be successful. As a consequence of this, games are now rated for their content, theme, ability to hook people, and creativity. This is the case of Kairosoft: a company that has really hit the spot with their Time-Resource management games. And one of their latest releases just confirms this. Let’s take a look at “Cafeteria Nipponica”.
Name: Cafeteria Nipponica | Developer: Kairosoft | Genre: Sim, Resource Management | Players: 1 | Version: 1.0.0 | Size: 5.0 MB | Price: $4.99 (Full) | Free (Lite) | Rating: Everyone
In the game, you act as the manager of a newborn chain of cafeterias, and it’s your job to make it triumph over the competence. With that purpose in mind, you’re given the oportunity to choose between a set of starting dishes, that you’ll be complementing and improving as the game goes by. You’ll also be in charge of buying ingredients and furniture, as well as hiring personnel and remodeling/moving services. All while keeping a close eye on your budget, to avoid getting to red numbers by the end of the year.
Graphics: 7/10
Just like every other game by Kairosoft, you’ll be finding your way around classic 8-bit graphics, with fancy animations and original coloring. This will be specially delightful when remodeling your store(s) and buying new furniture. Don’t expect to find those 3D big-ass graphics you love so much.
The game seems to have a hard time dealing with Tegra 3’s processor, so you better turn on “perf. mode” on settings.
Sounds/Music: 6/10
As much as I liked the Pokemon saga, there’s something complicated with repetitive music. If you’ve previously played some of Kairosoft’s games (If you haven’t, start purchasing them right away and get ready to lose social contact with the world for a couple days) you’ll be familiar with the catchy music of the game; but you can get tired of it once you’re deep inside the game, and you’ll probably end up either muting your device or serving dishes while singing some Johnny B. Goode by yourself.
Gameplay: 10/10
And now to the ‘not just good’ part of it. Let’s put it straight: Kairosoft’s games are dangerously addictive. There’s just so many things you can do with the game, and so many others you’ll discover as you progress with it, that it’d be a shame to spoil all of them, so we’ll just put on the basic stuff: you can develop your dishes, obtain new recipes, hire floor and kitchen personnel, fight your way to contract special personnel (just be careful not to end up paying your special chef ten times the wage of any of the others), open some more cafeterias around the city, move or remodel old ones, get some nice looking furniture, stroll around to find delicious ingredients… the list seems endless, so why not check it out by yourself?
Controls: 8/10
In portrait mode, you can work with a 5-way controller (you’ll miss this one as soon as you get in landscape mode), as well as left and right keys; you can also use direct touch controls for the game.
One nice thing about the game is the possibility of using Asus Dock’s keyboard to play; pretty cool if own a TF101, Prime, TF300.
Conclusion:
With their unique style and their cute graphics, Kairosoft sets the bar higher again, giving us a complete experience in the world of restaurants and inviting us to eagerly wait for their next release (oh! wait, it’s already here: Pocket Academy). So, if you get easily attached to Sim and Resource management games, this is an excellent chance to get addicted. Go ahead and complete your Kairosoft collection with this marvelous game.
