With Train Life giving me confidence in the Nacon Life games label, I felt sure that this second game wouldn’t disappoint. Sure, Cyanide wasn’t the developer behind Train Life, but the things that had been shown about Chef Life during the marketing cycle had me excited to try it. A restaurant simulator with a hands-on approach to running it. Across my experiences with the game, I’ve had a great time, and will continue to do so.

Two friends from culinary school have finally got the money to open their own restaurant to prove their skills to the world. Before finding that out, it’s character creation time. There are only so many options available to start, but playing through the days and levelling up gives more options to buy.

As for progressing through those days, the first few act as tutorials. This tutorial is a lengthy one as it shows off the management of the restaurant. The act of cooking and following the recipes, paying attention to the cooking notes to improve the quality of the dish. All very hands-on. Chopping vegetables, seasoning food, making sure it all doesn’t spoil while preparing every meal.

And since this is a restaurant, there are multiple customers and multiple orders. Try getting through all of those perfectly. Fortunately, preference toggles can make things easier if needed. Don’t want a load of customers? Want an easier time preparing food? How about making sure customers are never impatient? All of these can make managing the restaurant easier. Me being that stubborn fool, I’ve left all the toggles off.

It’s not like I don’t get any help, though. The friend you’ve set the restaurant up with can be ordered to help out with preparing parts of the recipe. The more he helps, the higher his level will be. Meaning he will eventually be able to fully prepare meals ready to serve. That goes for the other chefs that will be hired, too. While at the lower end of a particular level bracket, chefs will produce lower-quality items within that tier. As such, the overall quality of the restaurant is never going to be the best fully relying on the chefs until they are at their best.

While player level is one form of progression, bringing new recipes to unlock and new items for the restaurant to buy, there are stories which serve as other means of progression. Characters will come by the restaurant with requests, which when fulfilled will progress their story. The chefs will also come with their own stories. All these stories will unlock exclusive items not tied to the player level. Challenges will also appear, timed to last a number of days that present tasks such as cooking certain meals a set number of times. These challenges will reward money when completed. The boost in money comes in handy when just starting out, since…

To start with, customers won’t be flying into the restaurant. At most, there’ll be two orders to prepare. The more they’re impressed with the service offered, the likelier it will be they become regulars. And new customers will start coming in. Since the menu items will be cheap, the profits from each day will be minimal. As the days progress, and the player level increases, new recipes are unlocked through the knowledge points earned. Higher levelled items bring higher prices, which brings about a balancing act of gunning for higher profits.

And as mentioned, those profits go into making the restaurant look nicer. Buying new customisation options to change how both the seating area and kitchen look (plus expanding them when the time comes). While you can’t change where things are placed, you can change what is placed at that point. The other customisation on offer is replating the dishes. While this doesn’t affect how the recipes are crafted, it does give players something to play around with in making the dishes look how they want them. With all the options you have regarding this, some very funny arrangements can be made.

There’s plenty to enjoy with Chef Life. The loop of menu management, ordering and stocking ingredients, then preparing for the service of the day is a great one. There’s a lot to be aware of each day, with menu composition bringing boosts. If there was a flaw with the game, it would be that despite there being a central indicator, it has no use. Where the camera is pointing doesn’t affect what is interacted with. Instead, that is dealt with by the direction the player character is standing, which in a fast-paced environment can prove a bit difficult.

This is one that I can recommend to everyone who loves simulators. Particularly those who love food. Cyanide has crafted a delightful menu of systems that have combined to create one very lovely dish. A very full and flavourful game that can be refined to your level of taste. Take a look at the official website and see if you want to jump into the chef life.

Images Taken From:
Chef Life: A Restaurant Simulator | Original Screenshots