Recipe for Disaster Review ~ Chalgyr's Game Room

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

In November 2021, we did an Early Access review of Recipe for Disaster which resulted in a 9 out of 10 score. Since then, Recipe for Disaster received a ton of updates, new features, and quality of life changes that appeased players. The full release contains an expanded campaign, new thematic decor, updated character models, new customer types, recipe tags, and more! We're going to tackle as much of it as possible without repeating our previous review points.

That said, Recipe for Disaster is most likely the type of restaurant simulator that you would expect from its title. I mean, disaster can strike at interesting times which makes your life problematic. Beyond managing the staff, character traits, customer desires, and recipe options, players have to complete objectives to advance to the next level. That can happen when the kitchen is emblazoned due to a stove fire... Yeah, that's right. This game is fun and hilarious in so many ways.

Gameplay

One of the first changes to notice about Recipe for Disaster is its updated tutorial. In the November Early Access build, the tutorial taught players some basics of the game but was quite short. The real fun comes from going through the campaign with the new features like the additional traits, recipe options, and customer needs. Success hinges upon your ability to manage all aspects of restaurant ownership from uniform design to staffing to recipe creation! In fact, players also get the option to expand their restaurant by purchasing additional plots of land!

Objectively, players need to complete the campaign tasks to progress to the next stage. However, each stage will pose greater challenges than the level before and they contain failure points if the restaurant's popularity drops below a certain amount. Or, if staff is poorly managed, they reach a breaking point rendering them useless for a time. This often causes a chain reaction of breaking points. (I was lucky because I closed the restaurant an hour early and gave everyone a raise to prevent people from quitting. Weirdly, this worked.) Another big point of failure is if appliances catch on fire. Not only does this cause panic, but if the restaurant only has one or two of any one appliance, it delays orders from completing. Disasters also come in the form of toilets clogging, which was the biggest issue I had in my game.

One of the best features that is integral to a player's success is the end-of-day report. Players are able to see what dishes were popular, what ones aren't selling, how much time staff spent working, and a list of your reviews. From this, players can adjust their strategy and menu accordingly.

Recipe for Disaster has a lot of replayability with the free play option. Players can begin a custom set of objectives or they can choose between easy, medium, and hard modes. Choosing a difficulty mode provides a specific gradual set of objectives to complete. As an example, one is having 15 positive reviews. If the custom setting is chosen, the player gets to create their own challenges. Really the sky is the limit here. Also, did I mention we get to have a bar in the restaurant now? No? Well, you know now!

Graphics and UI

Among the first noticeable features were the slight changes to the building menu. At first, it didn't seem like it was different, but after placing walls and customizing designs, I knew something changed. See, originally, I recall the building to be frustrating for reasons that I don't quite remember. However, the building mechanic operates similarly to the Sims games making it easy to manage. For me, it's a much smoother process than I remember, and while I can't put my finger on it, I love its simplicity.

Another feature that wasn't in the game before, is the addition of weather effects! The first snowfall was stunning. And even though weather conditions pass quickly, they were beautiful. Beyond that, the game is graphically amazing even as a low-poly animated design. Nearby street lights and buildings are detailed bringing life to the game. All in all, Recipe for Disaster is visually stunning.

The UI, though unobtrusive, is designed intuitively. Players can easily designate cleaning areas, decorate their restaurants on a whim, or check out the overlay that shows restaurant attractiveness. In fact, there isn't a lot that I dislike about the game.

Final Thoughts

This restaurant sim has come a long way from the Early Access stage. The staff traits are fun to balance, the customization options are numerous, and the challenges keep players on their toes. I love that players can customize their restaurants and the menu on a whim, instead of waiting until the end of the day. Also, players can create their own restaurants without needing to go through the campaign in a free-play mode! In that mode, the sky is the limit. So, create your five-star restaurant from scratch and see how well you do. It'll be a great time. Trust me.

Summary

Tell your friends about Recipe for Disaster. It's either going to be interesting to see how they breeze through it, OR you will laugh at them while they HILARIOUSLY fail. Either way, with the new features and replayability, this game is an awesome time sink. After all, the game is called Recipe for Disaster.

So, LET CHAOS REIGN! Honestly, it's too entertaining not to. Are you up to the task?

Score: 9 / 10