Family Restaurant

Running a restaurant is a tremendous responsibility, regardless of what kind of food you offer. Besides the fact that every customer expects to be served in a timely fashion, the recipes need to be adapted to meet everyone’s requirements and preferences. Not only that, but the ingredients you use must come from a respectable source, to avoid spreading disease by mistake.

Family Restaurant is a simple time management game in which you have to prepare a variety of recipes and serve your customers quality dishes, while trying to make a profit and expand your business at the same time. Things are not as simple as they appear, on the other hand, because there are many things you have to keep an eye on at all times, as well as many things that can go wrong if you are not careful.

The game is structured in levels, which gradually get more difficult as you manage to pass them. While you only have to remember and prepare a handful of dishes at first, their number grows significantly along the way. In essence, you still have a picture to remind you how the dish needs to look, but even with that in front of you, it can take a while to remember how to proceed.

Every customer has a specific request, which must be filled to the letter. They do not ask you to deviate from the recipe, but they do get upset if you take too long to prepare it, or if the dish isn’t aesthetically pleasing. Depending on how you combine these factors, they are liable to tip better or worse, which affects your overall profits. Since every level has a minimum profit you must attain in order to pass it, it’s quite important to do the best for your customers.

From a technical point of view, the game is not at all ugly, but it won’t win any awards either. The visual quality is decent and the animations are quite smooth, which should be pleasing to the eyes. The music might be a tad out of tune with the gameplay, but you can easily get over small inconveniences such as this. Otherwise, the controls and the interface are helpful and responsive in most cases.

In the end, Family Restaurant is exactly what you would expect it to be, so don’t go in hoping for greatness. However, if you enjoy time management games and you are a fan of cooking, this may very well provide you with the relaxation you need.