From burgers and fries to pancakes and french toast, the restaurant-simulation Papa’s games remain some of the best and most well known cooking game series to this day. In 2007, Flipline studios released Papa’s Pizzeria, the beginning of an iconic saga. The games, which are meant to mimic working in the back-end of restaurants, are consistent in many ways. As the players progress, additional toppings, special instructions and customers can be acquired by players. As longtime fans of the series, we wanted to share our insight on four games that we have played.
Papa’s Cluckeria: 4/5
Released in February of last year, “Cluckeria” is the most recent addition to the Papa’s series. Often, if a game series is still releasing 15 years later, they will feel like stale cash grabs. Luckily, this is not the case with “Cluckeria.” Its inventive system of dropping the toppings to create a stack sandwich and the satisfying batter and frying system all make for a joyful experience at every level. Another plus is the food truck, a free play mode on which there are no specific orders from customers. In this game mode players can make any food they want for someone to come buy, keeping the tips made. Unfortunately, a place that falls short for us in this game is the slushy station. There is little room for error, and considering the fact that there is already a “Papa’s Freezeria” where players blend milkshakes, it feels redundant. Besides this station, “Cluckeria,” is a modern take on some of our favorite features that make these games so fun.
Papa’s Wingeria: 5/5
The oldest game on this list, “Papa’s Wingeria” still holds up beautifully over a decade after it was released. “Wingeria” is a Papa’s classic, and remains quite popular. A key aspect that brings this game so high on our list is the unique task of plating your wings and toppings, as there are no other games in the series with such an intricate presentation task. Positioning the wings and other toppings onto the plate can be quite tedious, especially when working with large amounts of food in the later stages of the game. Another one of our favorite elements is the saucing station. It is simple, fun and satisfying when completed. This game is quite fast paced and quick to navigate. Overall, the progression of the game creates an accomplishment like no other. If you are looking for an entry level game that is quick to master but still provides a lot of fun, this game is for you.
Sushiria: 1/5
Don’t let the cute design and fun colors of “Papa’s Sushiria” fool you, because the truth is nothing about this game is fun. Going into “Sushiria,” our expectations were quite high. The combination of making sushi and bubble tea sounded amazing. After taking the first order we went over to the rice cooking station, which is when things began to go south. The rice takes too long to cook that it feels wasteful to wait around for it, but is too short to complete other tasks. Next, players must build the roll, placing their various ingredients evenly. This is quite difficult considering every topping is a different size and has different amounts, making this section very easy to mess up. Next, the player cuts the roll seven times, attempting to make eight equal pieces. Most rolls will then require a sauce or seasoning to be placed evenly across the top. This stage requires intensive prediction and nerves of steel. The final stage of Sushiria is constructing the bubble tea, which is bogged down by an extremely precise time window to add the toppings. Even the slightest miss means you won’t get a perfect score. On top of this mechanic, there is no upgrade available to make it any easier. If you are looking for a challenge, this may be the game for you, but for the casual player, “Sushiria” is a stressful series of minigames that didn’t reward us with any satisfaction.
Mocharia: 4.5/5
“Papa’s Mocharia” is one of the more difficult Papa’s games, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. The game consists of hot coffee, iced coffee and cannoli. Orders in this game have many elements and vary on milk type, coffee type, toppings and the like. This immersive game is easy to navigate and allows you to advance quickly, but takes a while to get a hang of. There are several stressful mini tasks, ranging from perfectly steaming milk, pouring your drinks on center into your cups and layering every element in the requested order. Although it was slightly overwhelming for us, we found the challenge to be incredibly entertaining. Time management in this game is also slightly stressful, but once we got the hang of it we could not stop playing. The game has countless engaging elements to make up your score, and unlike other games in this review, stayed consistently interesting as we progressed.
