Score: 4.5/5
Platforms: iOS, Android, Steam
Key Points:
Positives
- Colorful and detailed graphics
- An in-depth progress system gives you a good sense of accomplishment.
- Great sound that is even better with earphones.
- Though the game uses a freemium model, you can still enjoy the game without paying.
- Not as pay-to-win heavy as some other games in the genera.
- Very fun to play.
- Fun mechanics that do a good job of creating a fun restaurant environment.
- The theme works well with game mechanics.
Negatives
- The game can be hard at times.
- Needs a little more brain power than your average mobile management game.
- Sometimes you can be overwhelmed by the sheer number of orders.
I really love when a game pulls me into their world. And as someone who loves building and bringing my vision to life, that is exactly what playing Star Chef 2 offers.
Before diving deep into the specifics, let me give an overview of what you can expect from Star Chef 2. The game is a restaurant-building and management game where you gradually expand your restaurant and climb to the top of the culinary world.
Now that you have a basic understanding of Star Chef 2 let’s look into some finer aspects of the game that really excites me.
Graphics
To start with, the game has artistic, well-represented graphics for a game of this type. The terrain looks detailed with vibrant colors, which really makes everything pop.
In Star Chef 2, you must gradually buy land plots and expand your restaurant. The unbought land is covered in lush greenery, with colorful birds and butterflies adding life to the terrain. A lovely touch that other games of this type seem to lack.
And when you are expanding your restaurant, you will get several decorations to spruce up your restaurant. You can choose what look you want to give your restaurant. From a rustic cafe to a complete oriental experience, you can let your imagination loose. But my favorite in the game is the cooking stations you can place in your restaurant. Every cooking station comes with a unique chef.
Every chef has unique animations that are just so cute. I personally love the barbeque chef Derrick. I love how he shows tricks with the skewers. All the chefs have their own unique animations, which are cute, and I loved them. Also, all the dishes in the game look absolutely scrumptious. So if you are looking for a game that will visually stun you, this game will surely hit the mark.
Gameplay
Now coming to the most important aspect of any game: the gameplay. Star Chef 2 may look pretty simple to play, but you will soon find that you need a well-planned strategy if you want to get the most out of this game.
The game’s primary goal is to fulfill your orders, and your customers will give you coins and XP in return.
But hold on, if you level up too fast, you will face a particular problem. Your customers will come in and ask for new recipes that you can’t cook because you don’t own the right stations. You must be thinking you will just buy the right appliance and fulfill the order. That is where things start to get complicated. As you level up and unlock new appliances, they get more expensive. So you might not have enough coins to buy the appliance. So what to do?
This is where the Chef Store will help you out. Chef Store is a place where you can sell your dishes. Who would buy your dishes? Other players in the game, of course!
The best part about Chef Store is you only get coins from the Chef Store. So, if you are saving up for a shiny new appliance, then Chef Store is the way to go. But like I said, Star Chef 2 needs you to strategize your moves if you want to move to the top. While selling at the Chef Store, the game will not set a price for your dishes. Rather you will have to set a price for every dish.
Now it is obvious you set a low price, then you will sell faster, but dishes take time and resources to make, so you will obviously not sell them for pennies. Selling cheap is not the only way to sell faster. You can advertise your products. That means the products you want to sell will have more visibility. More eyeballs on your product mean more chances of you selling your product.
If you like to plan your every move, then you will definitely love this game. Star Chef 2 also comes with a PvP element, Chef Masters.
If you want to test your skills against real players worldwide, try Chef Masters. In this mode, you will be in a race against time to fulfill orders.
How do you win? Simple, serve up more tasty dishes at the same time. Keep beating your opponents, and you can climb to the top of the global leaderboard.
But hold on, Star Chef 2 has more. There are two more mini-games that I just love, Pizza On Wheels and Shopping Rush. Both modes are extremely fun to play, but these mini-games run for a limited duration.
You can advertise your products. That means the products you want to sell will have more visibility. More eyeballs on your product mean more chances of you selling your product.
Star Chef 2 – Business 1-0-1
So, you must be very observant, or you might miss out on your favorite mini-game. But that’s not all. I know what you must be thinking. It’s never-ending. You are right Star Chef 2 is a fun-filled ride that will not end. In Star Chef 2, many events and Team Tournaments will keep you glued to your phone’s screen for hours and hours.
Sound
One thing many might miss about the game is its extremely good sound design. The game has soothing music playing with ambient noises. I recommend that everyone bust out their AirPods while playing Star Chef 2. It’s easy to miss out on some of these details if you have not explored the game enough.
Difficulty
Star Chef 2 does have a steep learning curve that might scare off some of the players who just started out. For those players, the team of Star Chef 2 has come up with a solution. All you need to do is visit www.starchef2.games, and they have game guides and even guides up there to help out anyone who is starting out anyone who might be playing for a while but might be stuck at a certain point, or anyone who is playing for a long time and wants to get the most out of the game.
Conclusion
Star Chef 2 is currently my go-to management game on iOS. There can be no great praise than that. Some finally prized me away for Pixel Starships!
I’ve loved my time playing Star Chef 2. I enjoyed the graphics. The sound design has been a breath of fresh air that tickled my eardrums. The gameplay is fun, fair, and addictive. And most importantly, the game is not pay-to-win. Yes, by all means, spend a little cash to speed up your progress. But you don’t have to spend cash to succeed at this game, and I love that.
Star Chef 2 really surprised me. I never thought I’d enjoy this game as much as I have. I happily rate the game a fantastic 4.5 out of 5.
Check the game out here.
Reviewed on iOS.