Gadget Reviews, Product News, Electronic Gadgets

Order Up!! To Go is the mobile version of the popular time management game Order Up! by Super Villain Studios. Now you can take your restaurant empire wherever you go.

The game starts players from the bottom of the restaurant industry and makes them work their way up to becoming the top chef at the classiest joint in town. Not only must the plates be cooked to perfection, but players must also be ready to wow food critics, cater to individual spice needs, clean up the kitchen for the Health Inspector and earn enough money to move onto better restaurants.

When a game is started for the first time, players must work at a fast food restaurant to learn the ropes. Once the training is complete, the player will be running a greasy spoon where the hearty dishes must be cooked to perfection.

  

At the beginning of each day, the player must decide how many plates of each recipe to buy. For example, the restaurant may serve pancakes, omelets, burgers, and fish sticks. Each plate will have an icon that represents how popular a certain plate is. With this information, the player chooses how many burgers, omelets, and so-on, to buy for that day’s customers.

Once the plates have been purchased, the real work begins. As customers enter, the player decides who should be served first and that table’s meal must be completed before a new table can be started.

  

Each plate will have a number of things that need to be accomplished before it is complete. For example, for a plate of burgers and fries, players must cook the meat and the fries, slice the tomato and peel the lettuce. If every item gets a “perfect” in its preparation process then the whole plate gets a perfect grade and the tip is higher. Some guests will request extra spices that can be added to increase tips.

The first restaurant comes free, but the cost of the next one is extremely expensive and would normally take a long time to get to. Luckily, Chillingo has an in-app purchase option to let players buy coins for real cash that they can use to unlock new restaurants. Considering the iOS game is free and the Wii title will cost you around $15 to $20, the additional in-app purchase price is fairly reasonable.  You could unlock every level in the game for about $20, but if you only want to try out one or two different restaurants, you can pick and choose without having to buy the whole lot.

  

What I liked: The game’s design is cute and fun. A day’s work is fast-paced but entertaining. Having to manage the bills every day adds to the time-management fun.

What I didn’t like: The advertisements are awful.  There is a small banner at the bottom of each menu page, which is fine, but when you start a new day, the whole game gets overtaken by a full-page ad for a few seconds. Luckily, the ads can be removed for $0.99.

To buy or not to buy: This is an entertaining and fun way to enjoy casual time-management gaming. If you have already played Order Up!, you will love the mobile version just as much.