Idle Restaurant Tycoon’s gameplay is somewhat similar to Hotel Empire Tycoon, but it’s very engaging. And with a restaurant theme, the game surely gets interesting once you have placed 3-4 tables for your customers.
The game begins with a small tutorial where the host explains the basics. Customers enter the restaurant lobby, take a seat, chefs cook, waiters serve food and finally customers leave after hitting the restroom. You will get a clear idea about the game from the tutorial.
Idle Restaurant Tycoon is very easy to play, but the challenge lies in increasing profits. You will have to hire staff (waiters, cooks, cleaners and the cashier) and pay them wages. To increase earnings, upgrade dining tables to earn more cash per table, kitchen appliances to improve the quality and value of food and level up the restroom to get more bonus tips. You will also have to upgrade parking spaces to accommodate for more customers that arrive by car. The more parking space you have, the more per hour earnings you will receive from it.
Then there are marketing campaigns. In order to attract more customers to your restaurant, you can opt for placing ads in local newspapers, broadcasting on radio, running pre-movie ads of your eatery and posting ads all over the internet to attract lots of new customers. The higher the standards of advertising, the more marketing campaign expenses will be incurred every hour. You must start slow with the newspaper campaign. It has the lowest rates. Once you have expanded your restaurant and added more tables, you can go for higher forms of advertising to attract more customers. Note that once you have activated a marketing campaign, expenses will be deducted from your total earnings even at night, when your restaurant is empty.
Want to earn more profits? Read our Idle Restaurant Tycoon Guide: Tips, Tricks and Strategies to become the best restaurateur.
Having more tables ensures guests don’t leave your restaurant and as I said earlier, the real game starts once you have 3-4 tables.
You must maintain a proper balance between staff wages/marketing expenses and earnings so that you end up in a profit every day. The helpful stats section (bar graph icon) on the right side of the screen provides all the much-needed stats, such as dining profits, service profits and parking profits. Your goal is to increase “Daily Profits” every in-game day. But even if you start slow, the game helps you with bonuses.
To help you get bonus cash, food influencers will burst into your restaurant randomly. If you see a cute influencer taking a selfie, just tap him/her, watch an advert and earn bonus cash. There will also be other bonuses, such as getting more customers and fast-forwarding time that will ensure you don’t have to wait in your empty restaurant for the entire night.
As you progress, you will be able to expand your restaurant with all the cash you have earned so far. Adding more room will surely assist you in earning more profits, but some room may require electricity, which will force you to upgrade the generator room.
All upgrades and expansions will let you earn stars (shown on the top-right corner of the screen). Your current restaurant’s star ratings will allow you to unlock new eateries that offer various regional and national cuisines. Unique locations and restaurant themes are one big feature of this game that will push you into spending more in-game hours upgrading your restaurant and earning stars.
The star rating system is very similar to Hotel Empire Tycoon and if you have played this game, then you would know how hard it’s to get stars. Of course, it will be a challenge to earn them in in this game, so you must pay attention to every upgrade and keep leveling up all facilities, tables and rooms to increase your eatery’s star rating.
Are In-app Purchases Mandatory?
In Idle Restaurant Tycoon, there are quite a few in-app purchases ranging from profit boosts/gem purchases/cards to extra offline time. Offline earnings only have a 1-hour limit, but you can extend the time by purchasing extra time cards in the shop menu.
There will also be special cards that provide permanent bonuses such as extra cash per table, fast serving to guests, lowering costs to hire staff, bonus cash from certain rooms, such as the kitchen etc. Purchase chests using gems to unlock these cards. If you have pre-registered for this game, then you will get the “famous friends” card free. This card provides 2 percent more cash to every earnings.
Cards, gems, extra time etc. can surely help you progress through the game faster and earn more profits in a short period of time, but do you really need them? Not if you prefer a slower progress to reach your goals. All purchases are at your discretion.
Offline Play
We tried playing Idle Restaurant Tycoon without an Internet connection and had no problems in playing. However, any form of boosts that require watching ads were disabled (Obviously, there’s no Internet connection, duh!).
Wrapping it Up
Idle Restaurant Tycoon keeps things simple. There are no complicated upgrades and the objectives are to the point. Just follow the missions (checklist) and you will progress faster along with obtaining bonus cash for mission completion.
Managing income and expenses can be a challenge, but once you look into the stats page, you will know all problems behind low earnings. Characters are very cute and will remind you of Animal Crossing. The 3D graphics are bright and very well designed. The background sound is very relaxing and the gentle piano/saxophone music and the perfect for a restaurant-themed game. A solid 4/5!
Last Updated on December 4, 2020 by Jude