Animal Restaurant Review — A Zoophilist's Foodie Dream Come True

Reading Time: 3 mins 2 secs

When Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp was released a couple of years back, Animal Crossing fans were excited. For some reason, I just could not get into the mundane life of either version.

Perplexed, I remained silent for a long while, as a plethora of thoughts flashed across my mind—Where can one find a critter-filled alternative for the Nintendo-less? 

While Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp may appear entertaining, I can only give so many fruits to a talking animal before losing my mind, innit? Well, this is where I'll be introducing you to your next mobile game obsession—Animal Restaurant.

Despite being released back in 2016, the 5-year-old Animal Restaurant is a business management game that hits the sweet spot of a casual approach and quirkiness to make for a solid stress reliever. 

Anyway, the game casts you as a stray cat taken in by Chef Gumi, who wishes for you to assist in his restaurant. There, you'll be working your way to grow your minuscule food empire.

The guests, you might ask? They're all animals with a variety of eccentric outfits and wholesome personalities. There's the shy ostrich with a paper bag on his head, the hardworking salesman with a telly for his head and the rich panda who hurls cod at you. All in all, I reckon the character design is adorable, and there's also a soothing theme going on in the game that makes my experience calming and almost zen-like.

Once the restaurant is well underway, I begin to focus on taking small steps forward to expand the business, which is to unlock and upgrade facilities, staff and recipes. Next came the garden, fishing pond, a buffet, and, finally, a takeout service.

Since you will unlock special customers as you progress into the game, be sure to keep an eye out for them and the mementoes that they may leave behind! 👀

Another strangely delightful aspect of the game is that you can give your feline staff a pay raise in return for stars and faster service. With my love for the majestic felines, I have deemed all my staff to be essential workers and have been giving them raises every day ever since. 🙈

On a different note, I reckon the two downsides to Animal Restaurant are comments that cut across the screen and the staff's countdown. Playing the game can be confusing at times, as you will find words suddenly appearing out of nowhere and swooping across the screen, bombarding you with notices (Much like watching a video on Chinese video streaming sites).

As for the staff's countdown, I find their countdown is way longer than their work time. For instance, Dori has a 390 seconds countdown for every 4 customers he attracts. I guess, if you want things done right, you will have to do it yourself, innit? 🤷🏻‍♀️

In any case, why be a part of a real community when you can serve omurice to a llama with an eye patch? There are always times when you just need to set logic aside and lose yourself in a world of nonsense.

Why don't we forgo the idea of acquiescing to rising turnip prices and instead pop open some afternoon wine with me here in the curious world of Animal Restaurant?