Papa's Bakeria Game Review

Papa’s Bakeria Game Background

Papa’s Bakeria is the twelfth game in Flipline Studios’ hit restaurant sim series, first released on the series 10th anniversary in 2016. Papa Louie is opening a new bakery at a large popular shopping center and has placed Timm, Cecilia, or a worker of your creation at the helm. Satisfy the sweet tooth cravings of Papa’s customers as you bake a variety of custom pies to their specific tastes.

How to Play Papa’s Bakeria

Getting Started

To select, left click with your mouse or tap on the touchscreen with your fingers. Select Continue on the loading screen to bring up the welcome screen. On the welcome screen, select Play at the center to begin.

Choose from one of the 3 save slots to begin. Selecting an empty slot starts a new game, while selecting an occupied one loads a previously saved game. Clear a save slot by selecting the X button on the top right corner. You can save a copy of your save slots on your device by selecting Save a Backup; select Load a Backup on an empty save slot to load a saved backup. Your web browser automatically saves your game progress.

Pick a character to begin. You can choose between Timm, Cecilia, or a character you made yourself. Upon selecting a character, a cutscene plays explaining the game’s backstory. You can get past this and get on with the game by selecting Skip Intro.

Character Creation

Choose Create a Custom Worker to open the character creator. This will let you create a Papa Louie-styled character of your own.

Get started by selecting a gender aesthetic, then typing in a name for your character on the namespace. You have a wide assortment of hair styles, facial hairs, hair colors, skin tones, facial features, and accessories to choose from. You can also refine your character’s features further using the sliders.

When you’re done, select Continue. Before the game begins, you can also choose a dream job. This will determine the job that appears in the cutscene. You can edit your character later by selecting Customize on the pause screen. Later in the game, you can also buy or win new articles of clothing that your character can wear instead of their work uniform.

The Process

The game has 4 stations, representing the stages in the order fulfillment process:

• The order station, in green, is where you receive customer orders.
• The build station, in blue, is where you assemble the pie.
• The bake station, in orange, is where you bake the pie.
• The top station, in red, is where you add the pie’s toppings.

Each station can be reached by selecting the button of its color on the bottom center of the screen.

At the order station, select the Take Order button above customers at the counter to write down an order ticket. You can keep the order ticket at the order hook on the top right corner or drag and drop it to the line on the top row for easy storage.

Move to the build station and start assembling the pie. Begin by selecting a crust, then dragging and dropping it onto the pie tin. Select a filling, then pour it in according to the level desired by the customers by selecting the green button. Some customers will ask for multiple fillings, often in alternating layers. Be sure to fill these according to the preferred levels shown on the order ticket. After that, place in a pie top as specified by the customer. Some pie tops come in a solid piece; you can drag and drop these to the top of the pie. Others must be sprinkled on. Try to center solid pieces of pie tops and keep sprinkled tops evenly distributed.

Drag and drop the finished pies into the baking station and leave them to cook. A meter right above the pies indicates how long they’ve been cooking. Take the pies out and place them on the tray on the right to bring them to the top station. Do not let the pies overcook.

At the topping station, you can drizzle or drag and drop individual toppings onto specific regions of the pie. When you’re finished, drag and drop the order ticket to its stand to serve the pie to the customer.

At any time you make a mistake, you can dispose of the pie and start again. You risk losing points due to wasting time, but this is often the better option compared to serving a pie with grievous mistakes on it.

Basic Gameplay Advice

Summary

Although the backstory’s details differ a bit, the general summary is the same. The character is about to land a dream job at the workplace of their choice at the Whiskview Mall. However, they find their dreams dashed when the workplace shuts down, leaving behind an empty commercial space. Fortunately, Papa Louie swoops in with another job offer, which your crestfallen character accepts.

Basics

Your goal is to serve customers the custom pies they order in a timely manner. Each order must adhere as closely as possible to the customer’s preferences, using only ingredients they approved of and placing items according to their specifications. Presentation matters; you must make sure that the pie’s toppings are aesthetically centered to gain the highest possible customer rating.

The game has a broad array of ingredients, most of which are unlocked over the course of the game. The ingredients available year round are as follows:

• 10 pie crusts
• 20 pie fillings
• 9 pie top crusts (10 counting “no top”)
• 7 syrups and whipped creams
• 10 toppers
• 8 sprinkled toppings

Moreover, each holiday has an additional 5 unlockable ingredients.

On the 5th day of your opening work week, you’ll need to hire another employee. You can choose between either of the two defaults (if you haven’t chosen one already) or a custom worker of your creation. This worker will come in with orders from customers seated at your restaurant’s dining areas.

Work Week

The game’s time is divided into work days, which are grouped together into a work week. A work day is defined as the time you spend fulfilling customer orders and ends when the last customer receives their pie. Each day of the week determines the closer that appears for that day and the mini game available to play. You receive your pay once every week.

The end of each work day is marked by your performance assessment, which measures your service quality based on the following metrics:

• Topping
• Baking
• Building
• Waiting

Use these metrics as a guide to improve your service for the next day.

Seasons and Holidays

The game’s year is divided into 4 seasons, each composed of 3 months each. Every month has a corresponding holiday:

• New Year (January)
• Valentine’s Day (February)
• St. Paddy’s Day (March)
• Easter (April)
• Cherry Blossom Festival (May)
• Summer Luau (June)
• Starlight Jubilee (July)
• Comet Con (August)
• Groovstock (September)
• Halloween (October)
• Thanksgiving (November)
• Christmas (December)

The game officially starts in January.

Every in-game holiday comes with its own set of unique ingredients and theme items. Like other items, these are unlocked over the course of the game.

Customers have a favorite holiday and a unique holiday-specific order. A few customers (and all closers) appear in holiday-specific outfits.

Customers

There are 101 customers in this game. Only a few are available at the start of the game; many are unlocked over the course of gameplay. Each customer has their own unique preferred order. Refer to a customer’s profile to learn more about their preferences. You can view these profiles by selecting Customers on the pause screen.

You can also see all the customers you’ve unlocked walk in a parade by selecting View Parade on the startup screen.

Each customer has a star gauge; each time you earn an 80% satisfaction rate or higher from a customer, you gain a star. When the customer’s star gauge is maxed out, you receive a star badge for that customer. These badges have 3 tiers: bronze, silver, and gold. Badged customers order faster. Although you cannot lose customer badges once earned, progress toward the next badge is cleared each time you displease a customer.

You also receive customer points based on your performance. The more customer points you earn, the closer you get to leveling up.

Closers and Golden Envelope Holders

Closers are the last customers who appear on each work day and are among the hardest to please. They share this trait with golden envelope holders, who hold the recipes for a new special. The main difference between the two is that closers are a constant; they always come on a specific day and are always difficult to please. Meanwhile, golden envelope holders are regular customers on a day when they’re not holding the envelopes and can appear on any day.

The hardest of the closers to please is Jojo, the food critic. Impressing him will grant you the blue ribbon, a reward item that increases the value of all your tips for 3 days.

Specials

A special is a specific sandwich recipe granted to you by a golden envelope-holding customer. You can offer these on a daily basis. Assemble the special according to the recipe provided; you can view this by selecting the S button on the top left corner of the game screen. The game has 40 specials in total.

Specials, when served to customer satisfaction, provide a bonus. These can be higher tips, extra mini game tickets, or higher customer points. You will also receive clothing as a reward for serving a special to 5 customers.

Stickers

Stickers replace the achievement badges that were present in previous Papa Louie restaurant games. Each sticker represents an in-game achievement. There are 90 in-game stickers; you can view the stickers you earned and the prerequisites for all the stickers by selecting the sticker button on the startup screen.

The stickers you receive also unlock alt outfits for your customers, which you can set on the customer menu.

Income and Improvements

You earn income through the following means:

• Tips. You receive a tip each time you finish an order to a customer’s satisfaction. The more pleased the customer is with their order, the higher their tip will be.
• Weekly pay. You start with a $150 weekly wage, which increases as you level up.
• Consolation prizes. You receive these each time you don’t win at certain mini games.

The money you earn can be used to make improvements to your restaurant, whether through upgrades to your work process, decorations for your lobby, or new outfits for your characters.

Of these, upgrades are the most important. The following upgrades are available in-game:

• The doorbell ($4.50) alerts you to the arrival of customers
• Cook boosters ($120 each) let you speed up the baking process.
• Bake alarms ($90 each) alert you when the items have finished cooking.
• The special sign ($250) lets your customers know what special is available on that day.

Interior Decorating

Interior decorations don’t just make your shop look nice. A well-decorated lobby is the key to alleviating customer impatience over time, especially later in the game when the lines get longer. To get started, select Decorate Lobby in the startup screen. Select items on your inventory, then drag and drop them onto the wall or floor of your lobby to place them. To put them back, select the items, then drag and drop them back into the inventory button.

Your lobby has a score that determines how effective it is in keeping customers patient. The score increases each time you add more items onto the lobby. Your maximum score also rises as you add items, encouraging you to add more things. Keep your score at its highest by keeping things on-theme. Every item belongs to a theme, indicated by the letter on its icon on the inventory. Have at least 3 items from one theme on the lobby to maximize your points.

Your lobby also has a freshness rating, determined by how new all the furnishings are. As the days progress, the freshness declines. Keep things fresh by removing some items and replacing them with new ones.

Certain posters also have the added effect of boosting the sales appeal of specific ingredients. Be sure to place as many of these in as you can.

Advanced Playing Tips & Strategy

General Tips

Before you get the alarms, you’ll need to periodically check on the items on the oven. You can easily overcook items if you leave them in for too long, so it’s important to get them out almost immediately after they’re ready. Be sure to time your activities so you do all your time-consuming activities while the pies are still a long way off from being fully cooked.

Fortunately, many of your activities across each station are staggered; you can interrupt finishing one action to get items out of the oven.

Keep Organized

Sort the tickets so you prioritize the ones that are about to be finished. Keep the latest order tickets at the far left and the earlier ones closer to the right. Double check each ticket to make sure you’re using the correct one as a guide for your current pie.

Mini Games

You can play any one of the 7 mini games after each work day. You can play each work day as many times as you want as long as you have enough tickets for it.

You earn tickets by impressing customers. You can typically earn up to 3 tickets in a single work day. Serving specific specials like Orchard Tarts can increase the number of tickets you earn in a day.

Burgerzilla

To win a prize, collect as many ingredients as possible to assemble a burger the height shown by the dotted line onscreen. Avoid missing more than 4 ingredients to keep playing.

Rico’s Chiliworks

This is a simple timed pipe logic game. Twist the pipes around as quickly as you can to form a continuous path toward the chili pot to win. Finish the pot before the timer arrives to avoid spilling the chili.

Papa’s Raceway

This is a simple racing game. Use your mouse or fingers to move your racer. Collect coins to build speed. Avoid cones and oil spills. Get to the finish line first to win a prize.

Strike Out!

This is a simple baseball game. Get 3 strikes to win a prize. To get a strike, select at the right time to ensure that the ball misses the bat.

Spooky Shot

This is a simple arcade shooting game. Shoot the enemies onscreen with pumpkin syrup by selecting them as they appear. Shoot down the required number of enemies before your run out of foes to win.

Slider Escape

This is a slide logic maze game. Move the slider toward the star bumper to win. The slider can only move from edge to edge; if it escapes the maze, you lose. Use the blocks as stoppers; cracker blocks can only be used as stoppers twice before they break.

Mitch’s Mess

This is a simple missing objects game. To win a prize, find the objects shown on the bottom left in the jumble of Mitch’s room before the timer runs out. Avoid clicking anywhere other than the objects you need to find; selecting the wrong objects 3 times and you fail.

Educational Aspects

This game tests a player’s time management and task switching skills. Players must remain organized and attentive in a fast-paced environment to fulfill every order in a timely manner.

Player Age Recommendations

This game is suitable for older school-aged players and above. We recommend this for fans with an appetite for restaurant sims and time management games.