To be honest, when I see an old-school casual mobile game like "Town Chef", an old guy like me who has played it since the Saipan era is quite emotional😄. I remember the days when I played "Fruit Farm" and "Fruit Ninja" on Nokia. The games at that time were so simple that you could have fun for a long time with just a few clicks. Nowadays, the mobile game market is booming, with 3A picture quality and open worlds at every turn. But to be honest, many games make you feel tired after playing them. They spend a lot of krypton gold and are very tired.
"Town Chef", a click-to-cook simulation business, actually represents a return to nature trend. To be honest, players are getting more and more tired now, and they are beginning to miss this pure experience of "clicking and reaping happiness". It doesn't require you to memorize complicated combos, or worry about staring at the stamina bar. You can just open it in the spare time after work, cook a few burgers, fry a few steaks, and watch the satisfied customers leave, which makes you feel quite comfortable👴🏻.
From an industry perspective, hyper-casual games and business simulations have indeed been picking up in recent years. For example, "Synthetic Watermelon" has been popular for a while, which shows that everyone wants a low-threshold and high-feedback gameplay. Although "Town Chef" was not announced by a major company, it has retained many old players due to its simple content. Its charging model is also considerate, with 0 yuan to download and in-app purchases such as popping an ad or unlocking a lock. Compared with the current 648 mobile games, it is a breath of fresh air.
Of course, don't expect any earth-shattering innovations from it. It's the classic "collect recipes - upgrade the kitchen - unlock new restaurants" routine, but it has a comfortable rhythm and a fresh style of painting. For someone like me who has been playing games for more than ten years, I feel that this kind of game is more playable because I don't need to catch up on the progress and I won't feel a loss if I put it down at any time.
If you miss the simple and happy mobile games of the past, or are looking for a relaxing game, "Town Chef" is worth trying. After all, there are not many games nowadays that a 30-year-old player can actively recommend.