I feel like I'm going insane seeing the number of replies to the anniversary update about how the new game is SO FUN when my experience is "uh, where's the game part?"
[To explain my take further I'm just gonna copy and paste what I wrote on the forum.]
Excited to see a new minigame and I've enjoyed similar games in the past, but after a few tries, I feel that this one missed the mark pretty badly.
One big issue for me is the amount of unnecessary clicking and mouse use involved, especially since I'm currently dealing with pretty severe wrist strain -- but if I weren't, this game might cause it!
Placing ingredients is the worst part -- do I really need to put each one in a specific spot? Followed by toppings. But almost every part of the game involves more repetitive motions than my wrists can take. Why am I setting my oven temperature / cook time by clicking a button repeatedly instead of, say, dragging a dial?
And this gets at my other, bigger issue with the game -- there's very little actual game to it. No timer, minimal animations -- I'm not even getting any background music or sound effects.
I understand that the timed elements typical in cooking games may have been nixed to try to create a less stressful experience. But without it, you don't really have a game. There's no challenge, no engagement. Just repetitive motions.
As far as I can tell, your score / payout is ONLY dependent on a) your streak and b) whether you chose the right ingredients (and crispiness). There seems to be some variation based on how many ingredients the dragon asks for, but that's out of your control.
Choosing the right ingredients adds no actual engagement to the game since the dragons will clarify exactly what they want if you ask. My biggest struggle was having to keep clicking to reopen their request -- why doesn't it just stay on screen?
I want to add at the end here that I'm not trying to suggest that all games need to be pulse-pounding challenges or brain-breaking puzzles to be worthwhile. There's nothing wrong with games being easy. I just don't see how there's any fun in this one.
I'm not *angry* over this or anything, BTW. Not every game in the Fairgrounds needs to be one I personally enjoy. It's just kind of a bummer that the first new game added in years is one that's a complete wash for me.
Though I will say, I wouldn't mind the complete lack of challenge so much if the game were more streamlined in terms of clicking and mouse movements. Even having the option to reduce the clicks (wrist strain mode?) would help.
Like, if the game were genuinely just "follow the instructions the dragon gives you to click on the right ingredients, toppings, and crispiness," without all the extra "and then click 6 more times to place the ingredients, follow the precise path to spread the topping," etc., I could get behind it. I still wouldn't find it interesting and probably wouldn't play it much, but at least it wouldn't be physically painful.
(EDIT: it looks like they're updating the game to reduce a bit of the wrist strain but personally I'm not going to try again since it hurt so much to play even about 5 rounds last night.)
