One of the best things I believe to ever be aired on television are cooking reality shows. Being a fan of programs such as ‘Masterchef’ and ‘Hell’s Kitchen’, Gordon Ramsay is a figure I genuinely look up to. Yes, he may be harsh when it comes to his words and his way of advising may not be done in the most gentle of manners (I mean, who could forget this legendary scene).
But you can’t deny, this man knows how to best serve a dish.
I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be involved in a show with Gordon Ramsay. Lo and behold, this game was introduced to me and my days have now been completely engulfed by it.
If you enjoyed games along the lines of ‘Diner Dash’, ‘Wedding Dash’ and ‘Cooking Dash’, you’re definitely going to be excited playing ‘Gordon Ramsay Dash’. The game currently has a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars on both the Apple iTunes store and the Google Play store with many positive reviews left by players so far.
And if you’re a longtime fan of games like this, you’ll know how ‘simple’ the controls are. Gordon himself will be telling you a list of recipes to follow and all you have to do is make sure you tap on the right icons or items so your avatar performs the right task. Pretty straightforward.
Of course, you reach a point where your avatar starts picking up things he or she shouldn’t, or you end up making the wrong order and only to realise when the customer refuses to eat while Gordon is yelling at you for your faults.
Which brings me to my next point of how accurate Gordon is in this game. Firstly, A+ to the design team for being able to capture his image well, especially those forehead wrinkles. But not only is his avatar spot on, the way they made his personality is pretty accurate too. When he compliments you, you feel like you’re the best chef in the world but when he gets angry, the rage is real.
The general story of ‘Gordon Ramsay Dash’ is you’re a participant of a new reality show called ‘Rising Star Chefs’, where the aim is to discover the next best chef. Gordon Ramsay acts as the host where he monitors your progress and gives you advice and comments, which much to my surprise, were mostly good—or that just means I’m doing something right for once and he has nothing but nice things to say.
Look, he even helps you out with a fiery blaze!
The world is pretty big but they start you off with 3 particular restaurants. First is Big Bay Burgers, Pizza Paisan, and lastly, Lucky Langoustine. There is also another one that can be unlocked but that requires a number of coins that I don’t have enough of; these developers know how to make micro transactions tempting. The world might also expand further as I assume that more venues will be available as the developers continue to update the game.
With every restaurant you conquer, it slowly sucks you in. You start with the simple act of cutting potatoes to make into fries but then it gets harder when you need to wait for your salad to be properly peppered with a meter that prompts you to press it at a certain area. It’s time consuming but exciting at the same time.
At the beginning, you are able to choose your avatar but honestly, the options are limited. The range only increases as you progress through the game and even then, most of the choices require either coins or gold. So here’s where your priorities come into play—which is more important? Making sure your patties are of a top-notch quality that brings you more coins or the colour of your apron? The choice is yours.
Also, can we talk about the upgrades and how ridiculously calculative you end up being just to make sure only the right upgrades are done so you’re not left with great patties but no customers because your oven is too slow? The game does provide the option to purchase gold and make micro transactions for a better playing experience which the competitive side in me has resorted to. I purchased a stack of gold just for the sake of a better fryer.
There are also VIPs to help you get gold bars which are rather limited in the game, but they need you to serve them special dishes that require ‘prepping’ which translates into hours of waiting for this special dish. You can spend some of your resources to unlock slots to accommodate more VIPs which is always nice considering the perks they give back is truly rewarding.
And of course, this game leverages on the Facebook platform, as many other games do where you can either request or send yourself some ‘supplies’ that are needed for you to progress through the game. Luckily, the Vulcan Post editor and intern are also trapped in this addictive game so supply requests are always coming in.
One of my favourite fun little features is being able to tap on Gordon Ramsay in your kitchen as you’re playing. He progressively gets angrier and angrier and the little comments are incredibly funny.
Safe to say that after playing this game, this proves that my mother is wrong. I can cook—albeit in a virtual game where all I need to do is tap things and not move much. And Gordon Ramsay is part of that reason.
So if you’re a fan of cooking games and that one angry dude who yells in kitchens a lot, this game is a must download for you.