Automachef

 PC
User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 3 out of 8

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  1. Demiurge11
    Nov 6, 2021
    9
    This is a fun, simple game where you automate a kitchen and in so doing somehow prevent the destruction of the Earth. I got this game as a free giveaway on Epic. There are different game options, but I only played the campaign. I completed every level and all optional conditions (except the ingredients condition on the last level) and it took me about 30 hours.

    THE GOOD: - It has a fun    This is a fun, simple game where you automate a kitchen and in so doing somehow prevent the destruction of the Earth. I got this game as a free giveaway on Epic. There are different game options, but I only played the campaign. I completed every level and all optional conditions (except the ingredients condition on the last level) and it took me about 30 hours.

    THE GOOD:
    - It has a fun story as part of the campaign
    - 30 campaign levels allow you to learn how to play as you go along, and introduce new challenges in bite-sized pieces.
    - The overall game, where you lay out components and then organize them to work together, is quite fun! It can be very challenging at times to achieve all the optional objectives, but it almost always feels achievable.
    - The UI is well-designed and works smoothly for smaller levels
    - The Thanksgiving and Chinese New Year additions are fun. They introduce some new ingredients and machinery, and a few subtleties of the recipes create new challenges.

    THE BAD:
    - The goal to use fewer than X ingredients is sometimes quite arbitrary and annoying to accomplish. Since the meal orders in each level are semi-random, a build that succeeds in one run of the level can fail in the next run. A lot of fine-tuning, running, re-running, and luck is required. This is especially onerous on the later levels with longer run times.
    - Assembly-language programming is required to solve some of the levels (especially the optional conditions and the later levels). I am ok with this, but most players will probably find this very difficult or frustrating.
    - The graphics use an isometric projection, but when you try to select multiple machines with your mouse in a click-and-drag the selection square is a perfect square. It doesn't follow the angle of the isometric projection! This makes it quite difficult to select a large collection of machines.
    - It's onerous to upgrade or downgrade a large number of machines (especially in later levels, where you have many machines). When you want to switch strategy it requires a lot of repetitive labour. It would be nice to be able to place a machine on top of an existing machine to replace it and keep your settings--or select several machines and set them all at once to the same setting.

    THE UGLY:
    - There are still quite a few bugs in what is otherwise a mature game. The problem can usually be solved by removing the offending machinery and replacing it with an identical one. But it still causes you to waste time debugging your setup, only to discover that a game bug is causing the failure.
    - Order Reader bug: where it was only activating when the order was on top, even though only an Advanced Order Reader is supposed to have that ability.
    - Assembler bug: where ingredients placed inside one Assembler arrived in a different Assembler
    - Computer bug: where when you set an order and then connect a machine, the order you set gets erased.
    - A computer can't read the contents of a bin, even though the simpler Counting Machine can!
    - The computer documentation has mistakes. For example, it tells you that there's a TT register for time, but there isn't!    … Expand
  2. VidyaBum
    Dec 15, 2020
    8
    Rather fond of tycoon games and automation, this one was right up my alley, so the grade may be slightly higher than deserved.

    Nonetheless, this is a quirky, well-written game with a cute premise and it's a good time sinker. I like playing it, I like progressing through it, I like the idea behind it. And I'm over 12hours in so for a game that cheap, it clearly deserves a good note.    Rather fond of tycoon games and automation, this one was right up my alley, so the grade may be slightly higher than deserved.

    Nonetheless, this is a quirky, well-written game with a cute premise and it's a good time sinker. I like playing it, I like progressing through it, I like the idea behind it. And I'm over 12hours in so for a game that cheap, it clearly deserves a good note.

    Still, for the general enjoyment it gives me, it has some serious problems that really undermine the experience, all of them about the gameplay an UI.

    The gameplay problem is fairly simple: you build an automated kitchen with a small list of set pieces that are limited by the power they use and the room they take. That's great, but the game for some reason isn't built around building the kitchen, but having it built. By which I mean that while you're building it, nothing happens, the game just is in some sort of editor mode. When you are ready, you send it running, but the issue with that is that you have preset objectives per kitchen you make (make a cheeseburger and fries for example), so you end up with this rather disheartening premise of spending some 30 mins building up everything, only to press a start button where everything rolls out or not, and going back to editor mode or finishing. Imagine playing Planet Coaster but you can only open the park to clients when you've finished the park, or reset the clients every time you modify something.

    I think the game would've been vastly more exciting/involving if you had the kitchen constantly run, and you slowly built it while orders were sent, with the objective of reaching all of them over time. Instead, it's 30 mins of nothing then press a play button, it's not very involving. Also, for some "realism" aspect I suppose, orders take a little time to come every time you start, so you start, wait 10 or so seconds, see something wrong, stop, restart, wait 10s, see another thing, stop, etc. Nothing deadly since there is a fast forward button, but still a bit silly.

    And the bigger problem by far is the UI. There's so many bad points there:
    - Almost every customisation to every piece in the kitchen is done through menus and dropdown lists, and that is a huge pain to do for every single thing you place
    - There is no "objects" to make, as in take several set pieces and copy them fully, instead you have to reconfigure everything through more dropdown menus
    - A big part of the hassle is with the arms that move food, because every time you change them, you're gonna have to modify their output direction (straight, right, left) which means MORE dropdown menu config
    - Every set piece is in a dropdown menu which in itself is too big to fit on the screen, so you have to scroll up and down (think reading through all the possible choices in MS Word->Edit)
    - An immense part of the game should realistically be using icons or mouse controls to make everything faster and easier, and nope, it's all menus

    This poor UI and repetition of gestures make the game get quite tedious, and honestly damage the experience.

    On an unrelated note, since this is about automation and optimising procedures, it really, really makes me think that I'm just doing my job (programmer) in a game. Doesn't mean that its not fun to me, but the fact is that the tedium wears down and I find myself often quitting the game when I've completed a full kitchen, gotten all the objectives, and don't wanna have to reconfigure every single last item, road, or thing that I already just configured in my last kitchen in the next challenge.

    If the UI was better designed and the gameplay more involving, and blueprints to copypaste full sets of items was possible, I think the game would deserve an 8 or even a 9. As is, I'm positive about it but I think the hassle will rebuff most players.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
71

Mixed or average reviews - based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 6
  3. Negative: 0 out of 6
  1. GameGrin
    Sep 3, 2019
    75
    Overall involvement of the game is enjoyable and entertaining. It will test even the best of gamers, as balance is key. It gets docked points for its faults that cannot be ignored, also for its lack of bypass ability when getting stuck on levels. Worth sampling, especially if the food industry interests you.
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  2. TheSixthAxis
    Aug 19, 2019
    60
    Automachef is a bizarre yet interesting take on a cookery game. Saldy, a lot of what it has going for it also goes against it and feels a little off – excuse the pun – as a result.
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  3. DarkStation
    Aug 7, 2019
    80
    Automachef is a very pleasant game, and a lot of fun. I would highly recommend it if you're in the market for a short, easy to play game that will test your skills and brain power. Whether you're commuting, winding down after a long day in the office, or just looking for something new to play, Automachef will fit that bill.
    Read full review
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