Ah, fast food. Americans spend more than $120 billion on it each year (yes, that’s billion with a “b”). So, despite any moral dilemmas on contributing to the country’s obesity pandemic, why shouldn’t you cash in on our hamburger-craving society? This is precisely what you can do in Stand o’ Food, a new casual arcade game that challenging players to feed a stream of hungry customers.
Ah, fast food. Americans spend more than $120 billion on it each year (yes, that’s billion with a “b”). So, despite any moral dilemmas on contributing to the country’s obesity pandemic, why shouldn’t you cash in on our hamburger-craving society? This is precisely what you can do in Stand o’ Food, a new casual arcade game that challenging players to feed a stream of hungry customers.
Similar to the hit Cake Mania and the recent Teddy Tavern, Stand o’ Food is all about making money by making food. Depending on which restaurant you’re serving at in the main quest mode – such as the Burger Bar, Vegetarian Paradise, Butch’s Chicken House or Omelet Stand – your job is to make patrons the dish they ask for. This is seen in a kind of speech bubble above each customer’s head, such as a picture of a hamburger, bacon and eggs or chicken sandwich.
A number of conveyor belt-like countertops contain the ingredients you need to compile the meal, but you must build it up from the bottom by clicking on the last ingredient on one of the counters. For example, if a customer asks for a fish burger, you must first click on the bottom bun, then find a counter with the white fish and then one that has the top bun at the edge. If you need something that is one or two items back, you can place the first item on a holding plate to get the item you need at that time.
After you make enough cash from customers, you can purchase upgrades for each restaurant, including a coffee maker ($10), toaster ($20) or fan ($50) for cleaner air (making the customers in line less impatient while waiting for their food!). For bonus points you can purchase one of six different condiments as each dish is complimented by one or more of these. For instance, when building a Breakfast Sandwich – which by the way, is a bottom bun, bacon, cheese and top bun – the recipe will suggest mayonnaise and tobacco will compliment the sandwich; so long as you have purchased these condiments, and if you have time to add it for the customer, you will make more money in tips.
The game can get quite frantic an hour or two in, as seven or eight customers are all waiting for their meals to be prepared, so it’s key to think ahead by quickly scanning their requests and choosing the best counter for the ingredients you need. That is, you may notice a few top buns on one counter, so you should begin to use the other ingredients on this counter to bring the top buns closer to the edge for when you need them.
An optional “Lunch Rush” mode challenges players to serve a seemingly never-ending line of customers, with the only occasional break to buy upgrades.
The problem with Stand ‘o Food, though, is that it can take a couple of hours before it gets tough. Perhaps it’s because my first job was at Pizza Hut at 14-years-old, ahem, but it wasn’t until my 12th restaurant or so before I lost a level by having too many people walk out on me.
But with more than 80 different sandwiches to creature, nearly 20 upgrades to purchase and 100 levels to complete, gamers will no doubt get their lunch money’s worth by playing Stand ‘o Food. It’s a delicious way to spend some time with you computer so be sure to download the free playable demo to begin slinging those patties!
