Anyone who has played Farm Pals and Top Restaurant at Facebook might have noticed they are eerily the same. That is because they are made by the same company, RAWR Games. This would not be a problem if they didn’t copy so many of the same flaws in their games.
At first glance they seem like fun games. They have the unique concept of being able to steal from neighbors and adding weeds/bugs/rats/gum to pester friends. Also, extra plots/tables can be purchased as levels increase. The problem is that unique isn’t always good. After awhile it becomes a race to beat friends to either the farm or restaurant to keep things from getting stolen, and it can be frustrating when visiting a friend’s farm/restaurant and not being able to return the favor of stealing from them.
Stealing can be Fun
Yes, they are games and stealing can be fun. This is posted all over the help forums, but how is stealing really fun? What type of game promotes this? Where would Monopoly be if a player could break into one of the other player’s hotels and stay for free? It certainly wouldn’t be the beloved family game it has become over several generations. It teaches kids that hard work pays off, not being lazy and stealing from others who work hard.
The stealing aspect of the games is a moot point though. There are other flaws far more irritating. For starters, every time anything happens on the game, a message interrupts asking to publish the game status for all the players’ friends to see. It would be reasonable for this to happen upon level increase or if a major event happens, but anytime tips are cashed in or crops are sold, a note must be acknowledged, even if it’s not published. The first few times isn’t bad, but it gets tedious after awhile.
Security to Prevent Stealing
Both games have a security aspect to prevent stealing. Farm Pals has a guard dog that can be bought, and Top Restaurant has a police officer that can be hired. The problem is the cost is so high; it takes a long time to be able to afford it.
This leaves either having to earn credits by completing offers or actually buying them. For those that are unwilling to spend money on these free games, the options are waiting or doing the offers. The problem with the offers is that they don’t always pay off; and there is little help offered when this happens.
Who are my Neighbors?
The next major flaw with the games and one aspect that hasn’t been witnessed on any other Facebook game is that it isn’t possible to see which friends are also playing the game. All friends are listed at the bottom, and the player must scroll through and visit everyone to determine if they are playing. There isn’t a way to block those that aren’t or even change their display order.
The developers need to fix this very irritating aspect, since it is hard to imagine those with hundreds of friends willing to search them all. Or are the developers so cocky as to think everyone will end up playing their game? Odds are this will never happen, so it needs to be fixed.
Renting instead of Buying
The final thing that is unique but also a problem with the games is that items that are bought in the store to spruce up the farm/restaurant are only rented for 30 days. This is probably because both the sites are a fixed size, so if the items didn’t leave after a certain amount of time, the player wouldn’t be able to buy anything else. That in itself is a drawback to the games. Not being able to make the farm/restaurant bigger will make the game boring after awhile. The developers seem to equate buying more plots/tables for ridiculously high amounts of money to actually paying that amount for a bigger area.
Expansion is Important for Game Play
To give an example Top Restaurant starts with six tables in a room that fits twelve. It isn’t possible to buy another table until the player reaches level five and then it costs $10,400 coins. For a table! Going by how Farm Pals does it, each extra table will almost double in price as the levels increase. What happens once players have reached that twelfth table? Should they just continue on until they are thoroughly bored? It is this reviewer’s opinion that not too many people will ever stick with the game long enough to reach that level. This example can also be applied to Farm Pals since the games are so similar.
What should be played instead? Both Café World and Restaurant City are more entertaining than Top Restaurant. They are both also much more customizable, and the customers don’t stay for hours at a time. Instead of Farm Pals, give Island Paradise, Farm Town or even Farmville a try. Of course both Top Restaurant and Farm Pals are in beta, so these glitches might be fixed. Until then, enjoy the other games. Of course, they are all in beta as well.
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