There’s nothing more cozy than ordering your favourite takeaway and playing a nice, relaxing cozy game after a long, stressful day. So what could be better than ordering a pizza and playing Good Pizza, Great Pizza?
Released in 2018, Good Pizza, Great Pizza is an indie simulation game in which you own and run a newly opened pizzeria. There doesn’t seem to be much of a backstory to this game, apart from the fact that the whole town seems to celebrate their love for pizza and that you’re frequently tormented by a rival pizza shop opposite you.
The gameplay itself is pretty simple in theory, one customer at a time will pop into the shop and you will need to take down their order and fulfil it by making the pizza in the back, no matter how strange it is. The gameplay is simple in theory, because it kinda is, remembering the order and attempting to make it is the easy part- the hard part is trying to decipher what some of the customers are saying.
At times customers will come in quoting something like; “I want a pepperoni pizza, but hold the pepperoni”, in which you can guess it’s a cheese pizza or prompt them to give you more information. Prompting the customer will slightly decrease the happiness metre on the top left of the screen, which will also drastically count down the minute you take the order.
Taking too long to make the pizza, getting an element incorrect or even not distributing the toppings properly will also make the customer mad, in which money is taken out of the profits at the end of the day.
So you have to ensure that you make the pizza quickly, perfectly every time, but there are upgrades that you can buy to help with that. At the end of every working day, you can spend cash and tip money you earn on both cosmetic and practical upgrades for the shop. Cosmetics will obviously allow you to alter the interior appearance of your restaurant, whilst practical upgrades are more costly but really do help with your day to day.
These upgrades can range from adding more toppings, to even upgrading the oven, so that it can cook the pizza quickly.
Going back to the gameplay, it is repetitive and you will be doing the same thing over and over and over again, however Good Pizza, Great Pizza almost reminds me of Diner Dash, where you know how repetitive the game is going to be but you can’t help but just play through another day. And as the days are very short, it’s a game that can easily be picked up and played casually.
I will add that the controls themselves are relatively good and responsive, however using the touchscreen was far more better and responsive than using the traditional controls of the Nintendo Switch- but it is great that there is an option.
Graphically, eh. Give or take from me. I know that this particular art style seems to be very popular at the moment, but I struggle to like it, however, I will say that it suits the game very well. So I guess it makes sense and at least it’s not the generic pixel graphics that most indie developers go to these days.
Overall Good PIzza, Great Pizza is a pretty relaxed, cozy game that is available on multiple platforms, including the Nintendo Switch and across mobile devices and it’s easy to play gameplay makes for some casual fun, whenever you’re out on the go or just need some quick, filler entertainment. Yes, it is repetitive however the gameplay itself can be quite addictive
The great thing is that the game is also very cheap to buy on the Nintendo Switch at the moment, being under £10, and I believe that it’s free for mobile devices too- but don;t quote me on that.
My only complaint with Good Pizza, Pizza is that you’re going to probably want a pizza as you play! I know I did.