Game Reviews

The Sushi Spinnery

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The Sushi Spinnery
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Another week, another Kairosoft management game. The Sushi Spinnery is the latest in a very long line of releases from the studio, and - like Oh! Edo Towns and Hot Springs Story - it feels like taster portion of Japanese culture.

This latest game takes many of its cues from previous Kairosoft titles, as you'd expect, and its most notable influence is the first of the studio's games to make an impact: Game Dev Story.

While much of The Sushi Spinnery is reassuringly familiar, it feels a little unfocused in its goals compared with the Kairosoft's best.

Sushyou sir

You've opened a sushi restaurant, complete with conveyor belts and whizzing fishy foods on dishes. As the customers pile in it's up to you to provide them with the best quality service and amenities possible.

You do this by slowly building your establishment up with prettier decor, expanding your conveyor belt to take more customers and food, and chasing after new technologies, PR opportunities, and restaurant expansions.

The food, however, is the most important element. Not only do dishes become more popular depending on the season, but you also need to choose your specials for the menu and even create new dishes yourself.

The process of making dishes takes inspiration from Game Dev Story. You throw a core idea at your head chef and watch as he draws on his experience to build it up with toppings and sauces, even heading down to the fish market to see what he can find.

It all makes for a lovingly crafted management tale, as you attempt to build up the trust of your customers and win food contests. As always, the interface is very simple to use, and there's ample to do - you'll rarely be sat waiting for time to pass.

A load of old spin

There's a lot to love here, especially as you watch all your hand-crafted dishes fly along the conveyor belts.

But, while there is plenty to get your teeth into, it feels far less focused than other Kairosoft titles. Should you be aiming to win contests? Why should you make new dishes anyway? It's all a bit of a blur, and an illustration of the fact that you can sometimes have too much content.

Certain elements are a bit confusing, too, such as building the conveyor belts. You'd assume you want the biggest, widest conveyor belt going, but - as it turns out - you actually want it to wind and curl in on itself to maximise seating. This isn't explained very well, and leads to much confusion.

But, let's face it, you probably don't care. You spotted that a new Kairosoft game was out and you bought it without a second thought. We don't blame you - there hasn't been a bad one yet, and while The Sushi Spinnery is far from the best to date, it's still great fun.

The Sushi Spinnery

Take your base Kairosoft management sim, throw sushi all over the top of it, and out pops The Sushi Spinnery
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Mike Rose
Mike Rose
An expert in the indie games scene, Mike comes to Pocket Gamer as our handheld gaming correspondent. He is the author of 250 Indie Games You Must Play.