This article is part of our series on Free and Open Source Games.

Burger Party is an Android game from Aurélien Gâteau that challenges you to complete burger orders at a restaurant as fast and as accurately as you can. It’s a well crafted game with near-universal appeal. Read on to find out more.

Table of contents:

• Overview
• The Experience
• Audience
• Educational Value
• Content Advice
• Supporting the Developer
• Final Words
• Game Information

Overview

Burger Party challenges us to complete burger orders in restaurants around the world with speed and accuracy. After selecting a difficulty setting a silent video tutorial shows us how to play and then it’s straight into the action.

We see a queue of customers waiting in our restaurant. The front customer asks for their order which is depicted as an exploded burger in a speech bubble. We must tap the ingredients of the burger, in order, starting from the bottom and moving upwards. An arrow helpfully points at the next layer to complete. Any mistakes mean the order is thrown away and we have to start again. Depending on the difficulty setting you may be racing the clock but even without that the customer’s faces register dismay the longer they wait.

Each order completed gains you coins. A maximum of three coins are available for a fully accurate order, down to just one coin if mistakes are made. Three coins gains you one star and each level has a total of three stars available.

Levels unlock as you progress. Some levels when unlocked have a ‘gift’: an additional food item for your kitchen that customers can order, making things increasingly complex. The new item is presented in a small cut scene. After every 15 levels you unlock a new restaurant location with three to visit. When this happens you are treated to another cut scene showing you flying to the new location. Restaurants vary by their background graphics, the appearance of the customers and some special food items (coconut drinks in the Caribbean for example).

The game has many small rewards for play. If you get consecutive orders correct you’ll see messages such as “2x combo”. There are several achievements to win such as “burger god” (serve 200 burgers) and “all stars” (finish all levels with three stars). A perfect run gets rewarded with a message and the level is marked with a ‘Perfect!’ banner.

The Experience

The choice of a food theme is smart due to its universal appeal. The developer has crafted a challenging game with features you’d expect from a professional studio such as the level selector, animated title screens, fun cut scenes, careful sound design and a settings menu (though you can only toggle the music on and off). This attention to detail elevates the game above many others.

There’s a strong sense of progression throughout play whether its by completing levels, travelling to new locations, gaining new ingredients, completing combos or unlocking achievements. All of these moment are accompanied by notifications or animations which, while simple, add a lot of character and joy to the game.

The graphics are bright and bouncy. Small touches like a swinging animation on the presents dangling from the level buttons speak again to the quality of the game. There is a jolly soundtrack featuring steel drums and sound effects accompany the game’s actions. Each layer of the burger sounds different as it drops onto the plate and there are children’s voices to celebrate the end of a level or a perfect score.

There’s a real satisfaction in the mastery of this game. The food items in your kitchen do not move around between levels so it’s possible to learn to ’touch type’ orders once proficient.

Complete any four levels and you’ll unlock the practice area. It’s an empty restaurant allowing you the time to create any burger you like. In fact the game even allows you to create giant towering burgers of huge height, which can be a delight for young players to discover.

Audience

In Google’s European Play Store the game has a PEGI 3 rating: ‘suitable for all age groups’. There are three difficultly levels: kids, normal and expert. The kids mode is perfect for younger children who may struggle with the time limits or anyone who prefers to play without time pressure. This is a great addition. However note that customers can still get upset (a change in facial expression) if they wait too long.

It’s a great pocket game that you can just pick up and play any time. We’d recommend it to stave off boredom during travel or any small gaps in the day.

Educational Value

This is a game of recognising and copying patterns, memorising the position of ingredients in the kitchen and the use of fine motor skills. The optional time pressure adds a way to increase difficulty once the basics are mastered. As such it would works well for young children of all ages.

Whilst the game is not intended as a teaching tool it could be used to support learning food vocabulary and colours. In addition the player is exposed to small numbers via the level selector (up to 15) and counting through the coins and stars system (up to three).

Content Advice

It should be clear from the title this is a game which depicts animal products and their (implied) consumption. Some locations and their customers are depicted as cartoonish regional stereotypes such as pirates, ninjas, geishas etc.

There are no trackers or advertising in the game and no network access is required.

Supporting the Developer

The developer lists several ways you can support their work by donation and they also offer merchandise on Redbubble.

Final Words

This game is well worth downloading. Though it’s not designed to be educational it provides great entertainment, is perfectly suited for children and there is much for them to enjoy in this slick production.

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Game Information