Transitioning from Shuffle to Café Remix

If there's something else that would characterize Pokémon Café Remix as a "successor" of the earlier Pokémon Shuffle, as I noted yesterday in my introductory post to the game, it would be its similarity. It's similar enough that players can transition to the new game without too much of a hassle, but at the same time, some things can be noted to make that transition progress more smoothly, and I've decided to detail some of the most important ones for that transition as well as for the sake of general comparison.

Café Remix has Stamina as its main energy "currency", which is analogous to Hearts in Shuffle and looks rather like the Revives of the main series games; one Stamina Shard, the unit of play, is recovered every 15 minutes (compared to Shuffle's 30 by default, without a Special Shop item) for as long as it is less than 5. Extra Shards can be accumulated but need to be spent before recovery can begin, and Shuffle also used this system before the two were separated. A Stamina Crystal can also be obtained in certain cases and acts as infinite Stamina for a length of time, similar to Shuffle's No Hearts Needed items from the Special Shop.

Again, in Café Remix, in similar strides as in Shuffle, players deal with stages that are called "orders". They can play main orders, with each needing completion before moving on to the next; they can also play previous main orders to improve the results on them. Extra orders, accessed in previous orders, are the orders as they were in Café Mix prior to the Remix update and can also be played as such. Pokémon can also be raised by playing a training order, which is in the form of an adapted main order. Finally, raising certain Pokémon allows the creation of new menu item ideas, which need to be developed through playing a menu development order that takes precedence over a main order.

Unlike Shuffle, letter grades (ranks) are not used for evaluation, in favor of Stars for each order; one is earned by completing the required main objectives and two more are earned by completing each set of secondary objectives (not present for extra orders or menu development), in line with other similar puzzle games on mobile platforms. Progress through main orders also requires a certain number of Stars, checked after completion of orders with multiples of 50, similar to Shuffle checking for S ranks to unlock more main stages ahead. Improving past orders and getting good results on successive main orders are the key to getting these Stars, still the same as before.

While Shuffle has Trainers capturing Pokémon, in Café Remix, Pokémon become appealed to join (be hired by) the café staff in certain ways, including through certain special events. Once they join, the Pokémon can take on orders as the "leader" with a certain "specialty" (ability to clear obstacles), with the rest of the team being random, at least in typical orders. They also need to be raised through training as above, which is an important part and cannot be stressed enough - in fact, it deserves to be covered separately. Maintaining progression and staying updated is necessary for being able to have lots of Pokémon at the ready.

There is much more to Café Remix (and even more similarities) than what I've covered above, but the above is sufficient for covering the general transition from and comparison to Shuffle. In any case, the similarities are highly evident and highlight the "successor" nature of the former toward the latter. Whether or not that's true, players should still be able to take comfort that the transition is not as difficult as one might expect, paving a smooth way from battling Pokémon to serving up food in puzzle form.

One year ago: Trainer Green and Ash XY Pikachu Figures

Two years ago: Into the Myst

Three years ago: Raid Stories

Four years ago: Evolution Is a Change

Five years ago: Historical Pokémon