Slow Cooking in Café Remix

Over the past year or so, Café Remix has entertained players with real-time puzzles (that may also be competitive) under the banner of One-Minute Cooking. It's analogous to the similar time-based format in Pokémon Shuffle, the predecessor game, as I've explained before. For the competitive aspect, though, it doesn't seem to have an analogue - at least, a usable one - for the move-based format... until now. The latest feature Pokémon event has just introduced such a format, and it's called Slow Cooking.

Instead of having a single large playfield and clearing obstacles in "phases", a player is given three "order" puzzles like a typical main order, with both "cooking" and "dish up" phases, to be completed in succession. The catch is that all of them need to be done with a limited number of moves that are shared among all three, so every move is valuable, especially as their points will be totaled and counted just like One-Minute Cooking. To that end, a new playfield item is introduced, "Move +1", which adds another move to the counter when cleared. Play continues until all the puzzles are cleared or there are no more moves.

Selection of Pokémon is also different. They are selected before the entire run of puzzles, but in a different way: one Pokémon is selected for each "order", who will be the leader for that "order", and the other two serve as support, none of which can be changed in the middle. Only the leader can use skills for that "order", as is normal in main orders, and only these three Pokémon appear in all puzzles. While either of two recommended Pokémon may be chosen, it may be more advantageous to ignore both and choose a different one that may be better suited (by tapping the Pokémon selector) to clear the puzzles optimally.

The usual selection of pre-puzzle and mid-puzzle items may be used as with main orders, but these are severely limited. Only one of each pre-puzzle item may be used over the course of the run, though it's up to the player to determine what and when. Likewise, only three of each mid-puzzle item may be used in total (except for the Leader Bell, which is limited to one), and this requires wise decisions. Furthermore, all of these still depend on how many items are in the inventory, and their usage will eat away at that. Therefore, clearing puzzles by moves is still prioritized, and these items should be used sparingly as is the case normally.

While Slow Cooking has been introduced as part of a featured Pokémon event, there is actually a deeper reason for its introduction. Even though the game has been around for a few years, including as its "Remix" update, there is reason to believe that the game has matured in some ways, including for its main orders and the Pokémon that can be played in them. For that reason, the format was created to accommodate (in a way) new possibilities for the future. I'll have more on this in a separate post, but this should represent the overall gist.

After the action-based format that is One-Minute Cooking, it makes sense to put in something based on strategy, and Slow Cooking becomes the ticket for that. The challenge that it presents is not far removed from the framework of main orders that the game has, but with the limits that the challenge imposes, it is still necessary for players to make the best choices and approaches (including for Pokémon and clearing the puzzles) to get the most out of this slower and more thoughtful format.

One year ago: Pikachu and Togekiss Mini Figures on the Cheap

Two years ago: The Currencies of Unite

Three years ago: The Pokémon Evolution (and More) Music

Four years ago: Pokémon Go: A Colossal Discovery

Five years ago: Balance of Topics

Six years ago: Kids (...or Trainers, Fans) These Days