P3: Playable first draft – Restaurant Rivals

Playable draft:

https://paprikachen.github.io/cs377g_Project3/preview/8th-nov-2026/

List of changes:

• Live market – players choose ingredients at same time, but with a loading bar that makes them wait before they can buy another ingredient
• Ad shop: a new random shop each day (a bit roguelike).
• Interactive service: when you run out of tables or food, the waiting guests have a patience bar. You can rush food or borrow a table before they leave.
• Events (during interactive service scene): free food request, fight, proposal, storm (countryside) / protest (city), overnight robbery 
  • Proposal: no choice and nothing to do with stars. 50% success, which gives a +$20 tip.
  • Fight: −2 tables for good and −2 food. 
  • Robbery: 5% between days, takes half your cash, capped at $30. 
  • Storm / protest: −3 guests.
• Clarity: intro cards, a progress bar for the day, rules shown only for the current step, and hints that do the math for you.
• Visuals: added images for intro / landing page, diagram of table setup in each restaurant, clearer icons for when pop-up tables/rushed food deliveries are needed during service simulation
• Market prices: $6 Express / $3 Regular instead of $10 / $5, because $10 food lost money on every table. Cooldowns are 3s / 5s, 60s total, and Regular isn’t sold on day 5 (with a warning on day 4).
• Bluffs: ads are pricier, with several card types at different prices. Reworded as “(false) advertisements” instead of “bluffs”
• Pop-up tables are now “borrow a table from next door” (30% chance they say no). Rush food takes delivery time, so guests may leave before it arrives. Both only show up when you’re short.
• All the new numbers are placeholders.

Questions:

1. Market – Does this stage feel competitive and not too repetitive, if players must choose ingredients at the same time and they have a wait bar for each selected ingredient?
2. Service simulation (related to UX design question above) – Are the scenes that occur when you “open doors” for your restaurant clear enough that players can react during the simulation?
3. Onboarding – Are there moments during the game where instructions OR points of interaction can be made clearer or redesigned? (including landing / intro page)
4. UX Design: (still things we need to touch base on as a team)
   1. Market screen: 
      1. The layout of the shelf / shop – suggestions for “market” visuals?
      2. How should the Express vs Regular icons look? How can we show different features (e.g., the timer, cash, cooldowns, and “arrives today / tomorrow”) without a lot of text?
   2. Service simulation:
      1. How should the restaurant scene look (tables, food, guests walking in or leaving)?
      2. How does the shortage pop up for players, so they know how to respond?
      3. How do events (e.g., storm, fight, proposal, etc.) show up?