Heaven’s Diner Changes Its Recipe for iPhone By Adding a Dash of Location

Back in October, we took a look at a Facebook title from Mobilitz called Heaven’s Diner. Basic and a bit dull, the game was average at best. Nevertheless, the developer has changed its recipe a bit for the game’s newer, iPhone rendition of Heaven's Diner. In fact, it has changed it a lot, as the game is almost nothing like the original. Though players are still technically serving dishes to the gods, they’re now doing so in a more location-based fashion. Traveling about their home towns in search of food items and recipes, users level up and earn themselves rewards of a divine level. Along with some interesting review and check-in type elements, Heaven’s Diner makes for a quality iPhone title. Nevertheless, it does seem a little arbitrary at times in its quest system. Essentially, players are serving the gods of Olympus and their heavenly choir of angles. Okay, yes, it’s a mix of mythologies, but just go with it. Every so often, players are presented with a series of quests from the gods and their angels and the goal is to level up and earn in-game coin (Karma) by pleasing them. There are three types of quests within the game and consist of collection quests, location-based quests, and review quests. For each task accepted, a small amount of energy is consumed (which recharges over time) and completing them will earn both experience and coin. The collection style tasks are the most basic, and can be done from virtually anywhere. These quests consist of gathering a set of random ingredients for one of the lesser angels (most of the time). In order to do so, players utilize Google Maps, and a series of random “ingredient locations” and “shop locations” will randomly appear. At each of the former, players will be able to play a simple mini-game, at the cost of energy, in an attempt to win the ingredients they need. The games themselves are a bit basic, but some are somewhat interesting. On the duller side, there are games that just present players with three chests and say “pick one,” but others actual require some semblance of thought. One such example is a game that comes with a multitude of overturned cards. Using a finite number of choices, players pick cards until they find an ingredient they need. What makes it interesting, is that when an incorrect card is picked, the adjacent cards will provide a visual cue that represents whether one of them holds an ingredient or not (they all light up green if one of them contains an ingredient). It is kind of like a reverse Minesweeper. Even still, these mini-games and collection quests are a bit drab. What makes the game more interesting are the location-based and review-based quests. In the former, players must visit a location on a map and acquire a “secret recipe” from a specific restaurant. It’s a little vague on how to get it, but it appears that it is completely random upon visit. This is not a huge deal though, as users can pick up locations within a few mile radius, and check back frequently for it. That said, it is a bit frustrating at first until it actually happens, as the user has no idea how to claim the recipe. Also at these restaurant locations, players can sell select ingredients, currently “required” by that restaurant, that they find in the mini-games for significant amount of coins. This in-game currency can then be turned around and used in the previously noted “shop locations” to buy more ingredients as well as purchase power ups that can boost experience rewards (from quests), restore energy, or allow users to write an extra review a day. Obviously, this leads into the last type of quest: Reviews. As with the Facebook version of Heaven’s Diner, players can take photographs of dishes and write a review (up to five a day) on it. Additionally, this feature incorporates a more standard location-based game check-in mechanic - meaning they choose from a list of nearby restaurants - that allows them to say where they are eating it at. Posting a review from a specific local, is the primary requirement for these quests. Posting a review will complete the quest and can also be posted to Facebook. While this was a bit mundane in the Facebook version, the addition of location-based check-ins for the review, makes it much more interesting. Also, reviews last for three days and can earn supplemental income that is collected much like it is in Booyah’s MyTown. As a side note, it is worth mentioning that all of the quests that appear are sensitive to where the player actually is. This means that available quests will always reflect businesses within a few miles of the players GPS location. Really the only significant complaint to be had with Heaven’s Diner on iPhone is that the game does use Facebook Connect, but it isn’t wholly clear on how one interacts with friends. There are leaderboards and messages, but the game isn’t clear on how to actually invite friends and make use of these. Other than a few nits here and there though, the iPhone version of Heaven’s Diner is a significant improvement over the original Facebook rendition. We’re especially fond of the location based reviews. What makes the game even more interesting is the sense of progression and clear goals that are provided through the quests system, and that tailor themselves to what is around the user’s area. While the basic collection quests are a bit arbitrary, the other types add a little something extra to location-based check-in mechanics that have already proven themselves popular.

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Heaven’s Diner Changes Its Recipe for iPhone By Adding a Dash of Location

Christopher Mack

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Christopher Mack