The Great Chocolate Chase:
A Chocolatier Twist
Evangeline Baumeister, chocolate tycoon and owner of Baumeister Confections, wasn't satisfied running the world's largest chocolate empire. Perhaps the giant corporate world was too impersonal or the large factories couldn't provide enough unique treats to stay afloat. Whatever the reason, Evangeline teamed up with eclectic inventor Klaus Werner to take the chocolate business to the next level. In the past, when the Baumeisters needed help, they called on you to be their head Chocolatier. Now, as they open new specialty shops, they are relying on you to help them to succeed.
The third installment in the Chocolatier series, The Great Chocolate Chase: A Chocolatier Twist, has just been released. This one takes a new twist on chocolate-making — or is it an old twist? Rather than exploring the world in search of new ingredients, this version of Chocolatier will have you serving individual customers in gourmet shops, in a style similar to the now classic Cake Mania. Mix chocolates, fill them, shape them, add on delicious toppings or serve them up plain. Whatever you do, serve them quickly — Baumeister's patrons are a hungry, impatient bunch.
These gourmet chocolate shops are found in secret locations around the world — remote villages make the perfect testing grounds for Klaus Werner's wacky inventions. The mixes and presses are all run by steam engines, hissing and puffing. Werner even created a unique delivery system, using a small zeppelin, to deliver chocolates long distance. This clever steampunk theme adds a bit of whimsy to the already sweet Chocolatier series.
As Evangeline tests out the various machines, she will meet new customers, some of whom will challenge her (actually, you) to complete a variety of quests. Can you serve three customers in a row? Go an entire day without wasting chocolate? New gourmet ingredients — which can bring in more money — will be your reward, if you can pass their tests.
Earning more money allows you to upgrade the shop, like putting up new interior decorations like statues or art deco glass, learning customer service skills, or beefing up the steam generator. Upgrades are available for purchase at the beginning of each level (with the exception of the first couple levels.) Once Evangeline's shop is thriving and you've completed enough levels, she'll be whisked away to the next secret location, to try out new machines and ingredients. Along the way, the Baumeister story continues, and Evangeline may even run into some familiar faces and family members.
Analysis: I had mixed feelings about this version of Chocolatier. I never made a great server when I worked in an actual restaurant, and I seem to be no better at running virtual shops. However, the lure of new chocolates and funky steam-spitting machines kept me trying for hours to get to the next level or location. Since you are required to fill the customer's exact order, this version doesn't allow much experimentation with flavor combinations. However, many other elements remain the same, including the elegant graphics and props to the world's obscure geography.
Also, there were a few aspects from the old Chocolatier games that I didn't miss, such as running around and talking to the same people with the same stories in order to proceed. Instead of trying to talk your head off, most of the people in this game just demand chocolate and glare when you can't get them quickly enough. It's surprising how much individual personality the customers can have without speaking.
Fans of the Chocolatier series, steampunk aficionados, and Cake-Mania-style game addicts will likely enjoy the Great Chocolate Chase. And, well, who doesn't like chocolate and steampunk?
Windows:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Get the full version
Tips & Tricks:
Evangeline:
~ Evangeline can carry two things in her hands at once and still do other stuff. If she's pouring chocolate into a cup and she's standing in front of that station she can actually pour a third cup of chocolate, even though both her hands are full. With full hands she can still hand out menus and collect money, what is helpful, when you want to make long chains.
~ Since Evangeline can hold two things at once, her hands should never be empty. Look at the people in line and start preparing the next 3 cups of chocolate before Evangeline leaves that station. Even while she's holding 2 cups in her hand, you can click on the machine and it will make another cup of chocolate while she's still standing there.
~ Try to make Evangeline do things in as few steps as possible. If she's going to the sauce machine, have her take an order to a customer that is close by. As she places one chocolate in one machine, take an order out and place a topping on it
~ When you pour the chocolates you don't have to pick up the first cup in order to make the next one. Simply click on the second chocolate you want to make and Evangeline will pick up the one on the holding plate automatically; same is with toppings, flavor or chocolate shapes
Customers:
~ The customers with two orders (you see the second one shadowed behind the first, are most the ones, which go angry very fast. If you see them, it makes sense, to take care for them as soon as you see them. They bring more needed money, so better take care, that they do not leave.
~ Often the second order is a bottle of chocolate, so when you don't have anything else to deliver than customers first order, take a bottle of chocolate with you and you already have it, when needed.
~ When they get angry and leave after you already served part of the order, you will get paid for this part of the order.
~ Losing a customer won't take off any of your days total money, but loosing too many people could cause you to fail a level.
~ There are four customers really getting angry fast, no matter if they have one or two orders:
The woman, dressed like a pilot
The blond woman with the hat
The Indian woman
The man with the Russian hat
~ The woman with the blue dress and the glasses seems to be the most patience of all. Might be not wrong, to take her order at last and even serve impatient customers, which came later, first.
General:
~ Money and upgrades, you earn in the levels will go with you through a complete level, but when you change location, you will have to start at Zero again.
~ Make sure, that the counter in front of the customer is light, when you click to get an order. Sometimes the first click is not enough and then you waste time (and money) as you think, you already have done it.
~ Each level gives you also the possibility to win an award, as there is always an extra-challenge (look at the left upper corner to see, what you have to do for it).
~ A chocolate you don't need in the moment can not only be thrown away, you can also put it on the display or next to the chocolate machine.
~ Take an extra second to make sure that you have the right topping on a chocolate before you press it because you will waste time if you don't.
~ Check your toppings carefully some of them are white and they are against white chocolate they can be hard to see.
~ You can replay a level at any time. When you replay for a higher score all the upgrades you purchased for that country will be available.
~ When you start a level over, you cannot change your mind on the upgrades you bought but you can buy additional ones if you have enough money.
~ The decorations do not have any effect on customer's patience or help your game in any way. That is why it's a waste of money to buy them before you've purchased all the upgrades. Your money is better spent on items that can help you meet your goals.
~ If you have money left over after purchasing upgrades and such, then you can decorate your shop to your liking.
Strategy:
~ The only way to win a level for me was doing as much as possible at the same time. So I poured for example a cup of chocolate and to get it I already started the machine again. All machines should run constantly when possible.
~ make sure, that you get the chain-bonuses'. For example, don't give menus away before you didn't collect all money. Make sure, you serve as much customers in a row. Try to work as one row of customers is one level, finish them first all (menu, delivering, money), before you let the new customers in.
~ Make sure, that the Zeppelin don't break your chains. Give all orders to your customers and then to the Zeppelin. Then collect the money from the customers. The money-chain starts with the Zeppelin
~ Try to serve chocolate syrup and hot chocolate first, as they need time to refill. If possible, have one each on the display in reserve. As the customers seldom ask for chocolate, you made in advance, I found it much handier to use it with the syrup and hot chocolate, as the machines can refill then
~ Watch the clock and try to get in as many customers as you can before the store closes it could mean the difference between making your goal or not. Once you see the closed sign, no more customers will come in.
~ If you have a mixture of money on the counter and new customers, pick up all the money before you hand out the menus, this will give more people a chance to come in the door and you will be able to make a longer chaining bonus when you hand out the menus.
~ Place some chocolate on the conveyor belt right before you hand out some orders. This will increase your sales since happier customers pay more money.
~ When you're running low on time and you want to get more customers in before a level ends, you can serve the people with the simplest orders first, like a bar with no toppings, hot chocolate or just chocolate syrup. This will help you cash people out and bring some last minute customers in.
~ Make products with the same flavor fruits or toppings at the same time. Concentrating on making a particular flavor at a time can save you some time since it will be less confusing.
~ In levels in which you have one flavor or topping available you can make make some chocolates in advance. That is mostly the case in the very early stages of a new location. On day 22, I made two lemon infusions, kept one in the machine and one on the display case. I also kept one chocolate bar ready in the machine and a cup of chocolate at the station.
~ Don't buy all your upgrades at the end of each level. You can buy what you need and save the rest of the money for the next round, to be able to get the better updates then.
~ ‘Sky Chocolates means' the Zeppelins orders
~ In order to pass level 40,you have to make complete chains in order to make the max amt. Take all the menus when the counter is full, serve everyone at the same time and collect the money all at once.
~ In level 45 take care of the lady with the blonde hair, the pilot and the Indian lady as soon as you see them come in. They don't have a lot of patience and they will leave if you don't take care of them right away. Place chocolate syrup and hot chocolate on the display case as soon as you open, make three of the same type of colored chocolates since you can still make a third cup of chocolate while Evangeline is standing there with 2 full cups in her hand.
Conveyor Belt
~ The conveyor belt appears periodically throughout the game. When you see it appear all you have to do is place any type of chocolate on it and it will give patience to the people that are in line. The first time you will see it appear will be in level 38. Place the chocolates on the plate that is at the right hand side of the counter and the chocolate will go down the line. The person with the least amount of patience in the group will be the one to take it.
~ If you notice the chocolate going down the line you will see it disappear in front of a customer. That means that particular person took the candy and ate it to calm their nerves. You will also notice that their patience bubble will be less jagged and perhaps not as red.
~ It can be hard at times to make chocolates just to place on the conveyor belt so it is best to place chocolate on there in which you made some mistakes. Instead of throwing them away place them on the conveyor belt instead.
~ If there is no one to get the candy it will fall into the trash bin. For items, that are needed for the conveyor belt, you can always place your mistakes on the Display case until you're ready to use them.
This has a lot of polish, and the quests diversify the game-play a little (though the ones I've seen in the demo hour don't require any dramatic reinventions of gameplay style, the way the challenges in Miss Management do). Still, I'm a little disappointed that the next installment in the Chocolatier series is redoing the time-management mechanic we've already seen so many times. I thought the first two games had some room to improve, but they did have more distinctive game-play. Even the setting doesn't feel that new -- there are countless games about serving up the customer's exact food order, and Vogue Tales does the vaguely-steampunk thing.
So: well crafted, but not innovative. (Or if there's something innovative here, they've hidden it after the demo hour, which is probably a mistake.)
I feel like this is taken straight out of the movie Chocolate, which is a good thing.
Correction: Chocolat.
I like chocolate and steampunk, but no amount of dressing up these drudgery simulators is going to again fool me into thinking they're games. The sociological implications of consistently trying to market them to girls bothers me too.
To each his (or her) own, Cerulean.
However, just because you don't like a particular type of game doesn't disqualify it from being considered a "game".
From Wikipedia:
"Key components of games are goals, rules, challenge, and interactivity. Games generally involve mental or physical stimulation, and often both. Many games help develop practical skills, serve as a form of exercise, or otherwise perform an educational, simulational or psychological role."
I'd say this one is well-qualified according to the above definition.
I really liked the previous games...If I wanted to play a cake mania style game than I would play cake mania or diner dash or something. I feel like this has been done and I would have liked it if they stuck to their original concept which was quite cool and a bit quirky...still a fun game to waste some time with.
I was also disappointed by this game. Good if you already used up demo time on, for example, Cake Mania and enjoyed it enough to want to keep playing, but otherwise I didn't see anything new and interesting here. Different theme, new appearance (and fairly nice looking, I'll admit), but ultimately the same game we've all seen half a dozen times already.
Also, for $20, you could get some nice real chocolate treats instead :)
Someone has got to have a good method of doing level 60! Help. Normally I think its best to hand out menus serve everyone, collect all the money, then give out al the menus again but the people are so impatient on this one! Nothing that works for other levels seems to apply here.
Can anyone tell what they did? Chain or not? Just get people in & out? Something else?
Hi, Esther
I never got that far with the levels, so I looked around a little and found three answers on another side
As you practice you will be able to predict their orders and prepare them ahead without looking at their orders. However keep in mind that the chocs melt, in my case I prepare 3 max 4 chocs, anything more the chocs will melt.
As you practice you will become faster in chaining. What I did was when I got the last complete set of 6 customers I kept looking at the time left. When I have like 5 to 10 seconds left I cashed in on 3 to 4 customers that I've served so I can get an additional set of customers that can pad up my score.
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This game is really tough. I think I must have been playing for close to 2 weeks before I finished the whole game. After so many attempts on the final level I was quite surprised that I finished it without realizing I finally did it. The key is to practice and try out different play combinations as you go along. I've gotten the master scores on all levels except for the last 2, I'm now working on it.
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It's a toughie, that's for sure! I went back & re-played levels 51-59 so I could earn all of the upgrades. Then I chained like crazy until the last 15-20 seconds where I cashed out everyone I could at once, handed out menus to the new customers, then continued the serving chain. Don't forget that serving a chocolate to the zepplin chains with payment, not service.
Also, use the center table to hold 2 extra sauce bottles. There is a point in the second round where you will need at least 4 bottles very quickly. Serve the most impaitent cusomers first (Middle Eastern man, Indian princess, aviatrix, & blonde woman). Then just move quickly!
Sorry, more I could not find
Greetings, Kayleigh
Hey all.
This is a fun game I can recommend.
I actually came here to ask help of those who played it.
See, I have all perfect without failing up to level 36 or something.
The problem is, around level 24-25-26, there was a quest without a description.
Clarification : Level 25, "Daily specials". It refuses to tell me what the criteria to meet are, so I cannot complete it -_- . It annoys me, so if anyone knows, please let me know!
I have gotten to level 28. The only way I did it was to start a chocolate before giving the first menu then make the second flavor before the customers make a decision. This will give a leg up. Then hand out all menus as they come in. Collect money in sets of six. This gives a great bonus. Do not worry if you miss he second serving of a customer. You will still make some money.
It kills me that my screen doesn't show me a clear difference between dark chocolates and those with the dark brown ingredient added (I think it's vanilla?) Am I the only one that has this problem?
I also had the same problem with the coffee making machines on Chocolatier 3 (Couldn't see the coffee beans).
Is it my monitor? Any suggestions at all would be welcome!
To Brenda:
I haven't had that problem. You may want to try adjusting your monitor.
I cant pass level 59 where theres a quest of earning $3000 in that day - I tried different strategies but I just cant earn more then $2300. Any tips pls?
Help! I can't get past level 40 I need about $400 more.
I don't think anyone can get past level 40 .. I think its a game flaw.
I love this game, however, I can't seem to pass levels 19, 35 and 49. Can anyone help?
hello. I am having the same problem what BWD had, I cant complete lvl 25 Daily specials quest because it doesnt even tell me what i have to do...can anyone help me with that?
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