| Good Pizza, Great Pizza | |
| Developer: | TapBlaze |
| Publisher: | TapBlaze |
| Genre: | Management |
| Modes: | Single-player |
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a restaurant management video game developed by TapBlaze for iOS, Android, Fire OS, Nintendo Switch, macOS, and Windows. The player focuses on taking orders from customers and cooking pizzas to be the best 'Ovenist' on the street.
Users play as an 'Ovenist' as they open a new pizza shop that is located directly across the street from a competitor. Customers begin to come in, each with different orders and personalities. Players learn the game's pizza making process as stress is put on both accuracy and speed. The same steps are followed throughout pizza making: dough making, selecting a sauce type, placing ingredients, baking, cutting the desired amount of slices, boxing the pizza, and delivery to the customer at the counter.[1] The main rival is Alicante who pops in the store as the player progresses through the story.[2]
While money is spent on ingredients, players will begin to make a profit. This money can be used for upgrades, such as new ingredients, better equipment, or repairs needed.[3] Players must learn how to balance using a good amount of ingredients and choosing to use less in order to save money.[4] While some ingredients can be purchased, others are gifted as plants. Players have the responsibility of watering plants daily so ingredients can be harvested and be in supply for hungry customers.[5] Toppings are not labeled in the kitchen, so as more ingredients are purchased and the options fill up the screen, players must remember the specific toppings based on sight. The game begins to rely more on memory and motor skills as players must scan for what they need.[6]
There are over 100 customers in the game and each has a different personality and look.[7] As more customers order, the game's story develops. There are two recognizable, reoccurring customers who suffer from homelessness and stop in to ask you for free food. If the player chooses to give them help, they will return and assist the shop in different ways. Other customers may come in with money, but it may not be enough to cover the whole order. The player needs to decide if they will accept the order or not.[8]
Some customers place straight-forward orders, while others aren't so clear and make the order process complicated.[9] There are many ways that orders will be personalized. This includes the right amount of toppings, cheese, and sauce, and how many slices customers may want. Some may even ask for nothing at all. Thousands of combinations can be made.[10] It is up to the player to navigate the tricky ordering process and learn what the customer wants. If a customer is given the wrong order, players will have to issue a refund.[11] If players are confused by what the customer is asking for, they can ask the customer once for clarification and also refer to the order receipt. Happy customers will leave tips.
As players progress through Good Pizza, Great Pizza, they learn about the unique world within it. There is an in-game news network called Pizza News Network (PNN) that discusses all pizza-related news. It is a spoof of CNN.
The mobile versions offer in-app purchases.[12]
Anthony Lai is the CEO of app developer company TapBlaze.[13] In 2012, he began publishing simple games on the App Store. Hoping to build some more complicated games that would attract audiences for the long term, Lai hired a team. After deciding to make a food-based game, Lai settled on pizza being the star. The lead designer says much of the character design and gameplay was based on his many years of experience when he worked at Costco's pizza kitchen. Good Pizza, Great Pizza first became available on the App Store in 2014.[14] While Lai says it had a strong player base at first, the game did not originally have a good retention rate.[15]
The game was briefly abandoned until 2016 when Lai attended the Game Developers Conference. An editor encouraged him to polish up the game's design, UI, and monetization, and Lai began to realize the game had more potential. Lai developed a small team and made the suggested adjustments. The Los Angeles-based team says after making these changes, Good Pizza, Great Pizza's audience jumped from 1,000 daily active users to 30,000 in four months.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza was initially released for iOS on December 2, 2014,[16] Android devices on February 6, 2015,[17] [18] and for Amazon devices via Fire OS on June 23, 2016.[19] [20] Published by PM Studios, a port for Nintendo Switch was released on September 3, 2020.[21] The game entered early access for macOS and Windows via Steam in 2018 and was fully released on January 6, 2023.[22] [23] [24]
In 2020, TapBlaze announced the Nintendo Switch release at the New Game+ Expo.[25] A limited number of physical editions were also released, including a steelbook and a plush.[26]
Good Pizza, Great Pizza was given an honorable mention at the MENA Games Industry Awards for 'Best Arabic Localization' at the Dubai GameExpo Summit 2024.[27]