Chocolate Factory Simulator Review

I’ve never particularly had the urge to be Willy Wonka, but I appreciate the spirit. In Chocolate Factory Simulator, much like the title suggests, you can take on the same energy and run your own chocolate factory.

The mechanics are pretty simple but extremely in-depth: pick a name for your company, pick a logo, and get ready to learn some actual life skills, because when I tell you this game will teach you the trials and tribulations of making chocolate? I mean it.

Graphically, this game is quite better off than a lot of others in the same simulation genre. As it takes place in first-person, it escapes the pitfalls of the uncanny valley effect in regard to models of people. Instead, your customers place their orders on the phone and are displayed in much more tasteful pieces of art. The only being you'll run into in the physical realm is your little robot assistant, Nougat. Nougat will eventually help you run the shop, but until you manage to upgrade your little pal, they'll roll around your shop like a well-behaved toddler.

Theming-wise, the game leans heavily into the steampunk aesthetic, down to your deliveries and shipments being picked up by a prototype aeroplane blimp. In a sense, I felt as though I was casually running a chocolate shop in BioShock Infinite. Your factory is also quite massive, with multiple different rooms, including balconies, an overlook, and even an office. Again, this is another place where I think Chocolate Factory Simulator shines, as they very easily could have just locked players to the kitchen and storage rooms.

You will end up using most of these spaces, too, but most of your time will be spent in your kitchen. If you're a fan of micromanaging and realism, this game was hand-crafted for you. All the recipes for your confections can be found in a book. This book holds your orders and acts as your Ye Olde Amazon account. When you run out of ingredients or want to order a new upgrade, you'll do it here.

In turn, you'll pour every ingredient gram by gram, heat it to the correct temperature to crystallize the chocolate, remove said chocolate, wait for the temperature to go down to a certain number, and place it back on the stove again in order to properly temper it. You set the speed at which the gas comes out of the hot plate, you have to remember when to stir it, and you have to catch the perfect blissful moment to pull the pot on and off the heat. If you don't? Burnt chocolate — you're a failure. On top of this, you must press the chocolate into the desired shape, package it, place it in the balloon that will send it up to your customer, and every single little step in between.

But wait! We’re not done. Then you have to empty your pot and bowls afterwards, as well as turn off the gas, get coal, reload the furnace, order your new ingredients, wait for the ingredients to arrive, go outside and unload them, bring the crate that they came on to the garbage shoot, throw it out, put the new ingredients on the shelf, tune up your equipment, answer and accept the order for your next customer, grind whatever add-in you need, (there are different consistencies), and start making your next batch all over again.

I wasn’t being overdramatic when I said you’ll have a lot of little tasks to do. There is not a single step you'll get to skip until you get Nougat up and running. It’s all you, baby. You'll learn how to properly temper chocolate or die trying.

Now, for me? This was a little too much realism. I rage-quit two separate times after I burnt my chocolate. But, if you're one of those people who really loved having to get a haircut and groom your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2, or found needing to get your clothing washed at a brothel riveting in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, then you've found the game for you.

For the type of niche Chocolate Factory Simulator falls into, I think it's a good time. It’s nice looking for the price point, has playability potential, and knows what it's about. If you have a type A personality type and a lot of patience, I think you'll find it worth it.