Gordon Ramsay DASH review
:: DASHING DINERPrice: Free
Version: 1.0
App Reviewed on: iPad Air 2
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Gordon Ramsay DASH is a puzzle game where you run your own restaurant kitchen, serving up dishes as quickly as possible under the guidance of Gordon Ramsay. Thanks to some good attention-to-detail and puzzle design, this free-to-play game serves up a good portion of fun.
Cook, serve, delicious
The idea behind Gordon Ramsay DASH is to turn over as many tables as possible to satisfy customers and maximize profits. You do this by looking at what customers order and then tapping on the screen to put their ingredients together as quickly as possible. If you wait too long, customers will get upset, resulting in reduced tips or--if you really ignore a customer--them walking out.
For the most part, it's a pretty simple formula, but it works. Things can get hectic very quickly when your restaurant fills up with customers ordering multiple, complicated items at once, and it's pretty satisfying when you successfully queue up actions to make sure everyone stays happy.
Masterchef in training
Gordon Ramsay's name and face isn't merely slapped on Gordon Ramsay DASH. This game is pretty much all Ramsay all the time.
The conceit of DASH is that you are a relatively unknown chef being mentored by Gordon Ramsay on a new reality series called Rising Star Chefs. At the beginning of levels, Gordon talks to the camera, then stands off to the side and provides commentary on your performance throughout the service. You can even tap him as a power up to get him to serve everyone in the restaurant for you.
It's actually kind of astounding how much voice work Chef Ramsay did for the game. This level of effort really helps Gordon Ramsay DASH feel like more than just a cash grab.
Hell's Kitchen
There are a lot of little things to appreciate about Gordon Ramsay DASH, particularly if you're a fan of the chef's empire of TV shows, but that doesn't mean that the game doesn't have its fair share of pitfalls.
In particular, the game's free-to-play hooks get out of control very quickly. In addition to some of the more common strategies, Gordon Ramsay DASH goes out of its way to tease you with new chefs and other items that help make the game more manageable but also cost large sums of purchasable currency to actually unlock. This wouldn't be so bad if there were some sort of option for you to buy the game outright, but alas, you can only purchase consumable currency.
The bottom line
Gordon Ramsay DASH offers some pretty fun puzzling and fan service, though it is marred a bit by its free-to-play structure. If you're at all a fan of Gordon Ramsay, this game is definitely worth checking out, though how long you'll stick with it is questionable.