Game Review: Busy Bistro

Getting Your Brain Cooking, Steeped in Fun 

Reviewed by Kate Powell

Busy Bistro, by FitBrains.com, is a game designed to improve memory and concentration. It could also teach you a few things about cooking terminology and cooking in general!

The game opens by giving you a choice of which course you want to play with. Since I could live off appetizers, I chose that selection of recipes. Busy Bistro popped up a recipe for baked, breaded sea scallops! It definitely made my mouth water. Thinking about good cooking certainly makes you want to succeed in the game - it would be a shame to destroy my lovely, virtual sea scallops!

The Busy Bistro chef instructed me to memorize the ingredients list (don't worry - you don't have to memorize all the amounts, just the food products themselves). You have unlimited time to accomplish this and up until you "leave for the store" you can return to this page and refresh your memory. The next "index card" includes the actual cooking instructions. Once again, the chef instructed me to memorize for later reference. There are highlighted selections to help you pick out the important parts, but occasionally I found questions which were not purely in the highlighted sections, so don't cut corners!

Once you feel confident in your memory, you head to the store where you have to type in all the ingredients from memory. You get points for each correct answer and extra points for fast speed. If you can remember them all, you get a perfect memory bonus! Then it's back to the kitchen. At this point, you and the chef take a break from that specific recipe and test your knowledge of cooking terminology by matching words that appear on the screen to the correct appliance with which that word is associated. You answer as many as you can until the timer goes out and you get points based upon speed and accuracy. If you're not known for your culinary knowledge, never fear! There's a glossary you can study in order to improve your scores. But while you're busy matching kitchen terms to appliances, don't forget that you have ingredients which need to be turned into a delicious dish.

The next step will be the chef asking you some questions to test your recall of the cooking instructions. Once again, you get point for accuracy and speed as well as a bonus if you get them all right. At the end, you have the option of printing your recipe. Then you get the option of continuing on and playing with a different food category. The desserts also seem excellent and I got a great recipe for a Caribbean Crab Meat Salad. Nice for the summer

Of the fitbrains.com games I've played, this one was definitely the best in terms of clear instructions. The complexity of the recipes varied, but was never daunting, and I really liked that it could be applied to real life. Sure, it would be easier to simply look up recipes online, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun! I find myself wanting to continue playing the game in order to get new recipes. I do think the number of words in the terminology section could be expanded upon, as it did get rather repetitive (often within the same round) and since you have to play it each time, it would be nice to continue being challenged.

Overall, I felt the game was challenging without being discouraging or frustrating and it mixed the need for speed and accuracy well. Who wouldn't want to come on back and keep making delicious, virtual food that is healthy for your brain and body? You can't go wrong with the Busy Bistro virtual-food-zero-calories diet!