If you were a 2000s kid, I can guarantee that at some point in time you pulled up Cool Math Games and then proceeded to play one of the many Papa’s games available. That is exactly what you would’ve found me doing in the back of my math class in 5th grade. These games have definitely had an impact on our generation, and while everyone has a different favorite, I wanted to highlight my top five in the Papa’s multiverse.
#5 Papa’s Cupcakeria
Taking the number five spot is none other than Cupcakeria. This game is getting this spot because for me, it was one of my all time favorites when I was a kid. I loved how cute it was, making cute little cupcakes for all the cute little customers; especially since all I wanted at that age was to one day own a bakery, this game was definitely right up my alley. This game was released in 2013, which makes Cupcakeria not one of the original Papa’s games but also not one of the newest.
This game is super cute, and I love playing it as a way to unwind and relax. It is set in a very adorable snowy village which reminds me a lot of mountain towns in Colorado, giving it yet another form of nostalgia for me. And if I’m being honest, there is a regular in the game named James which little me thought was so cute (I was weird ik).
However, this game gets a few points docked off because it had no reason to be as difficult as it was. Everything is fairly simple until you get to putting the icing on top of the cupcakes, which was the bane of my existence. It is so hard to get right – the piping thing never moves the way you want it no matter what you do – and in the end, I’m always left with a weird looking dollop of icing on top of my cupcakes, which ruins the entire aesthetic of the cupcake.
To conclude, I just think this game is one of the cutest in the entire Papa’s franchise and absolutely love playing it even if it frustrates me at times, which makes it very deserving of being in this position on my list.
#4 Papa’s Sushiria
For the fourth place spot, I have to give it to Papa’s Sushiria. This game is on the newer end of the Papa’s games, having been released in 2017, but I do think it is one of the best ones they have ever released. This game combined two of my favorite things: sushi and relaxing game play. In this game, you make customers sushi with a plethora of ingredients and also serve them bubble tea to their liking. Not to sound like a broken record, but this game is also so cute.
I don’t really know when Papa’s games added holidays to their games, but this was the game that I remember first encountering the holidays in, which I think really changed the gameplay for the better. I loved the fact that now decorating wasn’t just picking out random things that you liked, but something that actually affected customers’ moods and tips. I honestly still think it was such an amazing addition to the already addicting game.
My one critique of this game is I feel like it’s too easy. There isn’t a lot of variation in ingredients, toppings, or boba flavors even as you get far into the game. Of course, I understand that the game is just basic sushi rolls, but I feel they could’ve definitely introduced more complex forms of sushi when you get far into the game. This really irked me because there came a point while playing that I just got bored of it. I felt like all of my progress was for nothing because the game began stagnant. But that is really my only complaint.
This game is definitely one to check out, especially if sushi making has always intrigued you. Of course, the game isn’t at all exact to how sushi is made in reality, but it’s close enough.
#3 Papa’s Pastaria
Getting onto the podium now, we have Papa’s Pastaria. This one, as the name implies, is making pasta in a cute little town that resembles Venice, Italy. I know that I am slightly biased towards this game because, like any college student, pasta is one of my all time favorite meals, in any shape or form, as it has been since I was a child (which is when I was playing this game, when it was released in 2014).
This game has the player making pasta dishes for the customers, all accompanied by a freshly baked loaf of bread. Which sounds absolutely delicious to me. There are plenty of times while I play this game that I wish that I was one of the customers so that I can eat the fresh plate of pasta and then take a ride on a boat in the river outside. It sounds like the dream life to me. But, besides wishing to be one of the animated characters ordering in the game, I also love how this game turns something as mundane as cooking pasta into a fun game that keeps the player interested and coming back for more.
My one issue with this game is that I wish they took it one step further and had the player need to make the pasta fresh from dough. In the game, all you have to do is make sure you put the right pasta shape into the boiling water – and that’s it. I feel like it would’ve been so cool if the player had to take the right dough, roll it out, cut it in the right shape and then put it in the water to cook. I think that would’ve added a really cool touch on the game, and while I don’t know the exact steps that it takes to make a video game, I don’t really think it would’ve been hard to add this in. It would be very similar to the Donuteria game, where you have to cut the donut shapes out of dough. I just think it would’ve made the gameplay a touch more complex and added another step that the players need to get better at as they play on.
However, I still really enjoy this game, and it is one of the ones that I still play even at 20 years old when I want to relax and take a break.
#2 Papa’s Freezeria
Taking the silver medal is none other than of course, Papa’s Freezeria. Nothing screams nostalgia more than this game. I’m not completely sure the order of which games came first, but this is definitely one of the earlier games, with a release date in 2012. I can vividly remember the first time that I played this game; it was the first Papa’s game that I had ever played.This, of course, gives it a bit of a leg up, but it’s still a wonderful game nonetheless.
This game is simple, but there is certainly beauty in its simplicity. The game is the player in a beachside shop, making ice cream and milkshakes during the summer. That is absolutely beautiful to me, because who doesn’t love an ice cream on a hot summer day? It’s one of the most basic yet amazing parts of life, and the game bottles this feeling up to be remembered. I love playing this game and being transported back to a simpler time where life was just playing games without a worry in the world. There are not many other activities that are able to do that, especially as you get older and have more things that you have to worry about (because that’s life). It is so important to keep holding on to the things that are able to make you feel like a kid again.
Unfortunately, I cannot give this game the top spot because it does get a little boring over time. Since this game was one of the first of the Papa’s games to be released, it doesn’t have many of the cool features that newer games introduced. This means that Freezeria unfortunately is a really basic game which can make the player lose interest easily. I don’t want that to mean that I think it needs to be updated to include those later features, because I think that would make it lose its charm, but it is the game’s downfall in my opinion. There are so many other Papa’s games that have cooler updates. While I do tend to lean more towards those, Papa’s Freezeria gets this spot at the end of the day because of the fact that I will always return to it, one way or another.
#1 Papa’s Pancakeria
Taking the number one top spot on my list is Papa’s Pancakeria! I know that to many this is going to seem like a very random top pick but for me, it is a no-brainer. This is the only Papa’s game that I have “completed” because I never got bored of it. Another one of the older Papa’s games, it was released in 2012. I can vividly remember playing this game for hours. This game completely took over me for months because all I wanted to do was play it. There is nothing better than cooking up some pancakes, french toast, and waffles to give alongside people’s morning coffee. I have never been so obsessed with a game as much as I was with Pancakeria.
This game not only feels incredibly homey, as you play in a log cabin breakfast/diner type restaurant, but also has a sense of community because of all the little details. For one, you have a dog companion in this game who sits at the counter where you take people’s orders. Along with this, one of the closers, aka customers that are harder to please, is a police officer who loves coffee. This game fits almost all of the cliches that surround diners, and I absolutely love it. The only reason why I ever stopped playing this game is because I unlocked everything on my school computer in middle school. At the end of the year, all of my progress was lost, and I couldn’t bring myself to start all over again. But trust me, if I still had that computer, I would be on level 2000 today.
The only things that I would change about this game are making it a bit harder to unlock all of the add-ons, because I wish that I could’ve played this game longer to complete it. I would also add the holidays into this game because I feel like no restaurant decorates as much for holidays as a diner. Besides those two really minor things, I truly believe that this game is near perfect. Even though I know there are going to be plenty of people who disagree with me, I will defend this game till the grave.
At the end of the day, there are seventeen Papa’s games to choose from, which means that almost certainly, everyone is going to have one that they absolutely love. These games have been around for as long as I can remember; they have played a crucial role in my childhood, and I’m sure that there are others out there who agree. I will always love these games and will always go to them whenever I just want to lay back, relax, and play a fun, cute game.