A Cooking Fever Challenge is a single-player event focused around a specific restaurant, where you aim to beat a series of 15 levels more difficult than the main 40. They have an entry fee of 16,500
and 14
.
Challenges only appear under 4 conditions:
1) The restaurant has never had a challenge. Once a challenge is completed/failed/expired, it will never reappear at that location again. Challenges will still appear for future restaurants you buy.
2) All kitchen upgrades of that specific restaurant are unlocked (dishes, drinks, cupcakes, etc.) They do not have to be upgraded, although it is highly recommended to do so if you want to have a chance of winning challenges.
3) The player has passed between levels 23 - 35 with at least 1 star. To maximize the chances of getting a challenge, it is advised to complete up to level 33.
4) The date and time also have an effect. Challenges typically begins on Thursdays, and ends around late Sunday. The time at which it starts and ends is generally around 12AM UTC. It is recommended that you meet conditions 2 and 3 around Wednesday, so you will have the maximum time to complete the challenge.
Players are given 87 hours (3 days & 15 hours) from the challenge's time of appearance (not the time of entry) to collect puzzle pieces to form the image of a gem, with one piece being awarded upon each level's completion. Upon completing the 15th level and collecting the 15th puzzle piece, you are deemed to have won the challenge, and are rewarded with 30,000 and 30. The first time you don't succeed in completing a challenge within the time limit, you will receive a Consolation Prize of (unknown) and (unknown, e.g. 5). However, on successive losses, you will not receive anything of this sort
Strategy for Winning
- Upgrade all kitchen and interior items in the restaurant location to level 3 - later levels become significantly tougher if you haven't done this
- If you are consistently failing on the same level, memorise the first few orders. This allows you to prepare them in advance, increasing your tips, & also makes it easier to focus on the later customers
- Don't serve the bonus food items in any levels unless you've failed it at least twice. If you feel like you need them at Level 13 or earlier, you will likely need more kitchen/interior upgrades to complete later levels, so bonus food would be wasted in this instance
- If the restaurant has a cooking machine, it is highly recommended you buy/use one to pass the challenge, as it will make ingredients for you without having to click on it.
- GEMS, GEMS, GEMS! It is recommended that you save up to 500-900
to fully upgrade (NOT SPENDING ON BONUS FOOD) the restaurant to maximize your chances of winning. To see how you can get more , see here.
Note: Challenges are usually not worth it, as you would only have a net profit of 16 if you complete a challenge. If you would have to buy upgrades worth more than this that you wouldn't otherwise have bought, consider cutting your losses. However, if you were going to spend those gems anyways, use your own judgement to determine if it's worth it.