Cooking Dash 3: Thrills & Spills is the third of the Cooking Dash series that was released on November 29, 2010. The unique part of this game is that all of the familiar characters in the DinerTown universe are in their younger versions.
Story[]
The game opens with Flo, Grandma, and Darla going to the Dinerland amusement park. Flo remarks that the park wasn't always that nice. We are taken back to what looks to be the 1980s, where a young Mr. Big is worried about the latest purchase he has made, presumably with his father's money - BigWorld. He comes across a 14-year-old Flo working a food cart at the park; the only one that is making money. He subsequently hires her to run the restaurant in the Jelly Roger ride. With the huge success of the restaurant, Mr. Big opens another one in the Log Jam ride, followed by restaurants in the Spooky Shack, Deep Dive, Tree Tops, and (in the collector's edition) the Big Gold Rush ride.
By the end of the game, all the restaurants are thriving, BigWorld is in pristine condition, and Mr. Big is able to please his father. Big Sr. then invites him to manage at Big Corp. with Flo suggesting that he donates the park to the public and call it Dinerland.
Gameplay[]
The game's original gameplay has been altered slightly to keep the player on their toes. For example while Flo's placed a food item onto the stove, she must remember to flip it or else the food will not be cooked to perfection. Unike previous games, customers no longer gain a heart bonus for speedy delivery. Seating arrangements are a bit different as well, for customers are now seated in tables instead of a single bar counter. This game introduces the "Dash-thru", where customers will order from a window. Endless Shift is absent from this installment, replaced by "Expert Mode". As the title says, this mode includes harder versions of previous levels that have been completed. There are also a total of four minigames that can be played after each completed level of a stage.
The Collector's Edition of the game includes bonus content, such as "The Klondike Gold Rush" stage, a strategy guide, a screensaver, concept art, etc..
Restaurants[]
Jelly Roger[]
The Jelly Roger Ride is the first restaurant that Flo will renovate. It's pirate ship themed and features French Fries, Grilled Fish and Deepfried Fish as the main dish. Grandma Florence will prepare some salads in the middle if ordered. This restaurant features baked pumpkin as a snack and chocolate-cherry cake(baked by Flo herself!) as dessert. Sour sauce and tomato sauce are available in this stage. The customers encountered here are Young Ladies, Kindly Seniors and Businesswomen.
Log Jam[]
The Log Jam Ride is the second restaurant with rainforest and waterfall theme. It's the first stage to introduce the meat grinder, an appliance that's vital to make meatloaf sandwiches, one of the main dishes. Other dishes are chips, fried meat, clam soup and tomato soup, the last two can be ordered from Grandma Florence and must be put in a "special bread bowl" before serving. This restaurant features rice crackers as a snack and creamed chocolate cake as dessert. The famous Celebrity and the Starla the Starlet are introduced in this stage.
Spooky Shack[]
The Spooky Shack is the third restaurant and is haunted house themed. It features Spaghetti and Meatballs as the main dish with two kind of sauces and olives. Like in Jelly Roger, Grandma Florence will prepare some scary-looking salad. This restaurant features cookies as a snack and pumpkin cake as dessert. Bill Bucks, a Cooking Dash version of Hal the Hungryman, is introduced in this stage.
Deep Dive[]
The Deep Dive is the fourth restaurant inside a submarine. Sub sandwiches are served here with either steak or ham, along with lettuce and tomatoes as toppings. There's orange and apple juice available to serve to the customers. Chocolate cake is served as dessert. This is the only level where no snacks are served. Colin the Cacophonous(a.k.a. Punk Rocker) and Sammy the Student are introduced here.
Tree Tops[]
The Tree Tops is the fifth restaurant (and final in the original version) set on a hut in the trees. Pork, kebabs, and rice are served as main dishes in this stage. There are two sauces that can be served with these dishes. This restaurant features sweet tarts as a snack and tropical cake as dessert. Once again Grandma Florence prepares two different salads for the customers. Bernie the Bookworm is the final customer introduced in this part of the game.
The Klondike Gold Rush[]
This stage only appears in the Collector's Edition of the game. It takes place deep in the mines. Eggs, bacon, and two types of beans are the main dishes in this stage. Biscuits can be served with these dishes, which come along with two different sauces. Cherry tarts are served as snacks while cherry-topped cake is served as dessert.
Customers[]
Shown in order of appearance:
Rosie the Regular (Young Lady) - Like the previous games she is moderate in all aspects.
Barb the Businesswoman - Like in previous games she's impatient but orders and eats at a fast pace. She moderately dislikes noise.
Seymour the (Kindly) Senior - Patient but orders and eats at a slow pace. What's different about Seymour in this game is that he strongly dislikes noise.
Simon the Celebrity - He's impatient while ordering and eating at a moderate pace, though a bit faster than normal. He'll leave behind a speed boost if his happiness is high. He moderately dislikes noise. Most customers will want to take a photograph with him if they're sat beside him. A successful photo will improve both of their moods.
Starla the Starlet - She contrasts with the impatient Simon. She's moderately patient and orders and eats at a moderate pace. She's able to raise the mood of those sitting by her (except Simon) and she leaves behind a heart boost if her happiness is high. However as nice as she may be she strongly dislikes noise and will become extremely unhappy as a result if sat beside Colin and his noisy boombox.
Bill Bucks - This mascot is very patient, orders and eats fast, and eats twice. He moderately dislikes noise.
Colin the Cacophonous (Punk Rocker) - As always he's impatient, orders and eats fast, and makes noise. He does not mind the noisy presence of fellow Punk Rockers around him.
Sammy the Student - Unlike the previous games he's an impatient customer but is quick to order and eat. He always ends up ordering anything sweet, such as soda, sweet tarts, and juice. Therefore he may order up to three times total. Sammy's always wearing headphones so he's not bothered by noise.
Bernie the Bookworm - Bernie's the same bookworm as before. He's very patient and orders and eats at a slow pace. He despises noise so he should be sat as far away from any Punk Rockers as possible.
Trivia[]
Cookie sprite
- Though Cookie's shown in the title screen, he's no where to be seen in the game. There's evidence that he was going to retain his helper role from the 2nd game, but was later cut. His sprites can be found in the game's files under the name "helper1"[1].
- The music that plays in the Tree Tops stage is recycled music from DinerTown Studio's Safari Grill stage.
- There's a glitch that may occur occasionally: if Flo is currently holding an item while checking out a customer, the item she's holding may disappear.
- Besides this, there are instances where if the player were to click and hold onto a customer from the line, this would cause them to lose patience at a slower rate. This can cause desynchronized patience levels in customer duos. It's uncertain whether this was intended or a mistake.