Clash of Chaos and Confetti 9 – Rival Restaurants

The Premise and Standings

Each week we’ll face off in a best of three series playing a different board game from our collection.  The winner claims the moniker of C&C Clash Champ for the week.  The loser gets to feel rotten.  The lesser player also gets to choose the game for the next week.

We will maintain a record of wins and losses throughout the year to see who finishes 2022 as the ultimate board game champ in our household.

Our current C&C Champion is Confetti after winning last week’s Radlands rumble.

Pre-Clash Current Standings:

• Weekly Winner: 4 Chaos – 4 Confetti
• Individual game wins:  12 Chaos – 11 Confetti

After losing last week, Chaos has chosen Rival Restaurants (Amazon Affiliate Link).

The Game – Rival Restaurants

In Rival Restaurants, players will take on the role of restaurant owners.  They will race to be the first to earn their restaurant twenty popularity points.  To do this, they will need to cook up a number of tasty recipes.  Players will also need to successfully manage their money, procure ingredients, deal with garbage, and take-on whatever roadblocks other restaurant owners may throw in the way.

All players take turns simultaneously through three phases each round (day).  First is Money-and-Move, where players collect their daily earnings and decide which markets their chefs should visit.  Phase two, Buy-and-Barter, can be a little more hectic because of its one-minute time limit.  This is when players buy ingredients and other items from their location.  They can also trade and barter with any other players in the game.  Finally, during Cook and Counter, players have the option to score popularity points by cooking recipes they have the ingredients to make.  This is also when markets are reset and readied for the next day.

Through careful planning, good turn economy, and wise trades a restaurant owner can get their establishment to twenty popularity points without worry.  However, it’s a race to be the first, and players must also factor in the many other elements of Rival Restaurants.  Basic recipes are easier to make, but don’t reward as well as gourmet recipes.  Each restaurant comes with its own set of bonuses for gaining popularity points and has the potential to earn even more points if the type of cuisine cooked matches the type of restaurant owned.  Then, there are the many chefs.  Each chef has their own power to help give them an edge.  Need even more ammunition to take on your opponents?  Consider purchasing action cards which may benefit you or hinder the competition.

Also, don’t forget to take care of your garbage.  Cooking creates trash, which you need to dispose of unless you want your future recipes to suffer.  Nobody wants to eat at a restaurant full of garbage.

Rival Restaurants also has an expansion, Back for Seconds, which adds more restaurants, recipes, action cards, and chefs.  Daily events are also introduced to add a little more variety to every play.

If you’re hungry for a fast-paced game with a focus on set-collecting, auctioning and bidding, and simultaneous action, pull up to a plate of Rival Restaurants.  

Now we just have to see whether it’ll be Chaos or Confetti who feasts on victory today.

Chaos’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:

I hunger for another win and what better way to appease my appetite than with Rival Restaurants?  Confetti better watch out because I slice and dice, and I don’t plan on being very nice.  I’ve seen enough Hell’s Kitchen over the years to know how to turn up the heat.  Sorry, Confetti, but at the end of this clash, they’ll be calling me master chef.

Confettis’ Pre-Clash Thoughts:

We haven’t played Rival Restaurants in a bit, so I’m excited to get to break it out. I’m a little surprised Chaos picked it, because it’s a game I win at least 50% of the time. If he wants to give me a successful title defense though, who am I to disappoint? We all know after last month’s Themed Cookbook challenge that I’m the better chef 🙂 

Game 1 – 

We decided to make the first game as simple and straightforward as can be.  Each player had one chef and all the basic rules applied.  We also decided to hold off on event cards until later games.  There would be no frills, but still plenty of thrills.

It would be Reggae Tony (Chaos) vs. Dolly Butterscotch (Confetti).  Chaos had the ability to buy from a shelf he wasn’t currently located at.  Confetti was rewarded for buying more from her current counter space.  Chaos went for the early restaurant upgrades hoping they’d pay off in the long run, grabbing things he wasn’t even sure he’d need.  Confetti immediately went into chipping away at her ingredients list. The only time she paused for an upgrade was a gourmet cookbook to allow her some control over her big recipes.

In the end, both players hit twenty thumbs up at the same time.  Tiebreaker rules left it up to whoever made the most gourmet recipes.  With three gourmet recipes to two, Confetti secured the win and called Chaos basic.

Game 2 – 

Action cards were sanctioned to help spice up the competition.  To kick it up another notch, the Squad variant was also incorporated, allowing both players the use of four chiefs (one npc, and three chefs to choose a daily active chef from).

Confetti stayed true to her previous strategy and focused on creating quality recipes.  Chaos, however, aimed to be a little more cutthroat.  This time we would lean into the use of action cards and play chefs that penalized Confetti for ending up in the same space as him.  Unfortunately for Chaos, he really sucked at actually predicting where Confetti would be sending her active chef.  Half of his strategy was as effective as using a colander as a soup bowl.

On the other hand, his action cards performed quite nicely.  With those he took Confetti’s money and ingredients without remorse.  Chaos’ hit and miss strategy mostly just kept alongside Confetti.  He scrambled together a few recipes while slowing down her inevitable march toward 20 thumbs up.  

Once again, Chaos and Confetti crossed the finished line together and had to turn to the tie breaker.  This time, they had equal gourmet  recipes and now had to call the winner based on money.  With $400 to $100, Chaos squeaked out a victory.

Game 3 –

With the title of C&C Clash Champion within reach of both competitors, both players laid out their battle plans.  Chaos’ team looked to lack much synergy or direction.  He would need to rely on a little luck and hope to make good calls as the match progressed.  Confetti’s would work with a two-pronged system: 1) Get early points from cooking to benefit from free restaurant upgrades from her American restaurant bonuses, and 2) review how much Chaos threw directly at her last game, and strike him back twice as hard.

Luck sided with Chaos quickly as he almost immediately cooked a basic recipe and took the lead.  This would be when luck made a turn and found itself firmly planted with Confetti.  Immediately after taking the lead, the game awarded Confetti $500 for being in last place.  She used her extra funds to gather ingredients to get on the board herself.  The free social media advertising gained from her restaurant would boost her income even more.  

This would become a story of the haves and have-nots.  Confetti had no cash issues, but she made sure Chaos did.  Her npc chef had no issue shaking Chaos down for a couple hundred.  Chaos made a gourmet recipe and ended up with 5 garbage?  Confetti would take $500 from him because of that trash.  

In the end, Chaos could get no traction as Confetti sailed her way to the final win.  In a final moment of “eh, not much else I can do,” Chaos used the “Sous Chef” action card to cut Pita Pocketdopolis from his team and replace him with another chef.  Team Chaos would taste defeat, but at least Pita would walk away without an L on his record.

Your winner and STILL C&C Clash Champion: Confetti!

Chaos’ Post-Clash Thoughts:

I had a bunch of food puns ready for my victory speech, but then I got beet.  Sigh.  It’s no flan losing, and now I feel a tad melon-choly.  I truly am the wurst.  I suppose I wasn’t bready for what Confetti brought to the table.  I refuse to be labeled a has-bean though.  Maybe it sounds bananas, but next week I’ll do butter. I’ll give everyone something to taco’bout when I re-clam my C&C Championship.  The cream will rise to the top!

Confetti’s Post-Clash Thoughts:

Chaos might have jokes, but I am the wiener! Can’t wait to see what Chaos comes up with for me to win next week! 

Next Week:  
Chaos and Confetti better lace up their books because next week, they’re hitting the squared circle.  The two will face off in Book It!: The Wrestling Promoter Card Game. Who will get the 1-2-3, and who will be left counting the lights?  Tune in next Thursday to see Chaos and Confetti grapple for the C&C Championship!