Advice for beginners

[slam308]

Looking for tips from those of you that have been playing for a while. I tried searching for beginner tips and beginner advice and didn't find much.
I'm actually level 35, but only realized a week ago what all those little gold dots on my tables were! I originally only loaded this game to get credit for another game I was playing, but now that I've discovered tips and neighbors, I'm hooked.
So, what's a smart way to play this game?
Some things that I've discovered:
*Wait til a neighbor asks for something, back out of their request and gift it to them, then go back and accept their request. Seems to work and this way they actually get a two for one. Doesn't seem to work the other way around. Once you accept a request you can't gift them anything.
*Check "News" not "Messages". Only people that write on your wall show up on messages, everyone shows up on news. That way you can tip back everyone that's helped you.
*Cappuccino is the best food gift to give. Found that on these forums. I figured whatever had the most servings was best.

Some questions:
What do you consider when accepting or deleting neighbors?
I saw the poll that most people prefer parts, what a good all purpose part?
Are the quests really worth it? Seems like the game runs on gems and money. I don't care about cute figurines. Is there ever a payoff worth the money I put in to completing the quest?

[AnnasCoffee]

Some questions:
What do you consider when accepting or deleting neighbors?
I saw the poll that most people prefer parts, what a good all purpose part?
Are the quests really worth it? Seems like the game runs on gems and money. I don't care about cute figurines. Is there ever a payoff worth the money I put in to completing the quest?

Your first question is the hardest. Everyone plays differently. You will have to decide how you want to play.

Accepting Neighbors - Some people only accept 3 or 4 star neighbors who tip daily and write on their wall. Some people only accept neighbors who gift parts. Some people have less than 50 neighbors and don't accept any more. Some people have hundreds and accept everyone. It's up to you. Do you like to tip, do you expect all your neighbors to tip you daily ?

Deleteing Neighbors - I think most of us delete inactive neighbors. Some things to watch for ... 0 star rating, not cooking or rotten food. Some players delete neighbors who's star rating drops to 2 or below (I don't).

All purpose parts ... Paint and screws (I think). But a lot of people gift these... I have over a hundred paint. I think it's best to mix it up. I actually prefer cappuccino, there was a poll on the forum that showed about 25-30% of players prefer food. On Thursdays, don't gift in the morning, wait to see if a new part is released with the update, gift the new part:)

Quests (or goals) are not all that common in Bakery. These goals cost a LOT of coins and give very little coin reward. In the past we have had goals that give some coin reward greater than the cost to complete them... But like I said goals are rare, I wouldn't expect to make much money from them.

Unsolicited Advise - the economy of Bakery Story changed dramatically on Sept 6th. The prices of expansions and decorations doubled. Also, on the same day, the price to cook food increased and profits are now greatly reduced. This game is very different than the game I started 18 months ago. You will have a MUCH harder time earning coins to create a large/decorated bakery. So my advise is to chose one of the following...

1. Plan to play for YEARS to earn enough coins to get anywhere
2. Be content with a small/plainly decorated bakery
3. Get out your credit card and be prepared to spend some SERIOUS amounts of cash, gems are NOT cheap and expansion cost a lot of gems :(

Whatever you chose it will be right for YOU. Please feel free to take or leave any advise. Oh, and watch out for the GEM TRAPS :(

[AnnasCoffee]

So my advise is to chose one of the following...

1. Plan to play for YEARS to earn enough coins to get anywhere
2. Be content with a small/plainly decorated bakery
3. Get out your credit card and be prepared to spend some SERIOUS amounts of cash, gems are NOT cheap and expansion cost a lot of gems :(

I just wanted to add. I would NEVER chose option three. I DON'T buy gems. I don't think this game is worth real money.

There is also an option four... when you get bored waiting for your coins to get high enough to expand or do anything... You might start to think about quitting. I chose to quit.

[slam308]

Thanks Anna, lots of good points. What are gem traps? I'll earn gems by cooking, I have no intention of paying for them.
I think I'm definitely done with the goals. I spent over a million on this Halloween quest before I started paying attention.

[slam308]

Forgot to add, I haven't gotten a weekly update or daily bonus since I started the game. I'm playing on a Droid Bionic, if that makes a difference.

[marrrina]

Forgot to add, I haven't gotten a weekly update or daily bonus since I started the game. I'm playing on a Droid Bionic, if that makes a difference.

Last I heard the daily bonus pop-ups stopped showing up for Droid after a recent update. I don't know about the updates, though.

[marrrina]

Thanks Anna, lots of good points. What are gem traps? I'll earn gems by cooking, I have no intention of paying for them.
I think I'm definitely done with the goals. I spent over a million on this Halloween quest before I started paying attention.

Gem traps are instances in which the game is set up so that you may accidentally and easily spend your gems. Like accidentally clicking on your stove too much when cooking and inadvertently tapping the option to finish the recipe (or multiple recipes) instantly for the cost of gems. TL hasn't implemented a gem spending confirmation button, which is one reason a lot of people refuse to buy gems. My only recommendation for that is to click slowly and not rush through things.

[AnnasCoffee]

What are gem traps?
Looks like marrina already posted while I was typing... But I typed this so I'm posting it :)

Glad you asked. Most people don't know the game has gem traps until they lose their gems. A gem trap is when you click a button you didnt mean to click and it takes your gems. You cannot undo it. Your gems will be gone, Team Lava does not refund gems lost to accidental clicking. There are lots of gems traps. The most common three are...

1. "Instant Cooking Food" this happens when you tap an appliance twice. You are given the option to "finish all dishes". It takes gems to instant finish. Some players have lost 90 gems to this trap.

2. "Opening an unwanted BOX" this is a ONE click gem trap. When in the tab that has the expansions... There are "boxes" called... "Madiline Tin", "Tea And Cake Box", "Candy Basket" and various other names... If you click just once it takes 24 gems and gives you ONE Radom decoration (that you may or may not like, some of the stuff is really ugly and ridiculous). You do not get to chose which items you will get. No exchanges, do overs or refunds !!!

3. "Buying Coins with gems this is probably the most painful gem trap. If you click the coin bar on the top of your screen it will ask if you want to buy coins for 10 gems or 100 gems. If you click on either option your gems are gone. It's a total rip off. So many people have lost gems to this I feel so bad for them.

There are other gems traps... Accidently buying parts for applicances with gems, accidently hitting "skip for 5 gems" in the goals. There might be more that I can't think of.

MANY, MANY players asked Team Lava to add a gem confirmation button (asking "are you sure you want to spend gems"). No gem confirmation button has been added. BUT new, high costing gem traps have been added to the game.


Last I heard the daily bonus pop-ups stopped showing up for Droid after a recent update. I don't know about the updates, though.

I wonder if it's the word update that is causing confusion. The weekly "updates" don't need to be downloaded... It's just new items released into the game. Slam308, do you get new items (decorations and stuff) every week? That's all an "update" is.

[AnnasCoffee]

Defiantly what marrrina said... Always Click SLOWLY... If your game lags (pauses) STOP clicking. When your game lags is usually when you hit the gem traps.

[khadiah]

This is my third week of playing this game. I see how this game is hard for beginners and long time users because once you start, you'll try to purchase huge items like Decor and Expansions too soon depending on gems, instead of doing selfless building. Trust me, about time you hit level 20 you'll be close to either a million or half a million, if you be aware of the exp levels of the next food item. This will determine if you want to master easy food items like the 5, 15, 30 mins and 1 hour food items using basic ovens and easy ovens.

[katz1301]

I have a few tips on table set ups.

1. Always leave walking space between your chairs so customers can walk through.

2. You do not need an abundance of chairs for customers (but lots of tables so we can leave tips). I think to keep everyone smiling at 100% you need somewhere around 20 chairs, maybe 22? Just play with that by adding more if they get angry faces.

3. If you want to sell food faster... move chairs and cashier as close to door as possible.
If you want to slow food sales... move chairs/ cashier far away or make a complicated path for customers to walk around more.

The more they walk around, the longer they will sit and eat. This may mean adjusting the number of chairs again. It also HELPS KEEP FOOD on counters longer.

[katz1301]

Oh yeah. Always SAVE YOUR COINS

You will need it to cook.
With the new TL ECONOMY. (Ahem.) You will probably need all money for cooking.

Then. I would decide btw a very white, cleanly decorated EXPANDED bakery.... or a tiny, well decorated bakery. I really doubt you can divide your coins btw all three expenditures at same time.

[AnnasCoffee]

Check out this thread.... it's another gem trap. As people's coins go down, this trap will become more and more common.

http://forums.teamlava.com/showthread.php?36866-I-have-HAD-IT-it-with-this-misleading-popup&p=415796#post415796

[slam308]

I wonder if it's the word update that is causing confusion. The weekly "updates" don't need to be downloaded... It's just new items released into the game. Slam308, do you get new items (decorations and stuff) every week? That's all an "update" is.

Anna, I think you're right. Update means different things to different people and I probably didn't notice them because I rarely look for new decorations. I'm too busy taking care of neighbors and keeping food on my counters. :^)

[mamalins]

I agree, the goals are really expensive. Since they added the goals, I am finding it is much harder to update my shops, and to increase to the next level. I never have enough coins to buy food or outfits! I am just ignoring the goals. It is a good idea, but they expect us to spend oodles of money on coins and gems and I won't do it. It would be nice to have a shop with all kinds of updates, but I just don't have the money to waste.