Hookah Cafe Simulator

An in-depth look into the busy life of a cafeteria owner, Hookah Cafe Simulator will allow players to live out their managerial dreams by putting them in charge of the trendiest joint in town. It might sound like anyone’s dream job, but the game makes extra sure to let you know that owning a diner like this will put your skills to the ultimate test.

Half-baked presentation notwithstanding, Hookah Cafe Simulator is a surprisingly complex life sim game. The title follows the same formula established by other Cheesecake Dev games in the past, building upon it to deliver the best experience so far — even if the niche setting might sound somewhat uninteresting at first.

Pipe Dreams

As the name might suggest, your objective in Hookah Cafe Simulator will be to run the most successful Hookah joint in town. To do so, you’ll have to make sure to not just sell your product at great prices, but also decorate your establishment with some of the trendiest furniture and items.

It might sound like a simple task, but there are some unexpected hidden costs behind owning a business that might get in the way of achieving your entrepreneurial dreams. For starters, players will also have to invest some of their hard-earned cash not just in better equipment for their diners, but also in better security equipment to deter potential thieves.

There’s never an uneventful day in the world of Hookah Cafe Simulator. Much like Jurassic World Evolution, what might initially sound like just a management sim quickly becomes into an intense simulation of all the minute aspects of running a successful business.

Before moving on, let’s address the elephant in the room: yes, the game is called Hookah Cafe Simulator, but it seems like players are running a diner rather than an exclusive smoking bar. While there are tons of hookah pipes available, the game also tasks you with running a successful hookah joint/restaurant parlor. As we’ve said before, there’s never a dull moment in this game.

Only for Pros

Perhaps one of the most unappealing aspects of Hookah Cafe Simulator is how dated the game looks — and not precisely due to its graphics. A cluttered and unintuitive user interface makes the game feel like a relic of the past, a far cry from how games like Game Dev Tycoon have made their UI as accessible as possible.

The simplistic menus do very little to help the player understand the basics of the game, making it feel much more difficult to play than it really is. Add to this some seriously dated visuals and you got yourself a time capsule into the early days of 3D PC simulation games.

As long as you’re not bothered by the lackluster visuals, Hookah Cafe Simulator offers a comprehensive managerial experience that’s sure to appeal to every fan of the business tycoon genre. It might sound like a bit of a niche game, but developer Cheesecake Dev has proved that it can make some amazingly addictive tycoon games from some of the most unexpected ideas ever conceived.

Pros

• Addictive gameplay loop
• Good variety of decorations and improvement items
• Tons of activities to do and stats to keep in check

Cons

• Disappointingly bland visuals
• Barebones user interface
• Some translation errors