Update2026-11-13Toque: Restaurant Tycoon4 min

0004 · Closed Alpha v0.2.0 · Toque: your restaurant now explains itself

A restaurant at lunch seen from above: guests eating and chatting across wooden tables, a small queue by the entrance, two cooks at the prep line and two staff members by the cold room.
Midday service in the dining room and kitchen. In development: much of it is not final yet.

This update has one goal: when something goes wrong, you should not have to hunt for the reason. Your restaurant now shows where it hurts, guests react, and the kitchen cooks in front of you. On top of that comes new play: goals, mastery, marketing and rivals. Toque is a management game; you make the call and read the result on screen.

See why you are losing guests

  • NewLive bottleneck line: whatever is holding service back the most right now, in one line on the top bar and the to-do card. Click it and it takes you where the fix is.
  • NewThe end of day opens with three sentences: how the day went, the biggest loss, and one piece of advice for tomorrow.
  • New"Yesterday's decision" card: what you changed yesterday next to what it did today to guests, covers served, losses, profit and rating.
  • NewManagement overlays: one button paints dirt, waiting or staff foot traffic on the floor. The three worst spots are labelled with their name and number.
  • NewStaff thought bubbles: when an employee is stuck, the reason shows above their head. Waiting for a job, waiting for ingredients, station busy or path blocked.
  • ChangeGuests who turn away at the door because of the line are now counted apart from guests who found no table. The end of day suggests a second register or a host accordingly.
Five staff members lined up in front of the dining room and kitchen with clock and cross thought bubbles over their heads and the planner card on the left.
When an employee is held up, a thought bubble over their head shows why.
The waiting-time management overlay painted across the restaurant floor, labelling the three slowest spots: Table 4 at 33 minutes, Register 1 at 25 minutes and Table 3 at 15 minutes.
The waiting overlay highlights the three slowest spots directly on the floor.
The end-of-day summary window showing a three-sentence recap, profit and missed revenue cards, and one suggestion for tomorrow.
The end of day opens with a three-sentence recap, missed revenue and one piece of advice for tomorrow.

A livelier place

  • ChangeLines at the register and the door now form a tidy queue; nobody stands inside furniture and the sidewalk stays clear.
  • FixEvery animation was reviewed: frozen hands now move while wiping, repairing, drinking and paying, and characters no longer sink into the chair when sitting down or standing up.
  • NewGuests speak with body language: they grow restless while waiting, look pleased when the food is good, leave with dropped shoulders after a bad visit, and wave it off when the line is too long.
  • NewMore ways to eat: fork, spoon, by hand. Guests pause between bites, reach for their drink and chat across the table.
  • NewIdle staff no longer stand like posts; each one waits in one of five poses.
  • NewCooking is visible: meat on the grill, steam over the pot, a glow behind the oven door, two-step plating on the counter.
  • ChangeThe weakest looking dishes were rebuilt: salmon, baklava, tacos, steak and six more.
  • NewThe restaurant gets dirty and worn: footprints from the door on rainy days, dirty plates on uncleared tables, a filling bin, a dish pile by the sink, smoke from a station overdue for maintenance. Clean up and it is gone.

Management and balance

  • NewJob priorities: you decide which task each employee runs to first.
  • NewBistros can now take pickup and courier orders.
  • NewFull play on controller and handheld: camera, placement grid, sensitivity and dead zone settings.
  • BalanceReputation sets expectations: a guest who has never tried your place expects what your overall rating promises, while a returning guest trusts their own experience.
  • ChangeA locked step now tells you what is missing and the next rung on your own path.
  • FixButtons are drawn at the right size on small screens; oversized buttons in a shrunken window are fixed.
  • FixA short press on the controller is no longer read as a double press.

New play: goals, mastery, marketing, rivals

  • NewShort goals and milestones: once the teaching is done, your partner keeps setting a single 3 to 7 day goal aimed at the weakest part of your restaurant. The Partner page keeps your goal history and milestones.
  • NewA reward for specialising: an employee who keeps doing the same job masters it and gets faster. The team screen shows a mastery badge and the end of day shows the time saved.
  • BalanceSwitching jobs has a warm-up cost; the priorities screen shows the expected effect of a change before you make it.
  • NewMarketing: neighbourhood flyers and a discount day. A campaign brings a crowd; if the restaurant cannot handle it, the result card shows the guests turned away and the net effect.
  • NewRival moves: rivals cut prices, refresh their menu, renovate, open a branch or go through a bad spell. The City Magazine lists their moves, and the end of day adds a rival line with your partner's suggested answer.

Light, sound and characters

  • NewTime-of-day lighting: morning, noon, evening and night each read differently. Lamps come on step by step in the evening, tables get a warm pool of light, the shopfront lights the sidewalk at night and a closed restaurant stays dark.
  • NewThe dining room hum follows how full it is: four levels from empty to packed, cutlery and chairs, sizzling from the kitchen. It fades as the camera pulls away.
  • ChangeA polish pass on the characters: guests look pleased, neutral or displeased; eight outfits and nine hairstyles were added, with matte, consistent surfaces.
  • FixThe patch on top of the hair and the band on the forehead are gone, hats sit properly, and two guests side by side no longer show up in the same outfit.
Morning, noon, evening and night: lamps come on step by step and leave warm pools of light on the tables.

What comes next

Development continues every day. Follow along on Discord, and see Toque's page for the rest.

Closed Alpha v0.2.0 · Toque: your restaurant now explains itself — Caria Core