Video Game / Animal Restaurant

Welcome to Gumi's Kitchen! ^note Clockwise from bottom: Eggy, Timmy, Gumi, Dori, Jiji, Apricat.

Animal Restaurant is a business simulation Idle Game for iOS and Android by DH Games and 2Miles, released in 2019.

It revolves around Gumi's Kitchen, a restaurant in the forest staffed almost entirely by cats. Build up the restaurant from humble beginnings, hire staff, serve customers, and hear their stories. The customers are mostly animals from the surrounding forest and nearby communities.

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Contains examples of:

• Ad Reward: You have the option of watching ads to summon more customers, increase claimed earnings, make more wishes at the wishing well, get more bait, get more courtyard gathers per day, or refresh shops, among other things.
• All Just a Dream: The terrace movie "Daydream" shows the Artist Badger striking it rich, only for the last scene to reveal it's a dream he's having while sleeping in his run-down home.
• all lowercase letters: In the game's listing on the iOS app store, the title is written in all lowercase.
• Ambiguously Related: Eggy claims that Yolky is his little brother when introducing him. However, Gumi wonders, "How do you have a brother all of the sudden?" and Yolky's description is likewise doubtful:
  Eggy says he's his little brother… (maybe Eggy found him?).
• Animal Gender-Bender:
  • The Picnicking Duck is implied to be the ducklings' mother, but has the coloration of a male mallard.
  • Hedwig is a female snowy owl, but her coloration is mostly white with a few markings, more like a male — females are covered with dark spots.
• Anti Poop-Socking: After playing for over an hour straight, a message will pop up informing you of this and reminding you to rest.
• Beneath the Mask: According to Prawny's description:
  Her friends think that she's a sophisticated and elegant teddy, but her personality is the opposite in private.
• Big Damn Reunion:
  • Gumi was separated from his owner years ago. After completing the story requirements, his owner will come to the restaurant, where they are reunited at long last.
  • The Pangolin Baby is looking for his mother when he first shows up. Likewise, when the Pangolin Mama first shows up, she's looking for her kid. After both have been unlocked, you can get a letter showing their reunion.
• Big Eater: Competitive eaters will order and consume multiple dishes in a row. The standouts are the Glamourous Lady, Lucky Pig, and Party Puppy, each of whom will order six dishes in a row.
• Big Little Brother: The Halloween Ragdoll is the older brother of the Halloween Pumpkin, but is much smaller.
• Bland-Name Product: Programmer's Dog wears a sweatshirt with the word "Goodle" in the approximate colors of the Google logo.^note The second 'o' is red instead of yellow.
• Blatant Burglar: The cod thief wears a black mask and carries a sack slung over his shoulder.
• Blue Is Calm: In "Hamster's Diary 3", the hamster wishes to knit a scarf for Tate, and considers making it in blue, as "it's a gentle and quiet color, and it seems like it would fit Tate very well."
• Brown Bag Mask: The Paper Bagged Ostrich wears a paper bag mask out of shyness. Serving this customer can also net you a paper bag mask that can be worn by Jiji.
• Caring Gardener:
  • Prince the Gardener, according to his description, "lovingly waters every single flower."
  • The description of the Flower Shop booth has this to say about its owner:
    Shiba Liang is very gentle, even to flowers.
• Carnivore Confusion:
  • One of the dishes you can unlock is pork on rice, despite several of the customers being pigs. The Lucky Pig can even order pork on rice themself.
  • The adzuki bean dumplings' description mentions that the recipe is from the chickens' hometown, implying that chickens are among the Funny Animal residents of the Animal Restaurant world. Despite this, several chicken dishes are available for you to unlock.
• Cataclysm Backstory: Some characters make references to an earthquake that happened a few years ago, and how it affected animals and humans. Gumi is implied to have been separated from his master in this earthquake.
• Cat Stereotype: Dori is a Ragdoll cat, a breed known for being docile, sweet, and sociable. As the restaurant's promoter, he deals with many customers and is always friendly.
• Character Overlap: As part of a collaboration with Tsuki Adventure, the title character of that game appears in Animal Restaurant as the customer Moon Rabbit.
• Cool Shades: The Influencer Flamingo wears sunglasses for style.
• Creepy Cockroach: Mister Roach is "a cutthroat competitor" who will try to ruin business by entering and crawling around the restaurant, causing customers to storm out at the apparently unhygienic state of the place.
• Cute Little Fangs: Bean the dog has canine teeth that jut out. When he's performing in the courtyard, one fan will remark that they love his little canines.
• Don't Try This at Home: The Stamp & Puzzle event, which involves a coffee-loving cat named Aten (the mascot of a real life cafe), has disclaimers not to feed coffee to cats.
• Dreadful Musician: In Eggy's Camping Blind Box story, his accordion playing leaves the others on the ground in pain.
• Dreary Half-Lidded Eyes: Seedy has half-lidded eyes and is described as looking aloof.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: The Yorkie Pup has long, styled fur and often gets mistaken for a girl in-universe, though he is a boy.
• Edible Theme Naming: A trio of friends, Prawny, Beancurd, and Rice Cake, have food-themed names.
• Family Theme Naming: Eggy and his "little brother" Yolky have egg-themed names.
• Fishing Minigame:
  • The fishing pond lets you go fishing in Rabbit Ding's boat.
  • In the Japanese Cuisine booth game, you try and catch fish by spearing them with a fork.
• Flavor Text: Practically every character and item comes with a description. For example:
  • Espresso
    The tiny cup makes it hard to hold.
  • Little Blackboard
    Jiji wrote today's menu recommendations on it.
  • Mushroom Table
    Coexist with nature.
  • White Bunny
    Little white bunny, ever so white; with two pointy ears, that stand upright.
• Flowers of Nature: There are two different flower garlands that can be worn by Prince the Gardener, one jasmine and one rose.
• Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: According to Kate's description, she is absent-minded and her brother Tate has to feed her snacks so that she won't eat up the customer's food.
• Fortune Teller:
  • The Fortuneteller, who wears a Robe and Wizard Hat and carries a Crystal Ball. She can consult the fates to tell you when Hedwig will next return, make Hedwig come back sooner, and refresh employees' skills.
  • The owner of the Fortunetelling booth, who wears a headdress and has cards, a crystal ball, and a candle set up on the booth table.
• Funny Animal: Almost all of the characters are talking animals that walk on two legs, fittingly so considering the title of the game is Animal Restaurant.
• Fun T-Shirt: The Rich Kid (a panda) wears a shirt that says "I ♥ CD" ("I love Chengdu"), a reference to the Chengdu Panda Base.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • In the opening scene, when Eggy stumbles upon the restaurant, Dori and Gumi are already working there. But if you're following the tutorial, Eggy will be hired first.
  • In the stories involving Gumi and Jiji disappearing from the restaurant, their skills continue to be in effect, as if they are still present and working. Gumi continues to boost cooking time, and Jiji continues to take orders.
  • There are multiple copies of nearly every character, despite this contradicting many of their backstories.
  • Despite being the more absent-minded twin, Kate's delivery efficiency is higher than Tate's.
• Gassy Gastronomy: Mentioned in the description for Badger.
  DON'T let him eat too many beans. If he farts, the entire restaurant is done for.
• Genie in a Bottle: In the terrace movie "Genie Gumi", Gumi is a genie in a magic lamp.
• The Gentleman or the Scoundrel: In the terrace movie "Pink Breeze", Student Samoyed has two male admirers: the delinquent Bully Husky and the upright Student President Merle Border Collie.
• Giftedly Bad: In Eggy's Camping Blind Box story, he thinks he's amazing at playing the accordion and is oblivious to the fact that everyone else finds it terrible.
  Eggy: Hehe, I'm amazing at playing the accordion. Does anyone want to listen to it?
  Gumi: Wait! You ...
  Eggy: Sigh, there's really no helping it. Here I go!
  Seedy: Can anyone ... Can anyone stop him!!! How come none of the notes are in tune!
  Yolky: So many stars ... So dizzy!
  (After some time)
  Eggy: Eh? How come everyone is lying on the ground? Are you all mesmerized by my amazing music? Hehe, I'll play for everyone again when all of you wake up!
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: There are a number of things to try and unlock: staff, customers, facilities, recipes, letters, mementos, movies, and takeout photo reviews.
• Green Is Gross: The skunk will release greenish stinky gas that drives away customers.
• Grow Old with Me: When Shiba becomes infatuated with White Shiba, he wishes to grow old with her:
  Shiba: Please tell her I'll wait at the intersection to walk home with her. I want to walk with her every day until we're twenty!
• Guide Dang It!:
  • Trying to unlock specific customers may necessitate looking up their unlock requirements outside of the game.
  • Getting letters typically requires specific combinations of items, which are not indicated in-game and must be discovered on your own. While many letters have multiple possible combinations, a given combination may only have a small probability of success, making it impractical in many cases to try by guessing, especially if it involves a rare item.
  • Tapping the two cat pictures in the settings menu lets you redeem a redemption code or copy your user ID. This is not indicated anywhere in the game, nor is it apparent by looking that the pictures can be interacted with.
• Holiday Mode: There are various in-game events based around holidays, including Halloween, Christmas, Lunar New Year, and Children's Day. There's also an event for the game's anniversary.
• Homage: Prince the Gardener, Little Fox, and the Little Fox series of letters are an extended reference to The Little Prince. According to Prince's profile, the letters he reads are from B612, the Little Prince's home asteroid. One of the pictures in the Sketch Artist minigame depicts him in the role of the Little Prince, sitting on an asteroid with a single rose growing on it. The star-and-rose-themed restaurant facilities also appear to be inspired by the book.
• Immediate Self-Contradiction: An exchange that takes place if you fail the Tour Group's Meal order:
  Gumi: I won't accept these human orders for now. It becomes too dirty every time.
  Jiji: Looking at last week's bill, those humans are actually high-quality, high-spending customers! They can bring us a profit of...
  Gumi: Take it.
• Interspecies Romance: In the terrace movie "Pink Breeze", Student Samoyed (a dog) confesses to Dori (a cat) that she likes him.
• Lions and Tigers and Humans... Oh, My!: There are human customers alongside animal ones.
• Love Letter: In the terrace movie "Pink Breeze", when Student Samoyed confesses her feelings to Dori, she hands him a letter sealed with a heart-shaped sticker.
• Maneki Neko:
  • Lucky is based on the Maneki-neko aka 'lucky cat', from her name, creamy coat, and red collar with gold tag, to her job collecting money. One of the loading screen images shows her sitting on a red cushion, paw up in the traditional welcoming gesture.
  • The Trophy Wall includes a Maneki-neko figurine sitting on a shelf.
• Meido: The minigame Flora's Ring Toss features dolls of some of the staff members dressed up in outfits for added cuteness. Apricat's is a maid outfit, complete with a frilled hairband.
• Mini-Game:
  • Some of the booth owners sometimes offer a minigame to play for rewards. The game machine in the courtyard also offers these games.
  • Terrace customers will offer mini games.
• Money to Throw Away: The Rich Kid will toss out cod as long as you tap on him.
• Moon Rabbit: Moon Rabbit, who is Tsuki the rabbit from Tsuki Adventure. His moniker is a reference to his real name, which means "moon".
• Non-Indicative Name: Rabbit Ding is not a rabbit, but a Pallas's cat.
• Not So Stoic: Gumi is usually gruff, but when he reunites with his old master, he has tears in his eyes and a smile.
• Pooled Funds: The Cod Supply Point featured a picture of the Rich Kid in a bathtub full of cod, as does the Rich Kid Blind Box story.
• Punny Name: Apricat, playing on 'apricot'.
• Ripped from the Headlines: Dr. Puppy was added to the game in March 2020, and his appearance and dialogue are a reference to the COVID-19 Pandemic. He wears a hazmat suit and goggles and carries a bottle of spray sanitizer.
  Dr. Puppy: This is a protective suit, I'm here to sanitize the restaurant. Recently, there has been an infectious virus spreading in the human world.
  Eggy: Oh my! Dori, let's call it a day and go home!
  Dr. Puppy: Don't worry, at this moment, cats will not contract the virus. However, everyone should take care of their hygiene and wash their hands regularly at all times!
• Scary Flashlight Face: In this image, Gumi tells scary stories while shining a light on his face from below.
• Shell Game: In the Picnicking Duck's minigame, you have to find her duckling, who is swapped around with some other birds while each is covered by a bucket.
• Shout-Out:
  • The Green Round Door is a reference to Bilbo Baggins' door in The Hobbit. Its description reads:
    "Knock, knock!" Will a dwarf open the door?
  • Hedwig is a female snowy owl who delivers mail, like Hedwig from Harry Potter.
  • The White Rabbit and Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland will show up as customers. There's also the "Alice's Storybook" letters, which reproduce some excerpts from the book with illustrations, and a line of Alice in Wonderland-themed facilities.
  • The Reverie Register has a melting clock on the counter, like in Salvador Dalí's The Persistence of Memory.
  • Sadako's Well is a Halloween-themed wishing well that features Sadako from The Ring hanging from its edge.
  • The Swan's description references the plot of "The Ugly Duckling":
    When he was little he thought he was a duck, but when he grew up he still thought he was a duck, so he's not too mean.
  • The Granny Wolf is a male wolf who wears a headscarf, a reference to the wolf from "Little Red Riding Hood".
  • The description of the Red Apple:
    Looks like the apple from Snow White.
  • The description of the Pilot Hat mentions Monty and Gadget, characters from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers.
• Show Within a Show: There are a number of movies based on various characters that can be collected and viewed at the terrace.
• Sistine Steal:
  • The 2020 Halloween event featured a banner◊ with Eggy and Gumi in the "Creation of Adam" pose, the two reaching toward each other as Eggy lies back and Gumi floats in the air.
  • For the 2022 anniversary event, the official Twitter and Facebook switched to a banner featuring the staff at an art museum, with one painting showing Prince and Gumi in the Creation of Adam pose — Prince lying down, Gumi in the air.
• Smelly Skunk: The skunk will unleash clouds of greenish gas that drive customers away. Another skunk (or possibly the same one) is a booth owner; the name of the booth is Hillside's Stinkiest.
• Starving Artist: In the terrace movie "Daydream", Artist Badger is living in a run-down place with Cobwebs of Disuse and cardboard box furniture.
• The Stoic: Jiji always has a calm expression, even when everyone else is looking excited.
• Theme Twin Naming: The delivery workers are twins with rhyming names, Tate and Kate.
• Third-Option Love Interest: In the terrace movie "Pink Breeze", Bully Husky and Student President Merle Border Collie both try to win the affections of Student Samoyed. However, she ends up confessing her feelings to Dori instead.
• Token Minority: Hedwig, a snowy owl, is the only staff member of the restaurant who isn't a cat.
• Unexplained Recovery: Mister Roach getting splatted never stops him from being able to show up again later, the game warning you: "That nasty Mister Roach is back!"
• Virtual Paper Doll: You can obtain accessories for the staff that they can wear, such as hats and wigs.
• Weird Currency: There are various objects used as currency.
  • Cod is the main one; it's what customers will pay in, and used to unlock most things.
  • Plates are used to unlock buffet dishes and in the gatchapon machine. The Mysterious Merchant also occasionally prices his wares in plates.
  • Fish and branches from the fishing pond, flowers, watering cans, and seeds are used to buy food for the takeout store.
  • Bells are used in the signature store.
  • Film is used to buy courtyard upgrades.
  • Bottles are used to get cutlery and movie fragments for the terrace.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: According to Jiji's Blind Box story, he is afraid of the lights going off during power outages.
• Winter Royal Lady: Lady Snow Fox is a white fox in a winter-themed outfit described as beautiful and fashionable. The body is blue with white trimming and the white collar matches her tail, giving her a Pretty in Mink look.
• Wishing Well: Wishing at the wishing well in the garden will award you items. You get a certain amount of free wishes per day and can get more by watching ads.

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