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What’s the Special?

On the surface, Charlotte’s Table plays initially like a cooking game with meal preparations and table setting. However, the epilogue reveals Charlotte’s Table as a match-3 game with stints of cooking and plating in between. Stars are the only way to afford to decorate and make meals. Stars are only won by playing the match-3 mini-games. And stars run out too fast to enjoy the story. For every new step in the story, 3 or 5 rounds of match-3 are required. It’s tedious. And the inability to click through all auto-actions drags the speed more.

This means, by nature of how the game plays out, that Charlotte’s Table is a matching game with cooking and plating activities in between. Does this detract from “the plot”? Not really. The poor tempo does that without any help from the multiple games required to progress. But the actual gameplay does detract from Charlotte’s Table itself. What felt like a puzzle game with a subplot becomes another repetitive match-3 with a subpar plot.

Not Much on the Table

Levels get harder, which at least keeps the match-3 aspect interesting with each new challenge. Simple music has its place without distracting players with intrusive noises. The artwork has a soft, childlike appearance, which is nice. The cute cooking-themed designs, features and items are a pretty touch. And daily rewards with no effort are great.

All of these are things Charlotte’s Table has going for it. However, none of this recovers Charlotte’s Table from the burdensome back-and-forth play style or the excruciating tempo. Nor does it recover the painful number of steps required simply to progress plot and challenge levels. Nor does it, as an aside, hide the truth that most of the extra help, decorations, and features are hidden behind in-game purchases.

Netmarble games, on average, hold player review ratings in the “mediocre” zone. Unsurprising. What is surprising is that Charlotte’s Table sits at the higher end of its rated games. Which means this is considered one of their better efforts. Charlotte’s Table is a major dud. If match-3 is what players are after, the mobile game world abounds with better games to try. Maybe playing as a restaurateur strikes the player’s fancy, but better games await. And if it is just a different, well-received game by Netmarble, you might be out of luck.