How to Play Chocolatier:Decadence By Design and Be a Big Winner

'Chocolatier: Decadence By Design' is a popular time management/puzzle/business simultion game published by Playfirst Games. There may not be many of you that have perhaps heard of it, but it is a game that comes highly recommended from this source.

The game itself may look easy to do, but I can gurantee you that it is not. The game itself hads the full feel of running an empire behind it, and it is going to take all of your thinking, precision, and memory to make sure that you pull off what power plays that you need to and make sure that you complete orders and on time. In this article, I am going to let you in on a strategy that will allow you to make what you need to make, where things are, and how to make the highest cash yields. Also, I am going to show you some winning recipes that will help you boost your sales and what you will need to do with your factories once you acquire them and the easiest ways to show you how to effectively get those special orders filled in the least amount of time.

My first suggestion would be is if you are a new player and are still not used to the mechanics yet, have some paper and a pen handy. This is to assist you in writing down ports and what each port sells. There are screen that tell you where the ingredient may have been last seen, but if you take the time to write it all down and have a guide for your own viewing, it may definitely help you in trying to remember what ingredients are where. Over time, (as you get good at it), it will be no problem locating where everything is. But for now, this tip may be especially useful if you are a visual learner.

The game usually starts with a tutorial like most, getting you used to how to make confections. They start you with basic chocolate bars at first, and they will also show you how to make the bars in the machine as well. You will be timed and for every mold you get correct equals one case. So, the whole object is to make as many cases as possible. This will be the simple basis from which you will begin to start your business.

The next thing that you have to take into account is ingredients. While you may be receiving lots of new recipes for confections, there is all the stock that you will need to take into account. Every recipe requires a specific ingredient. Some are offered at one port while many other ports may have them available. Just like any business, ingredients have a tendency of going bad and then having to be thrown out. For any particular recipe, it is wise to simply buy what you would need for the immediate moment. For instance, say you decide to make a Chocolate Bar with Honey to be able to sell to local chocolate shops. You know that you are running low on the needed supplies for that particular bar. What you want to do is locate where you purchased it the last time. The next thing that you want to do is only buy what you need. I have learned in past experience that overbuying ingredients means not only lost product, but also lost money. So, always remember: only buy what you need for the immediate order.

Next comes the selling aspect. Everything that you make is available to be sold for profit. Depending on the product, it varies on the price that each chocolate shop will offer. If it's a standard, they usually pay well but not quite as much as for new wares (such as your own creations) that you will be creating for your company later. The newer confectioneries that you are given the ability to create later allow you to get a nice profit margin quickly, but must not be depended upon for the sole bulk of your business transactions. Learn to balance all new creations with your standards to keep your market fresh while you are selling.

The next tip will concern when you are given access to the Rekjavik Secret Test Kitchen. This wonderful place will allow you to test different ingredients together in different forms to make a new product. These products will come in the form of Bars, Coffees, Infusions, Coffee Blends, and what are called Exotics (more about these later). In the kitchen, it will be your job to come up with something original. When you are make a new recipe, the main thing to take into account is that if it is a bar, it will require some kind of a chocolate bean. If it is coffee, you will need to use a form of coffee bean, such as Cuban or Balineses as the base, and so on. Just like if you were cooking these yourself, you will always have to remember the base ingredient. If you make a mistake, the tester will let you know and you always have the ability to start over.

Here is a few ingredients that I have found in my explorations that have worked very well when making up something new :

1) Honey is the best substitute for sugar when you do not have a lot of sugar on hand. It adds a rich and sweet texture to anything.

2) The finest chocolate that you can use in making bars is either Duoalan, Peruvian, Balinese, or Columbian Cacao. These different chocolate beans add a more rich and textured flavor to the chocolate itself and will fetch a larger price at market.

3) For infusions, use a fruit that you know will sell well. Fruits such as raspberries, strawberries, cherries and blueberries most of the time do extremely well. But, as the game proceeds, there may be some even stranger concoctions that may be asked for in the special order. They can have the ability to garner you hundreds of thousands of dollars for just one order!

Speaking of special orders, this is something that you will need to speed a lot of time learning to coordinate with your daily business routine. These will come up either in the form of side quests or full-blown main quests. Both of these are especially important, as their offerings will put you that much closer of your goal of winning the game. Some may come out during your travels while others will pop up as you visit ports. The minute that you receive what you are doing, fly back to the appropriate factory and get the process for that item at least started. If you do not have the ingredients needed, you can still order the recipe and take the time to travel to the appropriate destinations to obtain what you need and the factory will restart production. Make sure that if you have multiple quests going on at one time, always fill the order that has the most immediate need. When checking this in the 'Quest' menu of the game, you will see whether there is a deadline for that order. In most cases, it is usually about forty weeks. But, what you also have to take into account that travelling to any port can take from one to three weeks, depending on where you are. If you miss the deadline, you could miss out on a very large pay-out and it will mean spending more time making chocolate in order to make ends meet.

When it comes to travelling, it is not a cheap endeavor. When you first begin, everywhere you go there will be a charge for flight fees as you do not have your own airline yet. To cut down costs, figure out where you are on the global map and then take a look at what ingredients that you are going to need. If you are near a closer port where the same ingredient can be purchased as compared to the farther distance that you remember, it would be more profitable for you to sell and buy in that particular port. If you have multiple needs, plan the best route for access to stop that deep cutting into your bottom line.

There will be many ports that will be locked and not able to be opened in order to fulfill any other possible quests that may have special orders. In order to unlock these, this will require more time management. Make sure that you check every port in all locations to see if anyone has an order for anything. They may have the ability to get these ports opened for you to get that much needed 'special ingredient'. This can also happen as you are travelling the globe when meeting different characters throughout the game who may ask you for favors. Performing these may also have the same effect.

In closing, I would also like to offer a few more hints of advice that will help you in attaining your goal:

1) Never try to take too many special orders that are not part of your quests in the game. The more of them that you have, the harder that it will be to keep up and keep your factories running. If any of them stall, you may lose precious time.

2) If there are specific requests that you know will help you in your journey, take them. These side quests often lead to even more money, the possibility of access to new ingredients, and also new recipes that you can make to sell.

3) If you have no quests currently, look for them yourself and often. They will arise in the most unexpected of places and are often something that is very easy to do and may only take a week on the game clock.

4) Never leave a finished product to just sit. If you do not have any quests and are looking for them,, keep selling at the chocolate shops to make money. It will also help you to keep travel costs down. The longer a product sits, the less its value will be.

I hope that this guide has been helpful. The very most that I have ever seen a player accrue in the game in one playing is $22,000,000! For me, that is a record. If you would like to try this game, just look for it on the web, available for a free trial download. Good luck and I wish you well in your endeavors.