Is it considered necromancing a post when it's still in the top of the first page of the forum?
Anyway, I thought I'd give my thoughts in case someone else comes looking for some thoughts.
All three games are based on performing small minigames to cook and/or serve delicious food.
And all three games have a large component of stress-management in them, as you'll be trying to not make mistakes, while keeping up with an ever growing number of customers.
CSD1 is a good game. It's the only one of the three games where you feel real actual progress in unlocking stuff.
The food selection is quite limited compared to the two follow ups. And the minigames seem a bit more distinct and customized to their respective foods.
In all, it's a good game I go back and play at times. It's nice being able to see your restaurant change when you rank up, and getting money to upgrade that menu item feels like progression.
CSD2 is also quite good. There is money in the game, but it very quickly becomes mostly trivial and not so much of a way to progress.
The meat and bones of the game is taking shifts in various themed restaurants. So pre-set levels with pre-set menus in restaurants with a theme (Fine dining? Pizzas? Italian restaurant? you get the idea).
You can still manage your own restaurant, and money can be used to buy furniture so you can decorate your place, as well as buy recipes.
Also the game has a ton more foods to make. The minigames feel less different from each other, in favor of being more consistent.
Also the game introduces holding stations, now you don't just cook to order, but can also cook some orders ahead of time for a quick serve, or have something cooked that is required to be ready in order to finish a customer order.
So where CSD1 had a good feeling of progression in your own restaurant. CSD2 is a set of increasing challenges, combined with a free-play mode, and a ton more recipes.
CSD3 is pretty much CSD2, but on the road. In the previous two games, customers would come in in a somewhat steady stream and then rush hour would occur, pushing you to move even faster, before you get a bit of breathing room.
CSD3, being in a food truck shakes this up, by giving you time to prepare food between stops, and then just sheer chaos when you stop, repeat for several stops in one day.
When going to the next stop you'll have an idea how many people will want what food, so you can at least try to prepare your holding stations there. And as you go along you'll also get special requests to prepare for the next stop.
To help you, you have two robots who can now auto-serve food from your holding station at the press of a button.
Structure wise, it follows the level-like structure of CSD2, but instead of a set menu in each level, the level gives you some limits like "Food starting with B" or similar. It's up to you to put together the day's menu from this, meeting the target score (more complex foods equals more points).
In all, I think I like CSD3 the most. The soundtrack is awesome. The frequent high pressure followed by breathing room. The silly descriptions of some foods (Seriously, in all games, do take the time to read some of the stuff in there) and the road trip experience with two robots giving you a tour of the post-apocalypse is fun.
After that CSD1 would be my next pick, it feels so basic but also still quite rewarding in you saving up for that Burger upgrade, or getting that stove so you can start cooking soup (Big mistake)
CSD2 is not bad, I had lots of fun with it. But it's the one that stuck least with me. Still awesome though.
I know it's late, and you probably already made your choice, but I hope someone else might find this out in the future.
