Diner Dash: Hometown Hero walkthrough, cheats and tips
GENERAL TIPS
There is more than one way to get and expert score in all levels. Different things will help you along the way, like chaining, color matching, serving drinks, keeping hearts full etc. Some will help you more than others depending on which level you are playing. In some instances speed will help you the most taking care of customers fast and not chaining will be key. In other instances what will help you get ahead is to match the color of the customers' outfits to the color of their chairs. Sometimes you can get a hint on which skill you will need in a certain level if you pay attention to the opening screen before you begin to play, it will say something like "customers will only seat on chairs that match their outfits."
In some levels you have to compete for tips with another waitress, I think this level is very funny and quite challenging as well. In order to distinguish your waitress from Flo, you may want to change Flo's clothing so that you can keep better track of the waitress. She will try to steal all your customers so there are a few tricks you can do in order to beat her:
1.Chaining does not help you too much in these levels, the goal is to accumulate more money than the waitress so you have to be fast.
2.Try to do things that will keep her from making extra money such as color combos. Color combos in this level give you a big point advantage especially when you seat customers in seats that have a high number next to them.
3.Don't let the waitress get the Dash Bar or she will move a lot faster than you, keep an eye out for it and if it appears try to get it before she does.
4.If you don't want the waitress to get checks and clear tables, there is a little trick that will speed things up. When a customer is ready for their check, click on their table twice right away and that will make sure you get the check and collect the dirty dishes at the same time. That will ensure that the waitress does not make any points from that table.
The podium is your friend. It will help you keep the masses happy and a little more patient while they are standing in line. If you stand at the podium and don't move, it will automatically start working again once it's recharged. It is recommended at times to let it go more than once before you start seating customers. This way they will be more patient while waiting to be served and they will also leave a bigger tip since their hearts are fuller.
If you're about to lose a customer and drinks are not ready and there is nothing you can do to save them, click on their table so you can get their check as soon as they are ready. Just stand there and wait for them to be ready because at that point every second counts and you don't want them to leave.
You don't have to clean a table right away, at times it's better to leave the tables dirty until you can get a bigger chaining bonus for cleaning.
In Hometown Hero, you don't lose points if a customer stops requesting something once it's in your hands, it just simply disappears.
There will be time when it's beneficial to wait and seat certain groups together. Try to group people according to their patience level and how they get along with each other. It's good to seat joggers, cell phone addicts, families and teenagers together since noises don't bother them. Bookworms and seniors are slow to order and eat, dislike noise and are very patient so when possible seat them together.
Teenage boys and girls are best when seated next to each other. Try to wait and seat teenage boys and girls next to each other since they flirt with each other and keep each other occupied with their flirting. You also get 20 bonus points when you seat them close by. Teenagers tend to be noisy when they are seated by themselves so keeping them flirting keeps them from annoying those around you.
Lovebirds will only sit at tables that have 2 chairs. If you try to seat them in something other than that they will not do it. Also be careful where you sit them since they tend to annoy most folks around them. It's a good idea to sit them in a corner so they will not annoy too many people at one time.
Celebrities are great customers because they make everyone around them "starstruck." Try to seat them in the middle of the room since they improve the moods of everyone around them. Pay close attention to them since they are short on patience and dislike noise but they are very high tippers so make sure to keep them happy. If a celebrity leaves it cost you twice as much as if a regular person leaves (3000 points instead of 1500). Also try to seat them near impatient people or people that come in with low hearts since they will improve their moods.
Hungry Men always eat twice, they can mess up your chaining bonuses but they don't have to. If they've already finished eating and are ready to order again, just make them wait until others are ready to order as well. Try to sit them in corners and next to quiet people so that they will not lose patience faster.
Food Critic is a great tipper make sure you cater to her every whim! Keep giving her drinks and serve her as fast as possible. The faster she gets out the bigger the tip will be.
If you want to get experts on all levels, the first time around, you can just stop playing whenever you think you're not going to make it. Click on the pause button on the lower right hand corner and then click on the "restart level" and you can start that level over and over again until you get it right.
Some dining rooms will experience a power outage and all you have to work with is a flashlight. This level can be difficult but it doesn't have to be. To make things easier you can stand at the podium (when available) and boost hearts while at the same time looking at the room with the flashlight so you can see where everything is located. Once you know where thing are, look at the customers waiting in line and plan seating accordingly. You can periodically wave the flashlight around the room so you can monitor who needs what. Even though it's dark you can still see the room on the side where the flashlight is not shining.
On the levels where you have the bar seating, try to place bigger groups on there so that it will be easier for you to take care of the customers. When you place too many small groups at a time, it can get confusing.you can also leave a space in between customers so you can click on the tables with ease.
When placing people on the bench, you cannot place them back in line, you can only move them once you're ready to place them at their tables.
Placing flowers on the tables before anyone sits down will earn you 100 bonus points per table.It may not always be possible in some levels but it makes a big difference, so do it when you can.
There are certain levels in which you have customers that have reservations. They are only willing to wait a short amount of time for their table before they leave. You will know a table has reservations coming in by the flashing sign next to the table. You will be able to recognize the customers with reservations because they have the matching symbol next to them. At the beginning of a level when you see that sign, try not to seat anyone on there (especially a slow eater, since they will hog the table longer); instead leave the table empty so that it's ready when the customers with reservations show up. If there is somebody on their table serve them first and quickly so you can get them out of there as fast as possible. The only time it's OK to seat someone on those tables is when it's almost the end of the shift and there are no people with reservations waiting.
You don't have to seat the customers the moment they come in. It's best to let them pile up so you can see the different types coming in and seat people accordingly. For example, bookworms do not like a lot of noise so it's not a good idea to sit them next to cell phone addicts or teenagers since all their noise will make the bookworms lose patience faster and leave if he becomes too irritated.
Chaining is very important in the game since it will allow you to build up points faster. Chaining is when you perform the same action in a row. You can chain serving desserts and snacks, taking orders, serving orders, mopping, cleaning tables etc. For instance, you should serve all the meals at one time instead of doing something else in between. Try to do as many things in order without interruption to accumulate more points. It's great if you can serve all the meals at once, followed by all the deserts and then pick up all the checks in one swoop. The only time that it's not good to pay too much attention to chaining is when you are playing the rounds in which you have the waitress competing with you for the tips.
You can sometimes seat people in a certain way in order to make it easier for you to seat the next round. For example, try seating groups that have 2 colors on the same side all the time. Place all the blue shirts on the left side and yellows on the left. Whenever possible try to keep the colors on one side of the table to make it easier for your next round.
In order to obtain large bonus points it is a good idea to sit people on chairs that match their outfits, it's an even better idea to match the outfits to chairs that have a high number next to them. The number next to the chair shows how many times you matched a particular color to that particular chair.
When you are trying to chain certain actions it is best to serve the people with the least amount of hearts first and then serve all the ones that have the most hearts last. This will keep you from losing anyone that is irritated and close to leaving at any given moment
There are certain actions that will NOT break your chaining combos so therefore you can do them in between chaining. Taking customers to their seats and standing at the podium will keep your chaining actions intact.
Certain actions WILL break your chain combos. In order to avoid breaking the chains perform the chain breakers first and then proceed to chaining. Chain breakers are things like serving drinks and snacks and taking pictures.
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