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by Simon Balissat
"Pizza Co." from Osmo teaches children how to bake and do maths
2.10.2020
Translation: machine translated
There is a new set for the multimedia educational toy from Osmo with "Pizza Co. Players have to get a pizzeria up and running. And that can sometimes be quite stressful!
The most important thing first: You can only play "Pizza Co." if you also have the Genius Starter Kit from Osmo. And an iPad. Then you have an educational toy with which children aged 5 to 12 should have a lot of intelligent fun. You can read a review of the Starter Kit from Osmo here.
But back to the pizza: As with the other sets from Osmo, nothing works without the own app. Unfortunately, there is not one app for all Osmo games, but you have to find and install the right app for each newly purchased set in the app store. The Junior Pizzaiolo, on the other hand, can get started more quickly. He takes over for a pizza chef who urgently needs a holiday and, after a few rudimentary instructions, quickly slips into his Hawaiian shirt and disappears.
From now on, it's time! You have to earn enough money to pay the rent and be able to afford one or two embellishments or technical improvements - keyword: faster oven.
Beware of pedantic big cats
In the shop, you are both a pizza chef and a waiter. In the kitchen you will find a range of ingredients for your pizzas: mushrooms, salami, pepperoni, anchovies, olives and (as bad as it is) pineapple. The customers, all funny animals, order from you and you prepare the pizza in front of the guests. This way you can see whether you have fulfilled the guests' wishes when you put the pizza in the oven. This is where "Pizza Co." shows its strength: As the player, you have to collect the right ingredient tiles for the pizza as quickly as possible.
Once it is occupied, move it to the right out of the Osmo reflector's field of vision and it will move to the oven on the iPad screen. Eye-hand coordination is trained here. And the guests won't forgive you for mistakes! If a lioness wants a pizza half topped with mushrooms, it has to be half of her choice. Neither Osmo-Reflector nor the pedantic big cat understand or accept the fact that you can simply turn a pizza later.
Source: Martin Jungfer
However, if you've topped the pizza exactly how you want it, the chances of getting a tip aren't bad. At the pizzeria, you'll also have to cash in. Once the lion, rhino, bear and co. have eaten, they'll call for the bill. If you used to like playing flea markets, you now have an advantage. Because the guests at the pizzeria don't always have the right amount on the bill. That's why you have to work out as quickly as possible how much your guest will get back. I tried it out and realised just how much cashless payment atrophies skills such as mental arithmetic. I was compensated for my efforts by a very generous lemur, who tipped me a whopping 4 dollars for a 10-dollar pizza.
Dollars instead of francs
Dollars? Yes, dollars. Osmo is backed by a US company based in California. That's why the money tokens don't include a very familiar piece in this country: the "Füfzg-Räppler" or the "Füfzgi", i.e. the fifty cent piece. Instead, there are 1-dollar notes. On the other hand, there are no German-speaking game characters. The pizza-phile animals speak a fantasy language somewhere between that of "Pingu" or "Shaun the Sheep". Children who are not yet able to read well enough will need your help to understand the texts in "Pizza Co.". Or, for example, to know what the satisfied guests type into their smartphones as recommendations for the pizza and post on social networks.
A lot of fun, but stopped halfway through
All in all, "Pizza Co." promises a lot of fun - even if the one-man show is quite stressful at times. In the two difficulty levels to be selected, you grow as a little pizza baker with the challenges until you can conjure up smileys on the pizza from the ingredients. The reactions of your guests will motivate you to get better and better. And you can also play "Pizza Co." together. One child can top and bake the pizzas, while the other takes over when the customers want to pay and the change has to be calculated. The only thing that bothers me is that Osmo has stopped halfway through the adaptation for the German-speaking market. This means that it is only suitable for five or six-year-old children if an adult is playing along. There is nothing to criticise about the build quality. The pizza is a sturdy cardboard box, as are the coins and the toppings for the pizza. Everything is stored in a sturdy plastic box. Better than a soggy pizza box.
Header image: The rhinoceros has a craving for pizza and watches the process of creation.
Martin Jungfer
Head of Content
Martin.Jungfer@digitecgalaxus.chJournalist since 1997. Stopovers in Franconia (or the Franken region), Lake Constance, Obwalden, Nidwalden and Zurich. Father since 2014. Expert in editorial organisation and motivation. Focus on sustainability, home office tools, beautiful things for the home, creative toys and sports equipment.
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