Gameplay

1.1 Story
Bistro Heroes is, at its core, centred around the main storyline of the game, in which the Knights Ayran and Coq au Vin attempt to reach the capital, amassing allies along the way in order to save the Kingdom from the recent mana explosion. As such, the main objective of the game is to progress through the stages found under the Story tab at the bottom-right of the home screen. The resources required for the game's other key mechanic, the running of the bistro, are also found here, as are the materials for some types of upgrades.

There are eleven regions in Season 1, each providing a different ingredient within its substituent stages. Entering a stage costs 1 stamina. Within each stage, the heroes face either numerous waves of low and mid-ranking enemies, or a single boss enemy that may summon low-ranking enemies as support. Upon completion, heroes earn ingredients for the bistro alongside a small quantity of an unrelated resource (wood or cloth). Progress through each region proceeds non-linearly, with each region locking itself down after a certain level of progress until checkpoint stages in later regions are reached. Stages can be replayed to grind for resources; however, only the ingredients native to the region will be earned, with the unrelated resource being a one-off acquisition.

At certain points in the story, before or after important stages, cutscenes will play. These are skippable, but establish the story and personalities of the characters, and often contain humorous moments. They consist of portraits of the characters and lines of text at the bottom of the screen. Occasionally, the portraits may move in order to better illustrate story events. They also produce basic emoticons, such as exclamation points for attention or surprise, or a sweatdrop for stress/awkwardness. The overall design of these cutscenes is not dissimilar to that of a visual novel.

At the completion of stage 1 of most regions, the game will introduce a new hero. Their abilities will usually correspond to the region they are found in, and they may also serve to flatten otherwise insurmountable difficulty curves in earlier regions.

Before battle, on the screen in which the player can select which four heroes they wish to use, the game often offers recommendations on which heroes should be selected, in accordance with the enemies and effects within. Recommended heroes are marked with a yellow star, and it is worth checking this, especially for beginner players who have not yet figured out any more advanced strategies.

1.2 Bistro
In comparison to the active (though not strenuous) gameplay of the story, the bistro is largely an idle mechanic. Various ingredients obtained from the story are crafted together in order to create different dishes. Creating each dish takes a short amount of time, but the process can be automated by crafting more than one dish at once, at which point the Chef will automatically create each item one after another. Dishes are slowly sold over a period of time, which can be checked by observing the time provided over the Bistro icon on the bottom left corner of the screen. Dishes will sell whether or not the app is running. Some dishes only require a single ingredient (e.g. Meat Skewers) while others may require more (e.g. Meat Pizza, which uses four). In general, the more complex a dish is, the more money it provides when sold.

2.1 Missions
Missions can be accessed at the left side of the screen. There are three categories of missions; Main Quest, Sub-Quest, and Achievements.

Missions under the Main Quest follow the core storyline of the game. They rest along the bare minimum of stages required to progress. There is usually one mission associated with the first stage of a region, and another at the first significant Boss battle. These missions provide costumes (or equivalent cloth) and other resources.

Missions under Sub-Quest are achieved by progressing through older regions. These regions unlock later stages progressively, and new missions become available as the story progresses. Sub-Quests usually provide furniture (or equivalent wood) as a reward.

Missions under achivements are miscellaneous rewards for completing tasks that do not fit in the above two categories. These missions reward the player with rubies.

2.2 Fishing
Fishing is unlocked in the Beach region. It consists of a very basic minigame and is used to farm Bonus Stamina alongside very small amounts of wood and cloth. 100 pieces of bait are provided every day, with a piece expended with each successful catch. Fishing can either be played as a minigame, or the game can be put into sleep mode, and Limu will slowly use up all the bait in the background. While this is occurring, the game must be at the front of the phone.

Each fish caught gives a different result, usually some fraction of a unit of Bonus Stamina. On rare occasions, the player may obtain a piece of cloth or wood instead. Average drop rates will not give more than one or two pieces of each out of 100 tries.

2.3.1 Ether Dungeons
Ether dungeons are set out with a large ether crystal in the centre. They reset daily, with three separate effects randomly allocated to the dungeon. These range from mobile bomb enemies, to invincible enemies who die after a period of time, to immobile ranged enemies. Heroes must attack the ether crystal to gain levels, while fending off attacks from enemies and the ether itself. The dungeon ends when the heroes all run out of health. Each level provides the player with a quantity of ether, which can be used to level up heroes.

2.3.2 Relic Dungeons
Relic dungeons are set out with a drill machine in the centre. They each have three random effects allocated to them. The deeper a dungeon is, the more relic shards are provided when it is passed. Each dungeon functions under a time limit, within which the heroes must protect the machine from the attacking enemies. Relic shards can be used to provide relic upgrades, which give effects like increased move speed or health regeneration.

2.4 Summoning Clothes and Furniture
Players are provided with a single opportunity to summon clothes or furniture each day, after which point they must pay 800 rubies to make another 10 attempts. This mechanic works on a loot box/Gacha drop model. If the clothes are a duplicate, or the furniture exceeds the cap on ownership for a given piece, an equivalent quantity of wood or cloth will be provided instead. When using the paid version, there is a 45% chance of earning a C-tier piece of furniture, a 35% chance of earning a B-tier piece of furniture, a 14% chance of earning an A-tier piece of furniture or clothing, a 4% chance of earning an S-tier piece of furniture or clothing, and a 2% chance of earning an SS-tier piece of clothing. In addition, 1 item is guaranteed to be A-tier or higher. It is unknown what the chances for the free summoning are. Each summons earns 10 iridescent/silvery stars, which can be spent in the Event shop.

3.1 Upgrades
Under the upgrades button, there are four tabs: Upgrade, Relic, Pet, and Artifact.

3.1.1 Upgrade
Selling food at the Bistro provides players with coins. These coins can be used under the Upgrade tab. This is currently their only function. The different upgrades are as follows:


 * Polish Weapons: Increases ATK across the board
 * Upgrade Armor: Increase DEF across the board
 * Improve Turnover Rate: Causes dishes at the Bistro to sell faster
 * Expand Counter: Allows more dishes to be crafted at once
 * Expand Rest Area: Increases the rate of stamina recharge
 * Expand Supply Storage: Increases the cap on stamina

3.1.2 Relic
Relic shards from the Relic Dungeons are used here. The different relics have the following effects:


 * Increasing attack speed
 * Increasing the change of double damage
 * Increasing the rate of HP recovery every 10 seconds
 * Increasing the value relative to HP of the barrier
 * Increasing move speed

3.2 Heroes
There are five tabs under Heroes: Stats & Story, Ether Upgrades, Artifacts, and Clothes.

3.2.1 Stats & Story
Stats are listed here. Descriptions of heroes attacks, their ATK, their HP, and their DEF are present, alongside a short snippet of text for their story. This tab is yellow and features two crossed swords.

3.2.2 Ether Upgrades
Ether can be used for upgrades here. Ether upgrades boost ATK and HP by 5% each level, and also provide bonus upgrades every 5 levels. This tab is blue and features an ether crystal.

3.3.3 Clothes
Cloth can be used to purchase clothing/skins here. These skins can also be applied on this page. Each hero has a number of skins that can be purchased, centred around certain themes. Their initial skin is free, the next is A-tier and costs 100 cloth, then S-tier at 400 cloth. The rest are SS-tier and cost 1600 cloth. Clothes increase the HP and ATK of all heroes, regardless of who wears a given skin, or even if it is being worn at all.

The categories of skins are as follows:


 * 1) Casual wear. The initial outfit worn by the character. (Ayran and Coq au Vin feature knight outfits in this slot instead)
 * 2) Knight outfit. Consists most notably of armour. (Ayran and Coq au Vin feature 'Outdoorwear' in this slot instead)
 * 3) "Knights Suit". Consists of a navy blue outfit with red and bronze accents.
 * 4) "Forest Resident ___". Consists of makeup and clothing made to resemble a forest animal.
 * 5) Beach wear. Consists of an outfit pertaining to a day at the beach or on holiday.
 * 6) Neighbourhood. Consists on a burnt-orange outfit with white accents in a casual style.
 * 7) Hallowe'en. Consists of a supernatural outfit, with some form of hot pink accents or theming.
 * 8) Maid. Consists of various maid outfits, blue-green and aqua with white accents.
 * 9) Christmas. Consists of a Christmas-themed outfit with some form of fluffy white piping.
 * 10) Valentine's. Consists of a food and character themed outfit.
 * 11) Springtime/Cherry Blossom. Consists of a spring/summer outfit with some form of pale pink accents or theming.
 * 12) School. Consists of a schoolchild's beige and navy uniform with accessories.
 * 13) Wedding. Consists of a wedding dress. The style varies but is usually primarily pale.
 * 14) Gaming. Consists of a digital or gamer-themed outfit in pastel or neon colours.
 * 15) Sky/Stars. Consists of a celestially-themed outfit with midnight blue and constellation-patterned accents.
 * 16) "Chinese Zodiac ____". Consists of makeup and clothes themed around the animals of the Chinese Zodiac.

3.3 Furniture
Furniture works on a system similar to clothes. Pieces can be purchased with wood, though unlike clothing, furniture allows for duplicates - usually up to 3, 5, or 10. Furniture contributes to heroes HP and ATK whether displayed or not, and comes in themes (although matching themes provides little boost but for unlocking backgrounds). Furniture allows the player to customize the store, foreground, and midground of the main screen. Backgrounds (5 in total) can also be unlocked by obtaining furniture items of the corresponding theme. Each background requires 18000 points to unlock; each piece of wood used (or equivalent wood value, to put it another way) is worth 1 point.

The backgrounds are as follows:


 * Default/Forest: A forest clearing with 4 deciduous trees.
 * Christmas/Snowy: A snowy landscape with 3 conifer trees.
 * School/Hero High School: The inside corridor of a school, primarily white with a door at the end.
 * Beach/Midsummer Beach: A sandy beach and a blue sky with white cumulus clouds.
 * Gaming/Arcade Center: An arcade in neon colours, dimly lit with a door at the end.
 * Hallowe'en/Hallowe'en Night: A forest with pointed hat-shaped tree-houses and pumpkins.

4.1 Daily Rewards
Logging in on consecutive days earns the player a ruby-based reward. The starting point in value for this mechanic is 50 rubies.

4.2 Bonus Stamina
Bonus Stamina functions in-game like regular stamina, but is earned via fishing, as a reward, by purchase, or by watching ads. It is exempt from the cap placed on regular Stamina but is not replenished once spent. The game naturally uses regular Stamina, and will begin to dip into Bonus Stamina when regular Stamina is exhausted, or when prompted to do so.