Games / Arcade Games / Dumpling Dash / Guide
Dumpling Dash
Run a tiny dumpling shop for a line of hungry animal customers. Steam, fry, pour tea and serve fast enough to earn tips, then spend your coins on a better kitchen.
What is Dumpling Dash?
Dumpling Dash is a restaurant time management game. Cats, pandas, bunnies, foxes, bears, frogs, mice and owls sit down at your counter and order food. You cook it, serve it before they get fed up, and collect coins and tips. Each shift is short, about a minute and a half, and there are 30 days in the story to work through, each with three stars to earn.
It's free, it plays in the browser on a phone, tablet or computer, and there's no download. Everything is done with taps, which makes it a comfortable cooking game for a phone.
How to play
- A customer sits down with an order shown above their head. Watch their patience bar.
- Tap a food plate to start cooking it in an empty steamer basket or fryer basket.
- When a basket opens, tap it to serve. The food flies to the waiting customer who is closest to running out of patience.
- Tap the kettle to brew tea, then tap a cup to serve it.
- Food left too long in a basket burns. Tap a burnt basket to toss it.
- When the clock runs out, it's closing time. Serve the guests already seated and the day ends.
You can also tap a customer directly to send them anything ready that they ordered, and tapping an empty basket starts cooking whatever is most needed right now.
Keyboard shortcuts
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| 1 | Start dumplings |
| 2 | Start a bao bun |
| 3 | Start a spring roll |
| T | Brew tea |
| Space | Serve everything ready that someone wants, and toss anything burnt |
| P or Esc | Pause |
Coins, tips, combos and stars
When you complete an order you get the menu price of everything on it, plus a tip of up to 70% more depending on how much patience the customer had left. A happy customer served fast is worth far more than one served at the last second.
Serve another order within 4.5 seconds of the last one and you start a combo, which adds 2 coins for each step, up to 10 extra. If a customer walks out angry, your combo is gone.
Each day has three coin goals marked on the bar at the top. Hit them for one, two or three stars. You need at least one star to open the next day, and all 30 days give 90 stars in total.
Shop: upgrades and decor
The coins you earn go into your wallet, and you spend them in the shop between days.
| Upgrade | Cost | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Bigger steamer | 140, then 380 | 3, then 4 steamer baskets (you start with 2) |
| Hot coals | 180, then 460 | Cooks 18%, then 32% faster |
| Big teapot | 160 | 3 cups per brew instead of 2 |
| Fast kettle | 200 | Tea brews in 1.8 seconds |
| Double fryer | 320 (from day 8) | 2 fryer baskets |
| Extra stool | 520 | 4 seats instead of 3 |
| Warming lids | 240 | Food takes 60% longer to burn |
There are also eight pieces of decor: Paper lanterns (90), Bamboo plant (140), Glowing sign (220), Painted scroll (300), Fish bowl (380), Wind chimes (460), Sleepy shop cat (560) and Fairy lights (700). They look nice, and they do something too. Every piece you place makes customers about 4% more patient.
Modes
Day mode is the 30 day story. Daily Rush gives everyone the same busy day with the full menu and a 90 second clock, and builds a streak. Endless keeps the shop open with the full menu until three customers walk out angry, getting busier the longer you last. Signed in players can post Daily Rush and Endless scores to the leaderboards.
Tips for three stars
Cook ahead, a little
Food waits 7 seconds before burning, so you can start a basket of dumplings before the order appears if you can see the pattern. Just don't fill every basket on a guess. One spare is plenty.
Keep the kettle going
Tea is cheap, but it shows up on lots of orders and an order only pays when every item on it is done. Brewing a pot whenever the cups run out stops tea from holding up bigger orders.
Speed is worth more than you think
A tip can add up to 70% to an order. Serving quickly is the difference between one star and three far more often than the number of customers you serve.
Buy steamer baskets first
Dumplings and buns both come from the steamer, and the base kitchen only has two baskets. Bigger steamer is the upgrade that most reliably fixes a jammed kitchen. Hot coals is a strong second.
Get Warming lids before the fryer days
Spring rolls burn fastest. If you're tossing burnt food on day 8 and later, Warming lids pays for itself quickly.
Decor is a real upgrade
Since every decor piece adds patience, the cheap Paper lanterns and Bamboo plant are good early buys. Patience means bigger tips and fewer walkouts.
Protect your combo at rush hour
When three customers are waiting, serve the small orders quickly to chain combo coins, but keep an eye on the patience bars. Losing one customer resets the combo and loses their whole order.
Use Space on a keyboard
On a computer, Space serves every ready item someone wants in one press and clears burnt baskets. Pair it with 1, 2, 3 and T and you'll hardly need the mouse.
Questions
Is Dumpling Dash free?
Yes. It's a free cooking game that plays in your browser on phone, tablet or computer with no download.
How many days are in Dumpling Dash?
Thirty. Each day has three stars, and you need at least one star to unlock the next day.
How do you earn more tips?
Serve faster. The tip is up to 70% of the order and shrinks as the customer's patience runs down.
When does the fryer open?
On day 8, when spring rolls join the menu. The Double fryer upgrade also becomes available then.
Does decor do anything?
Yes. Each piece of decor makes customers about 4% more patient, on top of making the shop look nicer.
What happens in Endless mode?
The shop stays open and gets busier. The game ends when three customers have walked out angry.
