Find an old device
Look for a computer or hard drive used to play Restaurant City between 2009 and June 2012. Ask family and friends, too.
A community preservation search
Help us preserve Restaurant City
An old laptop, desktop, or hard drive may still hold pieces of the original Playfish game. We’re asking former players to help find those files before they disappear for good.
How you can help
You don’t need to be technical. If you find a promising device—or know somebody who might have one—talk to us before changing anything on it.
Leave it untouched
Don’t clear browser history, run cleanup software, reinstall the browser, or reset the computer. Those actions can overwrite cached files.
Tell us on Discord
Share what device, operating system, and browser you remember using. We’ll help you check it carefully and answer questions.
Protect your privacy: never upload an entire browser profile or hard drive. Old caches can contain unrelated personal information. Contact the team first so we can help isolate only the relevant game files.
What are we searching for?
Restaurant City downloaded Flash files and other assets while you played. Some of them may have survived locally even though the original servers are gone.
Files and addresses
A known game path used this versioned address:
static.playfish.com/game/cooking/swf/0.9.143a/
Useful SWF names may include:
gamegame_assetavatar_assetindoor_assetoutdoor_assetingredient_assetperk_assetsound_assetpreloaderpreloader_assetClues that you played a later version
The most useful caches may come from a version that included:
- Day and night backgrounds based on local time
- The option to open your restaurant for a set number of hours
- Later decorations such as the bowling alley or airport lane
Earlier versions asked players to feed employees regularly. Those files are still welcome, but later versions are the biggest gap.
What we have
An early beta-era version has already been recovered from an old laptop. The search now focuses on finding a more complete, later build and preserving the original artwork and assets.
Have a device, a file, or just a lead?
Join the Restaurant City Reborn Discord. Even a vague memory, an old backup, a former developer contact, or a computer you’re unsure about may help move the search forward.
This search continues the community effort described in the original Reddit preservation post. A tool such as Flashpoint’s cache recovery guide may help, but please contact us first if you are unsure.