Four Nijisanji Streamers Bet and Sell Their Way Through Japanese Ramen Simulator

NIJISANJI — Amamiya Kokoro, Hoshirube Sho, Saotome Berry and Hibachi Mana, all of Nijisanji, spent about three and a half hours on Thursday running a ramen shop together in Japanese Ramen Simulator, a restaurant-management game. Each streamed the session on their own channel. The four, who go by Shimabeko, were all new to the game and played with the tutorial turned off.

They started by painting the shop’s sign. They wrote “Shimabeko” and tried the character for “noodles,” which came out too dark and too messy to read, drawing laughter from chat (“can’t see a thing”). Service was no tidier. Bowls went out before orders were taken, seaweed ended up scattered across the kitchen, customers got kicked, and at one point the cash register disappeared when somebody picked it up. In building mode the group pulled seats out of the shop to make terrace seating and call in passersby. Chat asked where the register had gone.

“And so that’s it for this season’s Shimabeko.” — Shimabeko, signing off

The game also has a gambling table, and the four used it more than once. They lost their first bets on whether a number would come up odd or even, then won their stake back and more. Someone suggested they might as well drop the ramen business, and chat agreed that it paid better than the shop. When the money ran out again, they bet again, and later lost heavily in one round after a winning streak. Along the way a shop expansion left them in a hidden room until one player changed the wall pattern to a window and they walked out through it.

The shop’s first profit came after the group stopped betting and began selling off what it had bought. Tables, beds, a monitor, an exhaust duct and the water server all went, and the players found that items bought free on a first purchase could be resold for cash. Flyers brought in more customers, a beer server was added, and the group turned away one student customer who ordered a beer. Prepping cabbage and green onions ahead of time kept the orders moving.

At level 7 a food critic arrived. The first bowl did not go over well, and the players grumbled that the critic never thanked them before eating. On the second visit they built a seaweed-based soup with heavy garlic and toppings, and cheered when it won the critic over. They closed out the night by making bowls of their own, including one of nothing but soy sauce, and a toppings-stacking contest and a beer-pouring challenge.

On Berry’s own stream, the sign-off included a remark about laughing until stomach and jaw hurt and a plan to stream PUBG the next evening. Sho called the game well made and told viewers to try it if they were curious. Chat finished with thanks and a common wish: “I really want ramen now.”