BitLife creator Candywriter just rolled out the Astronaut career track, but if you aren’t trying to make that one small step for man and one giant leap for Bitizens, the weekly challenges are still very much a part of what makes the iOS and Android title such an enduring hit almost five years after its launch.
These limited-time events may or may not be based on popular TV shows, movies, or online trends, and they may or may not be based on famous people. And since previous months were rather heavy on the “classic” challenges with no specific pop culture references, Candywriter appears to be going the opposite route more often than not with the more recent challenges.
This week’s BitLife challenge, as the name suggests, is a tribute to the late celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, who died slightly more than five years ago to this day. The No Reservations Challenge, aside from offering a nod to Bourdain’s popular TV show, gives you a chance to “recreate” certain moments from the chef’s illustrious career, though of course, that would mean recreating those moments in the most BItLife-friendly way possible.
In terms of difficulty, this is a fairly easy challenge to complete, albeit one that requires some grinding, so if you want to complete this challenge as quickly as possible, we recommend that you proceed with this BitLife mini-strategy guide as we cover all five requirements in the No Reservations Challenge.
How to Enter the Chef Career Track
The first requirement in the No Reservations Challenge is the easiest to get out of the way, and that’s to create a male character born in New York. There are multiple cities in the state of New York available in the game, but to be on the safe side, we’d suggest sticking to NYC when creating a character for the game. Otherwise, there aren’t any statistical requirements, nor are there any Special Skills you need to select in the character creation screen.
Make sure that you are staying free of trouble or anything that could land you in jail, regardless whether you’re still in school or already in adulthood — this will become more important at a later point in the challenge. And when it comes to the Chef career track, you don’t need to take a special college course in order to get started. Completing community college will suffice here, though you would also need to have at least three years’ work experience at any job before you can apply to work as an Apprentice Chef, which is the entry-level position in the Chef career track.
You May Need to Attend Rehab Multiple Times Before Getting Clean
Anthony Bourdain’s legacy is partly defined by his history of drug use and how he eventually got clean after several years of using such substances. The No Reservations Challenge recognizes this in a way, and that’s by requiring your character to get addicted to alcohol or drugs but eventually clean up and recover.
The easiest way to develop an addiction is to frequently go clubbing and accept the substances offered to you by random strangers on occasion. Make sure that you are avoiding harder drugs such as cocaine, meth, heroin, and others, as these could result in your character fatally overdosing at some point — if not immediately, then within a few years if you aren’t able to get clean right away. Alcohol and marijuana addictions aren’t as dangerous in the BitLife universe, so we’d recommend sticking to alcoholic drinks and weed when trying to get addicted for the sake of the No Reservations Challenge.
Bear in mind that even if you choose the Luxury Rehab option for $25,000, that’s not a guarantee that you will immediately get clean. This does increase the chance of recovery, but we’ve gotten results with the cheaper, regular rehab option ($5,000) and even Alcoholics Anonymous, which is free. You may need some patience in this part of the challenge, but just as long as you’re avoiding hard drugs, this won’t be a big problem in the grander scheme of things.
Traveling Does Not Mean Going on Vacation!
While the No Reservations Challenge seems pretty simple and straightforward all throughout, there is one twist in one of the requirements that could throw you off and cost you some time if you aren’t aware of it. We are referring to the task that asks you to travel to at least ten countries, and your first instinct may be to plan ten vacations to ten different nations across different points of the challenge. Unfortunately, that’s not how this requirement works.
Instead of merely going on vacation, you will actually have to emigrate to at least ten countries, though the good thing about this is that you generally don’t have to pay anything more than $2,000 to get approved. Having a clean criminal record, as mentioned above, does help here, so you don’t need to worry about getting involved in any illegal stuff just so you can complete this requirement.
There is one more twist to keep in mind, and that is the fact that you will have to quit your present job in order to emigrate. While this is normally not a problem, BitLife appears to have made it harder (for the duration of the challenge) to get your old job back, so if you quit your job as a Saucier before emigrating, for instance, the available jobs in the Chef career track will usually be one lower (Chef Garde Manger) or one higher (Sous Chef).
You may have to do some quitting and restarting before you get a chance to apply for the same position at another restaurant, but aside from the grinding, the whole “travel to 10 countries” requirement isn’t really a difficult task to complete.
Becoming a Famous Chef Won’t Happen Overnight
Speaking of grinding, the No Reservations Challenge is one where you may have to age yourself up quite a bit before you complete it. Executive Chef is the very top position in the Chef career track, and the only way you can become a famous chef is to spend a few years at that position and perform extremely well on the job. That means you will likely be at least 50 years old by the time you reach Famous Chef status, but once you’re there, everything else should come very easy. And by that, we mean publishing a bestselling book.
Although BitLife can sometimes play fast and loose with challenge requirements that ask you to publish a book, this one is a bit stricter, as you actually need to publish a bestseller. Typically, first efforts in the book publishing game perform anywhere from solid to outright horrible, but second efforts and beyond have a much better chance of becoming bestsellers, especially if you’ve gotten your Fame bar to 80 percent or higher. There’s always the option to quit and restart before accepting the sales figures/critical reception for your book, so it is possible to publish a bestseller with your very first book.
Complete these last two requirements and you’re all good for the No Reservations Challenge. You probably won’t get a chef’s hat for your troubles, but the game will let you choose a prize chest that lets you unlock a random new hat or eyewear as the usual reward for challenge completion.