# Papa Louie

The Papa Louie series is a series of platforming and time management video games created by Flipline Studios. The first installment, Papa Louie: When Pizzas Attack!, was released as a free-to-play Flash game on November 9, 2006, with future games being released on mobile devices (under the To-Go! subtitle) and Steam. The web games were initially impacted by the shutdown of Adobe Flash December 31, 2020, but can be played on websites including Cool Math Games using Flash Player emulators such as AwayFL and Ruffle.

## Gameplay

Playing as either a male, female, or custom/non binary character, players are tasked with running one of Papa Louie's various fast food restaurants. The time management games (or Gameria's) involve 3 or 4 stations: One for taking orders, 2 for cooking and preparing food, and a final station for plating and serving the finished meal. Players are tasked with accurately and quickly completing customers' orders, which awards them tips and points that contribute to the players rank. Better orders also give stars that can promote a customer to Bronze, Silver, and Gold, which increases the tips and points they give. In later games, getting enough points earns tickets that can be used to play minigames, which reward tips, clothing, and decor.
Similarly to how a customer's tip depends on the player's performance, the tipping system highlighted in the Papa Louie series underscores a broader issue that reflects the real-world dynamics of service-industry practices, where workers experience financial hardship and continue to rely on customer satisfaction for compensation.
Unique customers include closers, who give complex orders at the end of the day; Jojo the Food Critic, who orders something new each time and gives a Blue Ribbon that temporarily boosts tips if served properly, and in mobile versions, customers can order via a delivery phone. The ultimate goal is to unlock Papa Louie as a customer. In Gameria's up until Papa's Freezeria, this is done by achieving a gold rank for every customer in the game. In future entries, this is changed to achieving a high rank.
Tips can be used to decorate the restaurant with decor that improves waiting score or boosts score if a specific ingredient is used. Introduced in Cupcakeria were seasonal holidays that boosted the decor points of specific themes. They can also be used to purchase clothing for your character, which will boost the amount of tips earned in each order if it matches the current holiday.

## Development

The first game featuring Papa Louie was the platformer Papa Louie: When Pizzas Attack!, which was released on November 9, 2006. The game stars the titular chef, who must run and jump through various food-themed locations to save his kidnapped customers. After the success of this game, developer Flipline Studios transitioned to full-time game development and began work on a spin-off, Papa's Pizzeria, starring Papa Louie's nephew. The game released in 2007, to even more success than its predecessor.
After Papa's Pizzeria was released, Flipline Studios began to expand. In total, there are 17 different games that fall under the Papa Louie series. Due to their names all ending in -ia, the Papa Louie games are often generally referred to as Gamerias.
Starting in 2012, multiple Gamerias were released on Google Play and the App Store, making them accessible on mobile devices. The mobile versions are designed for small touchscreens to make the games playable for users on a mobile phone or tablet. Throughout the years, these games have performed successfully. For example, in 2018, Papa's Scooperia HD was in the top 10 in paid iPad games in the UK, and Papa's Freezeria To Go! was in the top 10 in paid iPhone games in the UK. The success of these games has continued for nearly a decade, with Papa's Freezeria To Go! being the sixth top paid iPhone game in 2023, according to Apple.
A remake of Papa's Freezeria, Papa's Freezeria Deluxe, was released on Steam in 2023 to "overwhelmingly positive" reviews.

## Flipline Studios

Flipline IDS LLC, also known as Flipline Studios, is an American video game development company which mainly produces online games, mobile games, and PC games made in Adobe Flash. It was founded by Matt Neff and Tony Solary in 2004 in Cleveland, Ohio. It is best known for producing the Papa Louie series.

### 2004–2006: Early years and web design

Matt Neff and Tony Solary were two digital arts students at the Cleveland Institute of Art. During their time at college, they have made The Mawglin: Rise of the Half-Breed, a side-scrolling role-playing game, and worked a few clients such as Donley's, a construction company and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
After graduation, Neff and Solary wanted to make a digital design company, and so they founded Flipline Interactive Design Studios (shortened to Flipline IDS) in May 2004. It initially focused on web animation and web design, while continuing to work with clients. Their first product was an unreleased television series set in Antarctica, named Freezing Pointe. Jurgen Faust said about its creation, "Neff and Solary made more money than they paid tuition". He also said that they were capable of making a business before they started.
The name Flipline was decided in college while trying to find a name that rhymes with "design" and had a .com domain that was not taken. Initially, Neff and Solary wanted to use the name "Flipline Design", but they forwent this idea after graduation because it was too rhyme-y.
Other personal projects made by them during this time include 555 Modified, a clothing shop for punk rock bands and FlipChat, a messaging service. They also went under the trade name of Frozen Dinner Studios.
On February 28, 2005, Neff and Solary legally established Flipline IDS LLC.

### 2006–2020: Papa Louie and online games

In 2006, Flipline discontinued Freezing Pointe and started releasing Adobe Flash games. Their first games were Guppy Guard Express and Meteor Blastor. Later that year, they made Papa Louie: When Pizzas Attack!, starting the Papa Louie series. In 2007, they completely moved away from web design and officially transitioned to just Flash games.
In 2018, Flipline launched their last Adobe Flash web game, Papa's Scooperia. In 2020, they moved away from the Adobe Flash platform when Adobe announced its discontinuation.

### 2019–present: Focus on mobile and PC games

In 2019, Flipline announced that they will stop making "HD" games, as their "To Go!" games can be played on both small and large screen sizes.
In 2023, Flipline released their first game on Steam, Papa's Freezeria Deluxe.

### Other games

| Title | Release date |
| Guppy Guard Express | 17 October 2006 |
| Meteor Blastor | 17 October 2006 |
| Rock Garden Deluxe | Early 2008 (paid) June 29, 2010 (free) |
| Remnants of Skystone | 22 March 2010 |
| The Expendables 8-Bit | 12 July 2010 |
| Steak and Jake | 27 August 2010 |
| Steak and Jake: Midnight March | 19 October 2010 |
| Cactus McCoy and the Curse of Thorns | 10 March 2011 |
| Cactus McCoy 2: The Ruins of Calavera | 6 October 2011 |
| Jacksmith | 27 September 2012 |
| Slider Scouts | 4 October 2016 |
| Unfinished Sarge Game Demo | 15 May 2019 |