Tea4Friends is a Facebook restaurant sim from MetroGames. The game launched in the first week of June with a gradual promotional campaign within MetroGames’ network of other titles. The game had the 4th fastest-growing MAU this week, bumping up its numbers by over half a million users.

According to our traffic tracking service AppData, Tea4Friends currently has 1,856,536 monthly active users and 153,713 daily active users.

Tea4Friends, as the name suggests, revolves around tea. The player runs a small tea shop and is tasked with pleasing customers through the preparation and display of tea and snack foods, which customers enter the store to buy. Customers will continue to purchase products even while the player is not actively logged in to the game, so returning to the game after a break will often see some healthy profits waiting for the player — along with some empty shelves. Players progress in the game by earning “Tea Points” (experience points) and growing their tea shop’s popularity by satisfying customers. Having a wide range of products available and in stock will make customers happy, while empty shelves will cause them to leave, disgruntled.

Tea and food products are prepared on the stove with several clicks, and then each product requires a certain amount of time to pass before it’s ready to display on the tea shop’s counters. This process can be sped up by using Facebook Credits, but the Credits cost-per-speed-up doesn’t decrease based on the time already spent on the product, making the purchase of a speed-up something of a waste if not purchased immediately.

Julian Lisenberg, COO of MetroGames, believes that the game offers a more challenging alternative to many other restaurant sims already on Facebook, as well as a distinctive aesthetic and theme.

“We are focusing the theme around tea,” he says, “something more distinctive than the usual coffee and restaurants. Our game rules are more difficult than those in other games. It’s really tough for users to progress in the game, so it is targeted to experienced players in search of a challenge.”

The game is monetized through the sale of virtual goods in exchange for soft currency and Facebook Credits. The goods run the gamut from decorative (shop props and furniture) to functional (new stoves and equipment for the store). Lisenberg says he feels Credits have an added benefit for users, increasing the number of players.

The future of the game holds some interesting developments that Lisenberg believes will be firsts for the genre. “One of [the new features] will be the addition of multiple floors, so users can have 2, 3 and even 4 levels besides the ground floor,” he says. “This is a cool feature no other type of this game has. We are also releasing real-time multiplayer interactions between the users to make the game even more engaging.”

According to Lisenberg, Tea4Friends has a small, full-time team dedicated to the game, allowing them to focus on regularly adding new content and features to the game as it grows. If the game continues to grow at the rate it has this week, MetroGames could have a successful title on their hands.

You can follow Tea4Friends’ progress with AppData, our traffic tracking service for social games and developers.