Few video games include the laughing delight I used to be immersed in whereas taking part in the quirky, shop-management sim and dungeon-crawler Cuisineer. From smacking chickens with a spatula to “inheriting” an emptied storefront, this cute sport is quintessential cozy.
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Cuisineer is the kind of sport I all the time need in my pocket, which is why one in all my largest frustrations with the sport is PC-only entry. I sincerely hope Pom’s adventures are delivered to consoles just like the Nintendo Swap sooner or later, as I’d fortunately sink dozens of hours into adorning my storefront and amassing components from my couch.
Key Particulars
- Developer – BattleBrew Productions
- Writer – Marvelous/XSEED Video games
- Platforms – PC by way of Steam
- Launch Date – November 9, 2023
- Value – $24.99 USD
Whoops, You’re Now A Store Proprietor

Cuisineer begins with a regular cozy premise. Taking part in as a cute cat lady named Pom, you come dwelling to search out your mother and father have gone and liquidated the household enterprise to take the “journey of a lifetime”. They’ve requested you to care for the household restaurant, however have left you with not even just a few tables and chairs to maintain issues operating.
With the assistance of Pom’s finest pal Biscotti and the native townsfolk, gamers can get the restaurant up and operating. Nonetheless, hurdles like a grumpy tax collector will hold you in your toes as you get settled into the rhythm of cooking, crafting, and dungeon-crawling.
I really like video games which have a transparent development, nevertheless, I’ll say Cuisineer depends on tropes a bit too closely, and I discovered it left the city of Paell and its food-named inhabitants a bit dry. I saved hoping to search out the hidden appeal inside the city, much like video games like Moonlighter or Coral Island. Nonetheless, this by no means appeared to occur. The sport’s most important story parts are predictable hurdles like debt, and even the named characters mix in with random townies, making it exhausting to recollect who’s vital.
That is notably irritating when finishing quests, as getting desired objects to particular NPCs grew to become a sport of cat-and-mouse. I’d run as much as a random character, hover over who they have been, after which transfer on till the right individual was situated. I by no means dedicated anybody to reminiscence, viewing them as an alternative as a method to my recipe-requiring finish.
Store Administration Is The Animal Crossing of Cuisineer

If you happen to like adorning, store administration, and cute upgrades, Cuisineer is the sport for you. Proper from the beginning, your restaurant is a clean slate ready for a artistic, culinary imaginative and prescient. Furnishings designs are a bit restricted firstly, however as you stage up and uncover new crafting supplies, elegant choices grow to be out there to craft at Alder’s store.
I discovered adorning my restaurant to be one of many highlights of gameplay in Cuisineer. I loved the edit interface, which makes dragging and dropping tables and chairs a breeze. The lovable designs of every furnishings merchandise make the area inside the restaurant pop, and it’s pleasant to wrap up a design and watch the purchasers flood in.
Nonetheless, there are fairly just a few objects which you could craft that don’t serve any function aside from as decorations. That is wonderful, nevertheless it made me want there have been type bonuses or some type of technique to know in case your aesthetic selections have been accepted of by the noodle-slurping youngsters that inundated my store daily.
Both manner, in case you are a fan of Animal Crossing: New Horizons-style customization, Cuisineer does it proper, and I fortunately rearranged my store at common intervals to benefit from every completely different piece of furnishings I crafted.
One Little, Two Little, Three Little Spatula-Slayed Chickens

When prepping to make some Spicy Noodle Soup, I don’t often plan on beating chickens to loss of life with the spatula to get the eggs. Nonetheless, that’s precisely how grocery procuring works in Cuisineer. Does a busy grocery store make you need to smack the luggage of flour out of one thing? This sport has you lined.
All supplies wanted for cooking are obtained by way of the handful of dungeons discovered outdoors the protection of Paell. With weapons like a spatula, Pom should monitor down dozens of enemies and whack them till eggs, flour, meat, and different components fall out.
The dungeons of Cuisineer are incredible and alter up a bit every time you drop in. I had a tough time at first, with the enemies overwhelming my little dungeon-crawling cook dinner and knocking her unconscious. Nonetheless, as soon as I discovered the right way to dodge across the dungeon maps, I used to be ready to make use of the terrain to interrupt up waves of irritable chickens and spicy lizard infants.
I really like the dungeon-crawling in Cuisineer. It’s cute, it’s enjoyable, it’s fast-paced, and pleasing. I balanced the primary half of my days within the restaurant, and the second half dungeon crawling simply to see what else I may drag dwelling and throw in a pot. I believe this mash-up of gameplay is refreshing and enjoyable, similar to Moonlighter, and helps break up the potential monotony that some shop-keeping sims battle with.
Verdict
Cuisineer is simply great. It’s not as large as some shop-keeping titles, and it has limits as a dungeon-crawler, however the gameplay is pleasing and addictive – and I saved wanting to return for extra. Whereas it’s solely out there on PC, I do know I’d seize it up in a heartbeat if it grew to become out there on the Nintendo Swap.
I can’t advocate this sport sufficient for followers of low-impact cozy video games with easy, nice storylines. There are not any large surprises, and in a manner, it makes this sport all of the extra pleasing. You understand precisely what you’re going to get, and with that, it’s straightforward to get sucked into the gameplay loop with out a single fear to carry you again or depart you emotionally susceptible. It’s simply enjoyable, and that makes it fully value investing money and time into.
Ultimate Rating:
8 / 10
| + Cute artwork type and low-risk storyline | |
| + Dungeon crawling is addictive | |
| + You get to be a cat lady | |
| – NPCs are forgettable | |
| – Tropes maintain the story again |
Gamepur workforce obtained a PC code for the aim of this evaluation.