I’m a fan of sim games. I have Two Point Hospital and Two Point Campus on a regular rotation and if you add in Overcooked, my other favorite party game, you have my Saturday nights. Don’t judge! You can imagine my curiosity and excitement when I saw this week’s free game on the Epic Games Store, Recipe for Disaster from Kasedo Games. I looked into Kasedo Games and learned they have a stable of sim games with decent ratings, including Recipe for Disaster which was first released in 2021. So how is it? Is it spam on a platter or a savory five-course meal? These are my first impressions.
Heating up
Graphically, Recipe for Disaster is pretty minimalist. There’s nothing that will knock you off your feet, but that is what a sim game is. Its focus should be elsewhere and not on intense graphics. The sound and music seem to fit the standard mold as well. Nothing too outlandish, but straightforward.
Where I thought the game shined, especially for being a free game ($16.99 after Thursday), are in its options. It’s a management sim – options are key and this one has a lot of them. The tutorial introduces players to a few, but I tend to loosely follow tutorials and venture into the options all on my own after I learn how to control the camera and rotate the items. I spent about two hours designing everything since it’s pretty straightforward, which makes the experience enjoyable.
You start by designing your avatar, making sure you set the right skills for the restaurant you are building. I would advise you to not invest a lot in the Fryer ability, and only have a grill in your restaurant. Remember your traits, think of them like any RPG attribute. You have various furniture options for your restaurant and the customers will comment a lot, so pay attention to their feedback. They’ll even look for recipes you may not have yet, so you’ll have to up your food storage to order food for them. Speaking of recipes, MAKE SOME NEW RECIPES! This is one of the most addictive parts for me. The recipe design is set up in a simple visual programming format style. You can create whatever you want and test it on your customers. Deep-fried bananas with yogurt, yum.
Let me cook
I will say that my current first impression of Recipe for Disaster is an overall positive one. If I want to be nitpicky, sure I can rattle off small issues here and there but considering it’s being offered for free, I have no major complaints. I can see myself playing this game for a while. Recipe for Disaster is a keeper, so definitely, dig in.
Recipe for Disaster is available for free on the Epic Games Store until February 16, 2023.