Savor This Cozy Cooking Roguelike Deckbuilder
▼ Summary
– Beastro is a cozy cooking, deckbuilding roguelike where you play as Panko, a sous chef who runs a restaurant to feed heroes called Caretakers.
– The daily loop involves gathering ingredients in the morning, running the restaurant with cooking mini-games, and then supporting a Caretaker’s expedition in the evening.
– Cooking for Caretakers is strategic, requiring you to match their flavor preferences using a Tetris-like grid to build a deck of combat cards for them.
– Combat is a turn-based card game where you must play higher-value cards of matching or balancing flavors to defeat monsters.
– The game blends these mechanics into a creative experience, with a full release planned for 2026 and a demo available now on Steam.
Beastro combines the relaxing rhythm of restaurant management with the strategic depth of deckbuilding, creating a uniquely cozy roguelike experience centered on cooking. You step into the apron of Panko, a sous chef living in the tranquil village of Palo Pori. The community is safe behind its walls, but darkness and monsters lurk beyond. When Panko’s mentor vanishes, a guardian spirit named Flambe appears to help. Interestingly, Panko’s primary mission isn’t to become a hero himself. Instead, he must run a successful restaurant to feed the Caretakers, the actual heroes who brave the wilds. By supporting them, Panko hopes to uncover clues about his teacher’s whereabouts.
The daily routine feels reminiscent of games like Dave the Diver, neatly segmented into three distinct phases. Mornings are for peaceful preparation. You wander the picturesque village to gather ingredients, perhaps digging for grubs to feed bird-like creatures, fishing off the pier, or tending a personal garden. It’s a soothing, familiar kind of cozy gameplay that provides a quiet moment before the dinner rush.
With ingredients in hand, you open the restaurant for business. Setting the menu based on your haul leads to the highlight: cooking. Preparing dishes transforms into a series of charming, carnival-inspired mini-games. Chopping vegetables becomes a test of speed as they slide down a long board. Sauteeing requires deftly tilting a pan to avoid harmful bubbles. A boiling mini-game has you tossing ingredients into pots like shooting baskets, with target pots yielding higher scores. Once a meal is ready, you swiftly serve it to waiting customers. While most patrons are easy to please, the Caretakers have specific cravings, adding a layer of strategy to the culinary process.
Each dinner service brings a reserved Caretaker with unique tastes. In the demo, a friendly hero named Oyshi requested a dish heavy on eggs. Satisfying these special orders is crucial, as the meal you craft directly builds the Caretaker’s combat deck for their expeditions. You construct a recipe by placing Tetris-shaped ingredients onto a grid. Each ingredient carries one of five flavors, Umami, Salty, Sour, Bitter, or Sweet, with a numerical weight indicating its strength. Combining them shifts the dish’s overall flavor profile. The goal is to match the Caretaker’s preferences, which can grant them health and attack bonuses and strengthen your friendship. The resulting deck is made from the cards and abilities the meal provides.
After closing the restaurant, evening falls. You then join a Caretaker, like Oyshi, who recounts their adventure through an adorable puppet show. This transitions into the roguelike expedition phase, where you guide them along branching paths filled with combat and other encounters.
Battles use a clever card system tied directly to your culinary creations. Monsters play a card marked by a flavor color and a number value. To win a round, you must play a higher-value card of the same flavor. For instance, against a green Umami card, you need a green card with a bigger number. Winning reduces the enemy’s health based on your attack power, a stat boosted by the dishes you serve. You can also weaken enemy cards by playing balancing flavors; blue cards, for example, reduce the value of green ones. Similarly, certain flavors enhance others, much like type advantages in other games. A handy color-wheel chart clarifies these relationships. If your hand is lacking, you can discard it entirely for a fresh draw or simply draw to fill empty slots. Playing an incorrect flavor, however, means you’ll suffer the enemy’s full attack.
The combat system has a learning curve, and it was the least compelling part of the demo for me, though it shows potential to become more engaging. The real joy came from the cozier loop of gathering ingredients, assisting villagers, and managing the restaurant. The long-term success of Beastro will hinge on how these relaxing activities evolve to stay fresh and surprising. This game is a creative fusion of several genres, and I’m hopeful it will simmer into an experience as satisfying and flavorful as Panko’s best recipes when it launches in 2026. For those eager to try it, a demo is available on Steam.
(Source: Game Informer)
