They did it. Someone finally went and did it. Strategy games, JRPGs, roguelikes, anime, and cooking – if I’ve learned anything as a news reporter, it’s that any one of these genres or elements, by themselves, can be enough to make a game pop on Steam. Now, they’ve all been combined into one, thanks to an extremely stylish, wildly ambitious new strategy roguelike RPG – a stratPGlike, if you will – that unsurprisingly has demolished its funding goal in less than three days. It’s a bit Darkest Dungeon. It’s a bit Genshin. This one could take off big time.
So, this is Food Devils from independent developer Studio Daimon. For the most part, and for the sake of categorization, this is an RPG. But it’s also a turn-based tactics game, a restaurant management sim, and a love story between anime demons whose personas are all based around different foods.
The premise is thus. In a post-apocalyptic world, you are the last professional chef on Earth. In order to keep your bistro in business, you have to gather ingredients and fresh produce from four biomes that each represent a sin committed by the former human civilization.
To accomplish this, you need companions; to secure companions, you need to lure them to your restaurant, serve them a good meal, and have them sign a covenant with one of the eponymous food devils, who also accompany you on your adventure – and who might variously try to tempt you, or one another, into bed.
Combat is turn-based and dictated by classes, abilities, and levels. It feels like Darkest Dungeon, but with anime visuals and a much lighter atmosphere. Exploration and party building meanwhile are inspired by roguelike games. You redesign and rebuild your team of adventurers every time you make a supply run into the biomes, and you’ll return with a different haul each time.
And that’s the recipe. Step one is to attract adventurers to your restaurant with hearty meals and inviting decor. Step two, you get them to sign up for your next outing, alongside a relevant food devil. Step three is to pick a biome, battle your way through, and grab whatever you can, and then step four, you return to your eatery, use what you’ve found to create a new and exciting menu, and repeat the process. But yes, there is also the potential for a step five – flirt with the food devils and maybe start a relationship, or play matchmaker and pair them up with each other.
Against an initial funding goal of $31,000, Food Devils has already raised more than $50,000 in its first three days on Kickstarter. It won’t be out for a while – the tentative release window is the fourth quarter of 2025 – but you can follow and wishlist it right here.
Alternatively, try some of the best strategy games in the world right now, or maybe turn up the heat with the best cooking games available on PC.
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