Combo-based hunting & puzzle-based cooking game Battle Chef Brigade is now on GOG, some thoughts

Battle Chef Brigade [Official Site] is a very strange mix of combo-based hunting and puzzle-based cooking and now GOG have the Linux version too.

For those who didn't see it earlier, Steam also has the Linux version it's just not advertised. Hopefully with some more testing, they will officially advertise the Linux version there too.

Disclosure: Key provided to me by GOG staff. GOG links are affiliate links.

YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

As usual, the GOG version comes with a MojoSetup file to install the game wherever you like. It's 64bit only, so if you're still lingering on a 32bit install it really is time to get moving.

I've been using the Steam Controller paired up with the excellent SC Controller utility to enable proper gamepad functionality outside of Steam and it's worked amazingly well. I consider that a must-have for anyone with a Steam controller who has games outside of Steam. Switching between the Steam Controller and keyboard works perfectly too, as the game just instantly switches the inputs shown on screen—perfect!

Battle Chef Brigade is a story-based side-scrolling brawler with puzzle elements, where you pick up parts of monsters, plants and more to cook. The art is hand-drawn, which really helps give it a rather distinct and beautiful style. It's the little details that got me in the art, even though it's hand-drawn the animations look really good. Simple things like like seeing hair move, clothing flap around and petals drop, to the more intricate animations like the twirl when you dodge during the combat phase.

"The Iron Stomach's done it!"

Now that I've actually been able to play it, I can say that I'm impressed at not only how polished the Linux version feels, but the game itself is actually a crazy time-sink, in the best possibly way I can write that! I've spent hours playing it, to the point that I've lost track of time repeatedly. If anything, it's a game where I just want more.

It's weird really, since a fair amount of it is essentially doing a type of match-3 game while you're cooking and trying to get the best score possible for the dish. You drop in various ingredients in a Tetris-like style, then once in you rotate them around to stir them and match them together, which combines them and increases the score of the dish itself. You may need to make your meals out of a particular ingredient and gem-type to please judges and you never know what they will ask for which makes it quite interesting.

You do get a chance to customize your load-out a bit too, with various items to help with the cooking and the gathering. You could have items to increase your mana, health, slow enemies or items to help you cook like a pot that will only combine red gems.

During the cook-off matches, you first need to gather the ingredients based on the preference of the judges, so you need to run around in a platformer style to grab the fruit, vegetables or meat required for the dish. While doing so, you're also against the timer, as you need to serve up your dish before it runs out. The combat is cleverly done, since it's also a puzzle to quickly explore and find the correct ingredients.

The game is almost fully voiced too, with an impressive cast that successfully land every word with feeling. The actual sound quality felt perfect too, it was all just such a surprise.

While the main elements that make up the game aren't unique by themselves, the way they're stirred and cooked together really does give you a fresh and tasty dish like no other. No game mechanic has a large amount of depth to it, so it's quite easy to get into too, without being overly simple.

This might be one of the biggest surprises for me all year. It also made me hungry, so very hungry. Find it now on GOG and Steam.