Critter Kitchen

Cardboard Alchemy is turning out to be a really solid publisher. Their very first game, Flamecraft, was a huge success, for its cute art and looked to be a family friendly worker placement game. It's no small wonder that they wanted to continue making games in this universe, so I was very interested in their follow up game. In Critter Kitchen, player are managing restaurants in what's called Bistro Bay. The beautiful art of Sandara Tang makes a comeback and the game oozes style that fits the vibrant and lively vibe: the dishes look tantalizing and each of the shops have a unique identity and theme that shows, much like the shops did in Flamecraft.

One thing that surprised me with Critter Kitchen is how they managed to make the gameplay simple and intuitive. Everyone is vying for ingredients so they can create meals for stars (aka victory points). You all have different workers that can go at different speeds and hold different amounts: your mouse is the quickest but can only hold one item, versus the boar who can hold 3 items but is the slowest. It's a fun mind game of programming your workers for which space to send them to, hoping you can get what you want without it getting sniped by other players.

The deluxe edition is really well produced: the arcylic tokens for ingredients are very clear and tactile when being stirred around in the bag. The soup container shaped like a big pot, the way your player shield is held into the slots of the individual player trays. It was really thoughtful in how things were designed. I'm pretty happy with this one and can't wait to see what they do next in this fantasically cute universe.

Update: 3/30/2026 - Got to show the friend group this game, had a really great time.