There are cooking games, there are restaurant management games, there are even head-to-head cooking games. But what if a game does all of the above with a zany cast of characters obsessed with meatballs?
This highly specific game does exist, or will exist as it’s in development. KuloNiku by Indonesia-based Gambir Studio has you do all that.
As the inheritor of your grandmother’s once-legendary meatball restaurant in the town of KuloNiku, you’re now taken charge of running the place with the goal of restoring it to its former glory.
Serving up recurring customers, the locals that frequent the restaurant, it the meat of the game. Remembering orders and doing little mini-games to cook and serve delicious food. The orders are quirky just like the customers that come in on the regular. At least they all look charming, the game has this PS1-style low-poly look, specifically the clean aesthetics as seen in the Mega Man Legends series.
But it’s not all peaceful meatball serving. Rival chefs will come knocking to take over your restaurant and the only way to settle this beef is to engage in a Meatball Brawl where you must cook to serve a panel of judges, hopefully impressing them.
(And yes, there is a reference to Bakso, the Indonesian meatballs dish.)
KuloNiku is currently hosting a limited-time playtest. Just go to the Steam page and request access. The playtest is up until May 5, so if you’re curious to see how this upcoming indie game shapes up, go get the meatball rolling. The playtest should have roughly 30 minutes of gameplay and is Steam Deck compatible.
KuloNiku is expected to release in Q3 (September-November) this year on PC (Steam).