Studio Daimon, the indie studio behind the acclaimed 2023 RPG Path of the Midnight Sun, is back with an ambitious and promising roguelite tactical RPG that mixes mechanics from classics like Fire Emblem, Darkest Dungeon, and Slay The Spire. It’s called Food Devils, and its Kickstarter campaign just launched. Keep reading to learn more about it.
In the game, players assume the role of the last human chef in a post-apocalyptic world where the gods have reversed the food chain as punishment for humanity’s environmental misdeeds. Centuries later, in a regressed society, humans struggle for survival, inhabiting biomes that reflect their past sins, such as The Ashen Forest of deforestation and The Fungal Grotto of industrial pollution.
As the chef, players build and customize their restaurant using monstrous ingredients to attract adventurers and form alliances with Food Devils, enigmatic beings representing human ideals to extremes. Players sign contracts with these Devils to empower adventurers for expeditions across unique biomes, gather rare ingredients, and continuously upgrade their culinary and combat capabilities.
The gameplay merges strategy RPG elements with roguelite mechanics, featuring procedurally generated biomes and tactical grid-based combat similar to Fire Emblem. Adventurers, recruitable through food crafted from collected ingredients, can sign Devil Contracts to obtain new abilities, influencing their roles in combat and appearance.
Each decision—from the dishes cooked to the alliances formed—affects the evolving narrative and the cultural ambiance of the player’s haven. The game offers branching storylines with multiple endings, flexible difficulty levels, and an opportunity to engage in relationships with Devils, each interaction subtly influencing both gameplay and the overarching story’s progression.
Food Devils will go through the Kickstarter campaign and is expected for a late 2025 release on Pc via Steam. Below is an overview, screens, and announcement trailer.
Gameplay Summary
You are the last human chef in a post-apocalyptic world!
Base Builder: Customize your restaurant and prepare dishes from monstrous ingredients to attract human adventurers and forge relationships with the enigmatic Food Devils!
Sign a Devil Contract: Empower your adventurers by having them sign contracts with Food Devils. Select a Devil captain and assemble a team of up to 4 humans for expeditions into one of the distinct biomes of the new world!
Strategy RPG Roguelike: Each expedition challenges you with tactical combat in procedurally generated biomes, ensuring a unique experience every time. Equip your units with random skill sets for the duration of the run and brave the wild to gather rare ingredients for your restaurant.
It never ends! As you acquire superior ingredients, you’ll attract more formidable adventurers and new Food Devils, unlocking better tools in your arsenal, new quests and extensive customization options. Every run offers new opportunities and challenges!
Branching Storylines: Though it’s a roguelike, the game features profound narrative depth! Every choice you make—from dialogue options, to which Devils you support, or what dishes you cook—will influence the culture of the Haven. Each playthrough is uniquely shaped by your decisions as the Chef!
Flexible Difficulty: Whether you’re a hardcore roguelike enthusiast craving a formidable challenge or you prefer a gentler RPG experience, this game caters to all preferences. Not only can you romance the Food Devils, but you can also help them overcome their differences with one another! This will have… exquisite repercussions on both gameplay and story.
Gameplay Loop Example
- Start an expedition by selecting the ideal route like in “Slay the Spire.”
- Engage in battles on a grid-based system akin to “Fire Emblem” or similar tactics games.
- Win ingredients based on enemy types and your methods of defeat after clearing each map.
- Ingredients are crucial for cooking food, which is used to “summon” new random adventurers after every run.
- Adjust summoning rates by preparing specific dishes or decorating your restaurant with certain furniture (that you obtain by completing the Devils’ requests).
- Consumed food can also boost stats or grant new skills to your existing units.
- Characters come in four classes: Warrior (melee specialist), Shielder (1-2 range, counter only), Mage (ranged specialist), and Healer (support).
- Before you start the next expedition, adventurers can sign a Devil Contract to reclass and gain new movement types, stats and skills for the duration of the next run. This also changes their outfit based on the Devil’s theme.
- In addition to this, you can also customize your adventurers’ appearance, gender, and skills.
- Before starting the next expedition, you can also prepare specific dishes to impress the Devils. You can eventually engage in romances with certain Devils, or pair them.
- Your playstyle influences the “culture” of the restaurant; aggressive tactics may affect interactions with characters like the Vegan Devil. Technically speaking, it’s even possible to undertake a Pacifist run.
- Once you’re ready, advance to the next day and repeat the loop by exploring the ever-changing biomes again and collect new ingredients.
- The story advances through quests and subquests that ask you to collect certain ingredients or clear a biome at a specific difficulty level.
- Quests & the culture system push the story in different, unique directions. Experience a branched narrative with multiple endings.
Story Premise
Following centuries of excessive pollution, the gods dramatically reversed the food chain as a punitive measure against humanity, causing the collapse of modern civilization as a result. Centuries passed by, and society regressed to a primitive state with most cultural advancements, including culinary arts, largely lost to time. In this harsh new world, food is scarce and survival is a daily struggle. Humans now inhabit biomes that each manifest a different sin of their former civilization:
- The Ashen Forest, a land of eternal flames, symbolizes the consequences of deforestation and forest fires.
- The Fungal Grotto represents industrial discharge and pollution, with its toxic, parasitized environment.
- The Candy Cane Canopy reflects the excesses of capitalism and GMOs, a bizarre landscape where monsters are composed of junk food.
- The Spectral Shores are haunted by eerie chimeras with plastic appendages, a stark reminder of the relentless sea pollution.
The Food Devils, embodiments of human ideals taken to extremes, offer dubious “contracts” to the desperate survivors. Each Devil’s flawed nature presents unique opportunities and challenges. Driven by the fear that betraying their ideals would mean their own demise, the Devils are caught in a delicate balance; they see the benefits of cooperation to avoid “death,” yet fear the changes such cooperation might require. The dynamics you cultivate within your safe haven — the restaurant — are thus deeply psychological, affecting how these beings interact and evolve.
