There’s nothing better than a cooking game for a quiet afternoon. Unfortunately, these games are often chaotic and punishing, quickly turning into an episode of Hell’s Kitchen.
Thankfully, in Hungry Horrors, we can sit back and let our brains do all the work as we plan the best strategy to win. Unlike Overcooked or Cook Serve Delicious, we won’t have to carry plates around in changing environments or mix ingredients in rapid succession. Instead, our task is to organise a selection of dishes to satisfy the monsters who want to eat us.
Hungry Horrors: Let’s Feed the Monsters!
Developed and published on Steam by indie team Clumsy Bear Studio, Hungry Horrors is a title that will be available in Early Access on 19 January 2026. Hungry Horrors transports us to a time when princesses, wizards, and fairies still ‘existed’, alongside monsters.
Our protagonist, a lazy princess searching for a prince, immediately becomes prey for a hungry monster. However, with the help of a magical cat, she manages to escape. By satisfying the creatures’ appetite.
Our goal in the game is to create a deck of cards featuring traditional British dishes in order to satisfy monsters from ancient Anglo-Saxon folklore.
Each level represents a typical British biome, and each biome contains specific monsters. For instance, in the bog, we may encounter Jenny Greenteeth or Llamhigyn y Dŵr. Each monster has culinary preferences, and the dishes may be liked or disliked.
If a monster likes a dish, it will fill its satiety bar with a value equivalent to that on the card. If the monster does not like the dish, it will not be satisfied. If a monster loves a dish, the card’s value will be multiplied by three. Conversely, if a monster hates a dish, it will vomit that dish and anything else it has eaten, emptying its hunger bar. Each card has a flavour corresponding to one of the five basic tastes (umami, salty, sour, sweet or bitter) and a craving for a subsequent flavour. For example, ‘Crubeens’ are bitter, and after eating it, the monster will crave something savoury. Satisfying the subsequent taste will add the hunger value of each food already eaten to the last card played.
Thanks to the combinations and unique properties of the cards, we can defeat the toughest monsters and conquer the various biomes. However, it is not always easy to move from one biome to another. The title has roguelite dynamics, meaning that we will occasionally be overwhelmed by monsters and have to return to base to prepare new dishes and acquire new skills that will enable us to last longer in the runs.
Despite being an Early Access title, Hungry Horrors is already quite complete, offering a compelling and entertaining story and gameplay. There are no bugs and it is perfectly playable on Steam Deck. It is also very well optimised, saving battery life on Steam’s portable console while achieving an acceptable frame rate, even when locking the TDP at 5W. This ensures ample playing time.
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