As I was exploring Itch.io, browsing for free games that I could add to my ever-expanding, non-played collection of indie games, I accidentally came across this Filipino-made game by developer Chikon Club, entitled Putahe ng Ina Mo: Sinigang Edition.
The game was just recently published on June 1, 2020 by the looks of it from their Itch.io page. But it may have been in development since 2019.
It is a well-made, 3D cooking simulation game, from the likes of Cooking Mama, with a unique twist on gameplay mechanics: the ingredients are already neatly prepared on your work area and you’d only need to add the ingredients accordingly to make the recipe.
The game is currently in prototype stage, so gameplay and mechanics may still change. But if you look at the developer’s Facebook page, you can get an idea of which direction their taking this game into.
Game Highlights
Simple Controls
The controls are simple. Like I said, the ingredients are already prepared and already set on the table. The player only needs to drag and drop the ingredients into the pot of boiling water. The experience can be quite different to each player. The game, however, doesn’t hold your hand. There are no tutorials. You play it on your first try, make mistakes, then you play it again.
Music and SFX
I love how the tune of the background music sounds clumsily, as if this game, just by the soundtrack, tells you how you’d think it’s easy when it’s actually not. In addition to the background music, the sound effects are so cute you just have to turn on your speaker so you wouldn’t miss it. It’s especially cute if you understand Filipino.
“Livestream” Experience
I honestly think that the prototype’s release was very timely, especially with the boom in people doing vlogs specifically on recipes and DIY cooking at this time of lockdown, so the “livestream” experience in the game was a nice and fun addition. It’s also one of the unique twists to the game, something I haven’t seen in other games before.
Share the love to the developers
The HTML game is currently FREE, while the Mac and Windows versions can be bought for US$ 1.00 or more at their Itch.io page. For a game of this quality, that’s really not bad. You can actually find crappier games on Steam for a much higher value so technically this price is already a steal.
I would definitely pay for a much higher value though if the developers would jump into Steam release, with achievements and trading cards, and additional gameplay mechanics, like maybe a multiplayer cook-off.