Critter Kitchen (2025)

About this game

It’s Restaurant Week in Bistro Bay! Restaurants are competing in food challenges while also planning an epic meal to impress a celebrity critic. As one of 1-5 players, you’ll be sending your Chefs out into the city to gather ingredients to create amazing meals and demonstrate that your restaurant is the best in town. Each round new random ingredients are placed in various locations throughout the city. Players simultaneously and secretly plan which locations to send their three chefs to, hoping to collect the best ingredients. Some chefs are fast, but can only gather one item, while others can carry three items, but arrive late. Rumors are also available at locations and provide guidance on what the critic desires. Challenges, revealed in rounds 1 through 6, offer the players opportunities to earn stars for crafting dishes with specific ingredient requirements. After round 7 the players must create an epic meal to impress the celebrity critic and cater to their appetites. A multitude of different critics, rumors and restaurateurs mean every game is fresh! —description from the publisher

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 5. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 2.5/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.