New roguelike Goblin Sushi combines a restaurant sim with an addictive roguelike gameplay. Old Cake Factory, the developer behind the title, is a newer studio out of Switzerland. According to their website, the idea for the game came to the developers’ minds by combining the genres of games they loved with satisfying roguelike mechanics. Overall, it’s a solid and unique spin that garners attention and sinks its teeth into a new slice of the roguelike player base.
Gameplay
Goblin Sushi doesn’t have much in the way of a story. But players take the form of a goblin opening up a sushi business to serve the other goblins around. This includes using ingredients, upgrading dishes and unlocking things such as drinks and even the grill. It’s a run-of-the-mill “number goes up” game utilizing the base price of dishes and multipliers to create truly outrageous prices. The profits are then used to meet ever-increasing payments to your landlord, as well as to add or remove perks or recipes your shop offers, letting players narrow or widen their build for maximum profits.
The game is fairly simple to play; it has a very Balatro-esque feel, especially with the multipliers and perks taking the role of Balatro’s jokers. It is, however, extremely addictive and has numerous different builds, even for being so, that feel impactful. Throughout my entire time with it, while I did gravitate towards certain sushi set-ups, everything I tried out felt viable at least, which is a great sign since it doesn’t feel like players are railroaded into a “meta.” I also really enjoyed the ability to quickly change setups with the vendors and trash can for old perks I took earlier, which helps keep the game interesting. I do think, especially in the later portions of the game, the shop prices are a bit low. I routinely hit a point where I would buy everything that was offered to me in the shop, and it did not really make a difference money-wise. It felt like things were still in need of a bit of balancing. Though for a new title, that is expected in this type of game, I believe should be a quick fix once more feedback is received.
Bugs
Throughout me playing the game, I encountered numerous bugs. Some of which didn’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme, though on a few occasions I had to exit my run and reload it. And with one in particular, I lost my runs entirely due to being locked out of playing any further. The biggest bug that actually caused me issues a lot happened whenever I removed a recipe, or removed an entire section of my menu, such as drinks or grill, while it was in use. Without fail, it would cause my game to “freeze,” and sometimes I’d be lucky enough to just reload it, but other times it just wouldn’t work. I was able to sort of avoid the issue by being extremely selective early, but sometimes the re-rolls the game gives you with unlocks force you into it.
The bugs were the main drawback for me; it was still an enjoyable experience, but the idea of losing a really good run I had was constantly there and detracted from it a bit. I hope that with patches or a bit more work, it can become better, and I think the development team has the drive to fix the issues. In its current state, it’s just a big problem that must be fixed quickly.
Is it any good?
In my opinion, it’s still a good game. It’s fun, addictive in all the right ways; however, it’s held back by game-breaking bugs. The build I had the pleasure of playing is obviously an early access pre-release, so I’m hopeful there are still fixes being implemented, and if so, this could become a staple in the genre. Games now constantly seem to release with massive issues, and I’m hopeful that this will not be the case, but that fear is still something to keep in mind. Even though it has its issues, I believe there is still tons of potential, and even in its current state, there is addictive fun awaiting players.
Overall, it is worth picking up, but be aware of bugs that may plague it. I’d also highly recommend watching the patch notes and especially try to stay up to date on updates and what is being said afterwards. If Old Cake Factory can fix the issues, they have a successful title in their hands.
Goblin Sushi is now in Steam Early Access.
