If you kept your fingers numb over gaming apps like “Cooking Mama” and Y8.com’s resident distraction “Hotdog Bush,” the adrenaline that comes with prepping food under a deadline is about to come back. Except it’s even better this time: a Filipino cooking game might be coming into the spotlight.
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On Nov. 23, Saturday, 21-year-old game artist Ichicko tweeted, “our Pinoy cooking game passed pre-screening!” along with screenshots of what looks like the most exciting cooking game we’ve seen in a while. Tentatively titled “Taste from Home,” the app is the thesis output of game development students from De La Salle-College of St. Benilde (DLS-CSB). What makes this stand out is its Filipino cooking-centric concept.
I don’t know why How to Make Lumpia is trending, but we do have it in our game so:#pixelart #food #lumpia pic.twitter.com/byNkI3C8u4
— Ichicko @ Thesis (@ichickooo) November 19, 2019
The trailer doesn’t hide “Taste From Home’s” richness in detail, interactivity, and the impending promise of challenge (plus the sense of validity after a successful task—of course we all want that).
The game will let players travel across different parts of the Philippines, and meet mentors like Aling Lucita and Mang Romy, whom we can watch being greeted by Maricela, an aspiring chef, in Kapampangan.
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According to Ichicko, the game is still in pre-development stage, but they’re definitely releasing a demo on Nov. 27 to 28 for the Incendium exhibit at the ARG Theatre of DLS-CSB. Meanwhile, the release of the full game will depend on the demand. “Taste from Home” is slated to drop next year under Senshi.Labs.
I guess we’re leaving you at the table with some lumpiang ubod realness. Just like what Mang Romy said, “We’re happy to know that people these days still love eating good ol’ Filipino food.” Feel free to share this with non-Filipinos you know who think little of our dishes *wink wink*.
Header photo from Meowfia’s Facebook page