We cracked open a dinky little game called Monster Chef last night. It’s a teeny-tiny box, about the size of Fluxx. For a bit of background, we played this one without the obligatory snacks, because the stomach-churning combinations might just put you off your cheeseboard—or in my case, my beloved pigs in blankets.
The premise is simple: a bunch of various monsters are huuuuuunnnngry. You’re the best chef in town, and they are looking to you to fill their disgusting orders. Each monster has a specific order they want filled, as well as a favourite topping. If you can fill their gross request, they come to your burger wagon and score you points. If you can also make sure one of those toppings is their absolute favourite—say, a nice Bone Dry Slider—you’ll score an extra point. The first person who can entice three of these taste-bud-challenged monsters to their side wins.
Nitty Gritty Stuff
Monster Chef has you manage a stack of different ingredient cards. Each turn, you get to draw two more ingredients, but you must discard one of your ingredients in the process. If you can match your ‘burger ingredients’ to any of the monsters currently waiting in line, you can claim that monster.
When grabbing your new ingredients, you can choose to take from the discard pile, the draw pile, or a combination of both. Think of it as Snap but with burger ingredients and a side order of halitosis! There will always be one more monster than there are players on the table, and any time an order is filled and the monster wanders off to eat their fill, a new one is added to the line-up (or I suppose in a food game, it would be a queue?).
Tips and Tricks
This game isn’t exactly deep and is clearly aimed more at the young ‘uns than it is at us grown-ups, so the tips and tricks are a little thin on the ground. But I shall try my best!
· Variety is the Spice (or Mold) of Life: You always want to keep a variety of ingredient categories so you can keep filling up the hungry bellies of the monsters in the queue. There’s no point having a monster’s favourite bread type if you have nothing to put in between the top and bottom!
· Aim for the Middle: Sure, you might be able to get two of the two-point monsters, but then two of your three customer slots are gone. If someone can grab a four-point monster, you’re suddenly no longer cooking with gas as their points match yours.
· Watch the Discard Pile: Don’t forget you can take from the discard, and that’s a twofold problem. You’re going to have to keep an eye on not only what you discard that might help your opponent but also what they have discarded and if it can help you.
· Go for the Favourites: Aim for those favourite ingredients. An extra point isn’t much, but it could easily be the difference between winning and losing in a game this short.
Likes
· The artwork is very appropriate: it’s brightly coloured to make the kids happy, but just gross-looking enough to be entertaining.
· It’s easy to play and easy to teach, making it perfect for the age bracket it’s aimed at.
· The good quality components and cards feel decent in the hand.
Dislikes
· Well, I am a 34-year-old man talking about a game featuring moldy brie with worms coming out of it. It’s hardly fine dining conversation.
· They are just regular cards, and kids aren’t known for being gentle, so I could see this game getting damaged quickly by its target audience. Not a huge issue as the game isn’t overly expensive, but still.
Final Verdict
For a game clearly aimed at children, Monster Chef does have some strategy behind it and successfully put me off my pigs in blankets. I will definitely be playing this with my nephew, who is eight and loves anything gross, as all eight-year-olds do. This is definitely not a fine dining adult game, but to keep your young ‘uns entertained for a bit, this game is a winner.
