Over the years, I have seen the struggle and fun of people playing co-op cooking games such as Overcooked. Such a game has always fascinated me. I’ve always wanted to see if I could have an inner Gordon Ramsey who would shout and curse at my fellow cooks and waiters while serving delicious dishes to people. When PlateUp! showed up in my inbox, I was ready to go. All that I needed to do was grab my chef’s hat and a few friends in order to get things started!

The game of PlateUp! offers both Single-Player and Multiplayer options. I almost entirely played the game in Multiplayer lobbies because I wanted to get the authentic restaurant staff experience! To help with this, I assembled three of my friends and slapped aprons on them. This proved to be a great idea because there were so many ideas and experiments that we did in the kitchen that I probably wouldn’t have thought of. Plus, my friends were motivated to occasionally teleport through the walls of the restaurant while rearranging our layout.

The objective of the game is to create a five-star restaurant by successfully serving customers for 15 days. At first, that doesn’t seem too difficult, but things can quickly change based on a few factors. The first two factors are the main dish and the blueprint of the restaurant.

The dishes can range from pizza to salad or steak, with some dishes being more difficult to cook and clean up compared to others. The blueprints also have differences between small, medium, and large maps. Both of these factors have multiple varieties that can be unlocked by leveling up your profile. This can be done by playing the game.

Over the course of completing 15 days, you will be asked to choose a card that will change things up in the days ahead. It could be reduced or increased party sizes, add additional dishes, have optional toppings, or many other possibilities. These choices run the risk of sinking or saving your restaurant.

Once you complete the 15 days, you will unlock franchising. You will also go into overtime that will give you more challenging and rewarding rounds. The franchising allows you to continue a restaurant that you failed previously with one less card.

The controls for the game are rather strange at first on mouse and keyboard. WASD is used to move, but you interact with items using O and P, which at first felt like an abomination. However, all but one of my friends managed to get used to it after an hour. One friend turned on a controller, but he ended up taking longer to figure out the controls compared to the rest of us. The only other control is using the arrow keys to vote on cards, but that is the only time you will be using them. This makes PlateUp! relatively easy to pick up and play!

Overall, I found PlateUp! to be a wonderful game that offers endless hours of both screaming and enjoyment amongst any group of friends who jump on and play it. My friends who tested the game with me continue to play the game on their own and have shared it with other friends as well.

PC Review Copies of PlateUp! were provided by Yogcast Games for this Review.

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PlateUp!

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Fun Multiplayer and Single Player
• Odd, yet simple controls
• Distinct character customization
• Endless Possibilities

Cons

• A few bugs
• Occasional frame drops