Thank you Vertigo Gaming Inc. for sending us a preview code!

Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! takes place in 2041 after a war has devastated the United States. Just like Cook, Serve, Delicious! 2!!, your restaurant has been destroyed and you need to start over (again). This time, you’ll be taking your cooking on the road in a food truck driven by two helpful robot partners, Cleaver, and Whisk.

Your goal is to travel across the nation (serving food along the way) and participate in the Iron Cook Foodtruck Championships. Before you can compete, you’ll need to hone your mobile cooking skills and acquire crowd-pleasing dishes that you can prepare before the crowd’s patience runs out.

A new game mode, Chill Mode, is available, and this mode is much more relaxed by offering infinite patience from the customer. Food truck attacks (rush hours) are also disabled. The only limitation to Chill Mode is that you cannot get higher than a silver medal. If you want to go for the gold you’ll have to deal with angry mobs of hungry customers.

You can prepare food ahead of time by using holding stations. Some items like pretzels have only one cooking stage while other recipes are more customizable. For example, waffle cones all start with preparing the waffle cone, but then you have to manually select the ice cream flavors and optional chocolate dip. As great as it would be to rely on simple menu items, many levels have a complexity/tier requirement to play them.

Many food items require a griddle or stove to prepare them. While some menu favorites serve many, others are individual. When the food truck is moving, you’ll get orders to complete before the next planned stop. I don’t know how these orders are placed, but they have to be ready to go regardless. Some foods have a cooking timer and if you don’t remove it from the heat fast enough, you’ll burn and ruin it.

At the end of a level, you’ll be awarded a gold, silver, bronze or no medal depending on your performance. Messed up and slow orders will affect your ranking negatively. Fortunately, you can always re-do a level if needed. In order to unlock newer venues you’ll have to meet the medal quantity requirements. Profits earned during the day can be used to purchase recipes and truck upgrades.

Previous Cook, Serve, Delicious titles have been a solo endeavor. Local co-op play is now a possibility in Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?!. Steam link streaming works too!

One gameplay mechanic I do not miss are the chores. Thankfully, this game just has you focusing on cooking. Between fully customizing the menu and setting your own difficulty, there is a lot of flexibility (and optional stress) in this entry.

The graphics are well done. Especially the food art. You won’t want to play this game on an empty stomach as the food you prepare does look delicious!  In April 2020, the developer added gay and trans pride stickers that can be used to decorate your food truck.

The audio is great as well. I especially enjoy the a cappella background music. The cooking sound effects are spot on and believable.

Overall, Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! is shaping up nicely. I look forward to playing the final product. If you enjoyed the previous two games, you won’t be disappointed with this one.