Thank you Vertigo Gaming Inc. for sending us an Early Access preview code!

I reviewed the Android version of Cook, Serve, Delicious in 2013.  It’s hard to believe that this franchise is ten years old!  I have also played the second and third successors on PC.  I was disappointed with the third entry allowing you to decorate your cooking van with pride and trans flags, but that wasn’t pandering enough as the latest entry has multiple homosexual characters in it.  

Cook Serve Forever begins with a younger version of the main character, Nora, watching Chef Rhubarb on TV.  Nora’s mom surprises her with a cookbook pre-filled out with her favorite meal recipe in it.  Her mom, Charlotte, will teach you the basic controls on how to cook in this game.  

Cooking is done by pressing the buttons in the shown sequence.  Sometimes the buttons are specified and other times you can press any button you like.  Be sure to keep track of what you pressed because sometimes you’ll have to re-press the previously used button.  Button combos are also required as well as holding down buttons for a few seconds or not knowing how many times to repeatedly press it.  

If you play using a keyboard, the controls will be focused on the arrow keys.  I played using a controller and the Steam Deck control scheme.  Cooking in this game is much simpler and less stressful as you only have to focus on one customer at a time.    In fact, some may argue that this game is much less challenging and repetitive compared to the previous entries.   In the Early Access state, it has a 6/10 rating on Steam as of this preview.

Cook Serve Forever is broken down into locations which will gradually unlock as you earn experience tokens.  You can earn more tokens per level by accepting challenges between shifts.  Some of the challenges include leveling up your ingredients as well as add “Not” qualifiers which makes you think twice before pressing a key/button.  Another challenge will hide what your next action is until you complete the one in front of it.  If you can survive three shifts without making too many mistakes, you’ll successfully complete a work day.

With enough days completed and experience gained, you’ll unlock new venues to cook at and may experience a dialog sequence between Nora and Brie. Moral differences aside, they are very likeable characters and have some funny moments together.  In one of the story sequences, Brie disobeys orders to not eat the ingredients Nora has to cook with.  She disobeys and learns the hard way that the ingredients are laced with sedatives for the patients at the medical institution.  

The story sequences are fully voice and the acting is well done.  The smooth jazz music is catchy and is available on Bandcamp for $10.  With a song titled Happy With Myself, I can’t say I’m too surprised to see the composer, Jonathan Greer, wearing a “Make America Gay Again” shirt on his profile picture. 

That’s not the only instance of LGBTQ pandering that Cook Serve Forever offers.  Nora and Brie’s first apartment’s kitchen was accented with rainbow tiles.  It’s not too long in the game before they are forced to move out due to it being condemned.    This game takes place in the future with robotic food delivery workers and windmill energy generation.  There may be hope for gas stoves in the future if this game’s vision of the future is accurate.  I’m also glad that bugs are not on the ingredients list yet.  

As of this preview, only 25% of the game is available to play and the coop multiplayer mode is not available yet.  Between the repetitive gameplay and propaganda pushing, I have little interest in seeing how this series progresses.