John Whisk

Some chefs source locally. John Whisk sources violently.

The dungeon beneath the kitchen is full of ingredients and every one of them fights back. Carrots hop. Tofu splits when you hit it. Corn detonates into a swarm of popcorn. Cauliflowers heal the things trying to kill you, peppers make them hit harder, and at the bottom of every floor, The Head Chef is waiting to plate you.

John Whisk is an action roguelite where the loot is food, the crafting is cooking, and the only way to keep what you found is to walk out with it.

Descend. Kill. Harvest.

Fight through fog-shrouded floors with a pan in one hand and a cleaver ready to throw. Every kill drops ingredients into your pouch which is on the line until you decide to go home.

Bank it, or push your luck.

Killing the floor boss gives you two options: go HOME or go DEEPER. Go home, and everything you've collected is yours. Go deeper, and the enemies get stronger, the haul gets bigger, and the risk grows. Die, and you lose the lot, plus the hospital bill.

Then cook it properly.

Back in your kitchen, turn the haul into real dishes. Slice, dice or mince on the cutting board, flip on the pan, watch the pot, time the oven, and plate it clean. Every dish is graded on how well you actually cooked it. A sloppy stir-fry is still edible. A perfect one changes you.

Eat to grow. Sell to gear up.

Eat a dish for a permanent stat gain. Slot one as a buff for the next run. Sell the surplus to buy gear, utensil

upgrades and new recipes. Collect matching gear for set bonuses.

Features

Hand-drawn pixel-art

Real risk: the only(?) way home is through the boss

Extract-or-descend choice after every boss, with a pouch you can lose at any moment

Five cooking minigames: cutting board, frying pan, boiling pot, oven, plating that grade your skill, not just your ingredients

Permanent character growth through what you eat

Fog of war, a minimap, and floors that get nastier the deeper you go

Gear, gear sets, weapons and an expanding recipe book

You are what you eat. Make sure it's dead first.