Hi everyone!
Happy Lunar New Year to all those celebrating the Year of the Ox! Now the development team is back from the holidays, let’s kickstart the first Eastward dev blog of 2021 by sharing some tasty info about one of my personal favourite gameplay mechanics in Eastward – cooking!
You’ve probably already spotted that our silent protagonist John often wields his trusty frying pan to fend off all sorts of monsters, but did you know he can also whip up a mean bowl of Fruit Salad? (Yummy, yummy.)
The world of Eastward is full of fantastical ingredients, conveniently-placed gas hobs, big eaters (we’re looking at you, Sam). Even Dam Hill’s very own casino godfather, Lee, considers himself a keen gourmet! As your culinary adventure begins you’ll be able to spend your hard-earned Salt purchasing ingredients from various merchants, as well as foraging in hidden stash boxes littered across the lands – who doesn’t love milk found in a random crate in an abandoned shopping mall?! Every ingredient you find can be cooked up into equally strange and delicious recipes.
You don’t actually need a specific recipe in order to start experimenting – any ingredient in your inventory can end up in John’s frying pan! For example, combining any 3 vegetables will whip up a perfectly presentable Vegetable Stir Fry, but you could try something a little more experimental like Oyakodon (a chicken and egg rice bowl) or a Potcrock Isle speciality, Drupe Fried Rice. Once you’ve successfully made a tasty snack, you’ll then have a recipe recorded to use forever more.
To top it all off, once all your ingredients are in the pan a culinary slot machine wheel will appear, which will determine how effective your dish will be and what stat buffs it may bestow. Cooked dishes can be handy in combat, not only for replenishing health, but also revitalizing Sam’s energy levels, increasing attack speed and more. Make sure to pack yourself an emergency snack or two for those boss battles!
You might also find that certain townsfolk that you encounter may ask you to track down ingredients and serve up a particular dish in order to finish a quest, so it’s always handy to have a stash of veggies, meat, fish and seasoning in your backpack.
That’s all for now! We hope you’ll enjoy serving up some serious grub when Eastward’s lunch, er I mean launch, comes around later this year on Nintendo Switch and PC, until then practice your culinary skills and look after those pots and pans. If you haven’t already, make sure you add Eastward to your Steam wishlist to get notified about the latest developments!
If you’re a streamer and keen to get early access to keys when they’re available you can request access by filling in our Content Creator form. You’ll also find answers and basic info about the game in our handy FAQ.
Lastly, if you’re as excited about Eastward as we are, come join the community discussion over on our Discord or Reddit, and follow us on Twitter for more Chucklefish gaming news.
Bye for now!
-Chucklefish