Header of the game Hungry Horrors. Credit to Clumsy Bear Studio, embedded from Steam.
Header of the game Hungry Horrors. Credit to Clumsy Bear Studio, embedded from Steam.
This article is written in English. Untuk membaca versi Bahasa Indonesia, klik di sini.

TL;DR

Want to serve all kinds of food to starving monsters? Want to fill their bellies? Are you brave enough to face them in their ravenous state? If your answers are yes, yes, and yes, then you might be interested in Hungry Horrors.

Notice and Specs


Notice
  • This article aims to review and share information about this game.
  • There is no intention to infringe any copyright.
  • Copyright of any images, videos, or any other media used in this article belongs to their respective owners, whether the developer or publisher of this game, unless stated otherwise.
  • The author is not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any other parties related to this game. Although I received a key to write this article, I am not affiliated with the developer, publisher, or any other parties related to this game.
  • This article is purely a review from the author's perspective.
  • This article is based on my experience playing this game with a total gameplay time of 51 minutes. Future updates/changes to the game may not be reflected in this article.
  • This article was translated from Indonesian to English by Claude. The quality may not be up to par with human translation.
Click this box to see my PC specs.
  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600
  • GPU: Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 7600 XT 16GB
  • RAM: Crucial DDR4-3200 2x8GB
  • SSD: TeamGroup MP44L NVMe M2 1TB
  • Monitor: Lenovo L24i-40 100 Hz and Samsung S3 S33GC 100 Hz
  • Gamepad: 8Bitdo Ultimate 2C Peach
  • Mouse: Logitech Signature M650 Rose
  • Keyboard: Logitech K380 Rose

Game Details

Details

Hero Capsule of the game Hungry Horrors. Credit to Clumsy Bear Studio, embedded from Steam. Version Played: Full Version
Developer(s): Clumsy Bear Studio
Publisher(s): Clumsy Bear Studio
Tag/Genre(s): Card Game, Cooking, Roguelite, Dark Humor, Pixel Graphics, Turn-Based Combat, Female Protagonist
*Review key for this game provided by Clumsy Bear Studio and Pirate PR via Email, KeyMailer and PressEngine.

Trailer

Go ahead and watch the game's trailer below :)

Hungry Horrors - Early Access Launch Trailer

Credit to Clumsy Bear Studio channel on YouTube.

Quick Review and Rating

Quick Review

Before playing the full version, I had already played the demo version during the Feedback Quest 8 event a few months back. Feedback Quest itself is an annual event organized by indiequesting and friends. There are a lot of indie games — mostly prototypes — at this event, and you can join by registering or by being invited. If accepted, you — as a streamer or content creator — get the chance to be featured on the Overview page. I've personally participated for what feels like the last two years.

Hungry Horrors itself was one of the games that took part in that event, which is why I said I'd already played the demo. Back then, when I first played it, it seemed pretty interesting. The itch.io page looked great, the game itself already looked solid, the UI/UX was appealing, and so on. Basically, ready to ship. So would the full version leave the same impression?

Quick Rating

Category & Rating Details Score
1. Mechanics & Gameplay
  • Controls: The controls are very straightforward. You just need to select a card with the matching recipe, click on the enemy, and you're done. The system will then calculate how many points you earn to fill the belly of the monster you're feeding. On top of that, you also need to walk using the A and D keys, but it's nothing complicated to pick up.
  • Game Loop: How to describe the game loop... You could call it dynamic, because each run is shaped by the choices you make. There are many branching paths, displayed as caves you can pick yourself, but per run it's essentially the same things repeating. There are spots for battling enemies, spots for resting, and spots for gaining benefits or debuffs/penalties. Typical roguelite stuff.

    One more thing — since this game falls under the roguelite genre, you can die, but you still get to keep the items you looted during your run, which you can then use to upgrade your abilities back at the castle.
    • A quick look at Roguelite.

    So, basically... You're probably already familiar with the roguelite concept. A game with lots of branching paths, making it dynamic and not boring — even though each run usually repeats the same "procedural" structure. But roguelites are compelling because they typically include an element of surprise, where you might stumble upon unexpected events, certain benefits or debuffs, and the like, which can turn what might otherwise be a repetitive game loop into something exciting and addictive — because you'll keep wanting to push as far as possible, while still finding each run feels like a fresh experience.

  • Difficulty: Hmm, this one comes down more to how well you manage your strategy in taking down each enemy. Plus maybe... luck, too. Each monster has its own preferences, so you have to figure out "Which recipe does this monster actually like?" It's not hard, honestly. It's just that sometimes the cards that show up don't match the monster's preferences, so you have to pick something else that you think the monster might enjoy.
  • Additional Note: Since I didn't see a separate section for writing, I'll just add it here. The writing in this game is great. Witty, casual, easy and fun to read. Basically like watching two people have a laid-back conversation, with none of that "Your Royal Highness, My Liege" formality to wade through.
 9.7
2. Visuals & Aesthetics
  • Art Direction: They use a pixel graphics art style across the UI, character illustrations, and even the font choice fits the overall aesthetic. So good!
  • Optimization: Runs like a dream! FPS, CPU, GPU, vRAM, RAM — all smooth. The game is very lightweight, and there's no noticeable stutter or lag while playing.
  • UI/UX: Solid. Everything is easy to read and understand. Even the "flavor icon" choices are very distinctive, making it easy to tell apart what's sweet, sour, and so on. The stats displayed also won't overwhelm you. Lots of info, but all very digestible at a glance.

    One thing I found a little curious... The UI might be a bit on the large side? Not a dealbreaker, just feels like it could be scaled down slightly...
 10
3. Story & World
  • Pacing: Hmm, the pacing here... can be quite long and drawn out. There are many Doors, and each area has at least 10 caves. One cave can take around 2–3 minutes, so imagine having 10 of them 😐 And that's just one area, before moving on to the other doors...
  • Characters: Here, you take on the role of a Princess, with the task of feeding the hungry monsters.
  • Lore: One day, you — a Princess — wake up in an underground prison. You then find a cat locked in a cage, who turns out to be Lady Catherine. Lady Catherine inhabits a castle with many exit doors, but unfortunately, these doors have been cursed, and monsters have appeared to block your way out. Now, you must help Lady Catherine lift the curse on these doors in order to escape the castle.

    By the way, this is my understanding of it — hope I got it right...
 9.7
4. Audio & Music
  • Sound Design: The sound is solid. The mixing feels just right, nothing is distracting, and it really supports the fun factor of playing this game.
  • Music: The music... feels a bit monotonous. Is it boring? Kinda. Is it distracting? No.
 9
5. Replayability & Value
  • Price vs Content: The full price sits at 80K IDR, and on sale it can drop to 55K IDR. With the amount of content on offer, it's hard to call it expensive. Affordable, but not too cheap either.
  • Post-Completion Content: Honestly I haven't finished it. One of my runs lasted around 30 minutes. After completing one door, you head back to the castle, and that already felt like quite a journey. The game itself has 6 Small Doors + 1 Big Door. So it seems like it would take around 4–6 hours to fully complete.
 10
TOTAL SCORE xx

Gameplay Video

Want to watch my gameplay video? You can watch it below:

(EN/ID) Hungry Horrors - Gameplay #ClumsyBearStudio #PressEngine #KeyMailer #HungryHorrors

Adli's gameplay on Adli_HM's channel on YouTube.

Steam Price

Closing

For a roguelite game with a pixel graphics art style and solid writing, this one is a genuinely good time. Monotonous in the sense that the pattern repeats itself, but still fun because basically no two runs are the same. So it keeps feeling dynamic and engaging. So, for those who enjoy games in this genre, with writing that's casual, witty, and comedic, and an art style like this — you should come away pretty satisfied. The price is also fair, so you won't feel like you're overpaying for what you get.

That's all!

See you in the next Adli's Quick Games Review :)