Izakaya Ōmen
by Diego Garcia for Mac & PC (unavailable)
Summer 2014 // MX-032
Full soundtrack to Diego Garcia’s ‘Izakaya Ōmen’
Made entirely with NES sounds in Famitracker
Izakaya Ōmen is an ambient cooking game focused on experimentation. The player embodies a master chef who has been trapped in the spirit world after unwittingly offending a demon, and must re-learn their trade using an array of strange ingredients. It examines the common style of cooking game, a list of directions made difficult via time pressure, and instead chooses to focus on the expressive, experimental, and therapeutic aspects of the cooking experience. While your guests have tastes and preferences, few will make specific requests or demand the player follow a designer-stated solution. Instead, the player must explore the possibility space created by the ingredients and tools and prepare them in the way that they find most appealing.