Kaizen
Automachef is basically an episode of How It’s Made in video game form, and I’m all about it.
The upcoming PC and Nintendo Switch simulation title tasks hopeful food tycoons with devising automated kitchens. This trailer starts out straightforward with small-scale operations before showing the true complexities of supply-chain management. It looks like a satisfying brain teaser.
It’s not just a few conveyor belts here and there – Automachef will let you “program in assembly code to make other kitchen parts, such as robotic arms or ingredients dispensers, act whenever you command.” That might sound intimidating, but the code editor interface is nice and tidy, all things considered.
When you go to submit an automated kitchen design for your clients, you’ll be judged on the amount of energy and ingredients used, money spent, and efficiency. Fires and breakdowns are also a concern, and you can expect level-specific twists to keep you from leaning on the same old designs again and again.
I can already feel anxiety setting in after seeing this screenshot and trying to make sense of all its individual components, but so long as we’re eased into this business, it shouldn’t be too overwhelming.
Structurally, the sim game will split its time between a more story-oriented campaign mode (in which “fellow human Robert Person” acts as your guide), a Contracts mode, and an unrestricted free-play mode. There’s said to be 50 different levels and a dozen dishes, some of which are quite intricate. What exactly goes into a Double Bypass Meal? Let’s just say the ingredient list lives up to that name.
Yooka-Laylee and Overcooked publisher Team17 has teamed up with developer Hermes Interactive to help bring Automachef to PC and Switch this summer. I’m ready to get my hands dirty.
