Hungry Horrors

Hungry Horrors is a pixel art card game set in a kingdom cursed so that creatures from British and Irish folklore have become ravenous. The player takes the role of a spoilt princess who would rather rest than work, but who sets out to break the curse by feeding the creatures one meal at a time. Encounters include Jenny Greenteeth, Marool, Dullahan and Y Fad Felen, drawn from English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh legends. Each has its own appetite, favourite foods and dislikes, and the game includes information on their folkloric origins. The game’s release status has changed from early access to released.

Players build a deck from recipes such as Cranachan, Yorkshire Pudding, Jellied Eels and Toad in the Hole, using ingredients gathered while travelling to cook new dishes. Every dish has one of five flavours: salty, sour, savoury, bitter or sweet. Players match each Horror’s cravings by chaining flavours in a suitable order. Cards can be seasoned to change their flavour and unlock abilities, and equipped cookware alters the rules of encounters. Misjudging a Horror’s preferences puts the princess at risk of becoming the next course.

The kingdom can be explored through dark woods, gloomy meadows, spooky bogs and a misty loch. Along the way players meet folkloric characters with quests, trade with merchants, and find artefacts and cookware. Fishing provides further ingredients and loot, and a familiar can accompany the princess and sniff out potions. The main campaign has persistent progression, so unlocked recipes, abilities and seasonings carry between runs. Players can choose Vanilla or Spicy mode and add modifiers such as Culinary and Gourmet. The game was made by two people.