Published on: June 21, 2025
Written by Kiomye Thompson
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Rolling Reviews, a new monthly spotlight where I’ll highlight a fantastic board game available at Gabi’s Olympic Cards and Comics. Each featured game will be available for demo by request—just give us a heads-up! I wanted to kick off the beginning of Summer with Critter Kitchen, a fun and engaging game that’s perfect for players of all ages. In celebration of starting Rolling Reviews, if you mention this review while checking out you will receive 10% off any of your regular priced transaction until 7/31/25.
Critter Kitchen
Designer: Alex Cutler, Peter C. Hayward
Artist: Sandara Tang
Publisher: Cardboard Alchemy
Gameplay
In Critter Kitchen, you’ll compete to create the best dishes. To do this, you’ll send your chefs out to gather various ingredients—but so will everyone else. Prove that your restaurant is the best in this fierce culinary competition!
The core mechanic of the game is worker placement and it unfolds over seven rounds. At the start of each round, new random ingredients are placed at different locations on the board. Your job is to decide which chef to send to each location. Each player has three chefs: some can carry multiple ingredients but arrive later, while others carry only one ingredient but get there faster. All players secretly and simultaneously choose where to send their chefs, then reveal their decisions together. Choose wisely—if too many chefs head to the same spot, you might end up with just a consolation soup.
The key to victory is earning stars. Use the ingredients you collect to prepare the revealed dishes each round which will earn you stars. Be strategic about which ingredients you keep, as in the final round you’ll need to create a special dish for a critic. Saving your most valuable ingredients for this moment could make all the difference!
Review
The game takes about 60 minutes to play and is rated for ages 12 and up. It’s intuitive once you get the hang of it, and while there are a few minor rules to remember, it’s overall a fairly easy game to learn and teach.
Critter Kitchen was published by cardboard Alchemy, the same people who published Flamecraft, another highly acclaimed game – and it’s evident they’ve made another hit with this one. The comforting and cute art along with the adorable components, gives it the perfect cozy vibes. While both games are worker placement and share the same art style, I believe Critter Kitchen to be the weightier of the two. While not overly difficult to learn and play, I feel as though it has more strategic depth between the two.
I also loved the wooden animal meeples representing the different chefs, as well as the clean and minimalist design of the ingredients. There’s something incredibly satisfying about preparing a plate and arranging your ingredients neatly onto the plate piece—it’s a small detail that really enhances the experience. Additionally, it was spotting the clever references to celebrity chefs, like Martha Shrewart and Goat’n’Ramsey. The playful puns paired with the cute art style really elevated the overall experience for me.
This is one of the few games I enjoy playing at any player count—whether solo, with two players, or in a larger group. The solo mode is especially fun, where you’re competing against the rival fast-food chain, McDogalds. It offers a variety of AI opponents and different card combinations, ensuring that every game feels fresh, which adds a lot of replayability.
My first time playing Critter Kitchen was with a full group of five players, which is the base game’s maximum player count, and it was an absolute blast. There’s an expansion that bumps the player count up to seven, but I haven’t had the chance to try that yet. With five players at the table, the board felt lively, with more chefs in play and fiercer competition for ingredients. Surprisingly, it never felt overcrowded. The real fun came when everyone sent their chefs and the chaos that unfolded when multiple players targeted the same high-value ingredients. The tension in those moments made the game especially memorable.
In conclusion, I can’t recommend this game enough. Regardless of whether you are a seasoned veteran to tabletop games or someone just looking for some light hearted fun, but with some strategic depth. This game appeals to all sorts of people. I felt that Critter Kitchen fits the summer vibes, and if you have a big patio set, I’d highly suggest playing this out in the sun this summer.
