Meet the developer using food as fuel for unsettling horror scenarios

If you’ve ever pulled open a drawer in a video game only to sigh in relief as you find a full rotisserie chicken you can scarf down for health points, then you know the allure of food in gaming. Food is an essential part of our lives. Link lets his ingredients dance happily in the pan. The Wild BreathInfected villages infected with the virus have seen Leon S. Kennedy crack eggs to make it easier for his patients to recover. Resident Evil 4.

In games, food is often associated with healing and comfort, with only a few rare exceptions — like the scenes of family dinner with the Bakers in Resident Evil Village. One developer however has turned the uneasy and visceral nature of horror food-related to food into his bread and butter. Bad Vices Games was the developer. Ravenous DevilsA recent hit indie album, “,” was released by the studio in 2022 and has sold more than 200K copies. The studio’s next title, While We Wait Here, is in development. Both games share a similar premise: There are hungry people who need to be fed, and there’s more than one way to acquire meat.

Image: Bad Vices Games

Ravenous DevilsIn this scenario, the player controls a couple that is devoted to crime in an older city. Both partners are controlled by the player. Percival owns a tailor shop upstairs. He stabs patrons who are unlucky and then throws them down a shaft. Hildred cooks delicious dishes from their bodies for her downstairs restaurant. They are the customers These areThe product.

“This kind of management game, especially the kitchen ones, are very cute and with a cozy atmosphere,” says Cristian Gambadori, co-founder of Bad Vices Games. Ravenous DevilsHildred is a bit more gory than the others. She takes a body and severs its limbs. “We wanted to make antiheroes,” says Gambadori. It’s another twist on the original management sim formula; instead of being Cooking Mama, you’re much more of a Sweeney Todd.

“It’s not very, very serious. It could have been too much for people to take,” Gambadori adds. It’s a mix of horror and comedy. Running the shop can be unnerving and gruesome, but it’s still fun and silly enough that a player can go through multiple days of stabbing patrons and chopping corpses without it turning their stomach.

Image: Bad Vices Games

While We Wait HereSimilar premise but with a new perspective. In the second person, the player runs a diner located in middle of nowhere. It’s a much more American premise than its predecessor, but it also relies on food as both honeypot and horror. Gambadori cites There’s no place for the old man in this countryAs an inspiration as it is the roads of the United States.

Due to the many crimes committed along these routes and how they have affected American history, the U.S. Highway system makes a great inspiration point. Joe Metheny, a Baltimore-based criminal who turned victims into hamburgers to sell at his barbecue shack. Dean Corll used to bribe potential victims by selling them pralines made at his Texas candy factory. Both the Bloody Benders and Donner Party have become part of American folklore. They create a mythology of cannibalism and murder. Jeffrey Dahmer and other cannibals have been romanticized for mass consumption. Podcasts and crime television have added to this mythology.

These game designers are doing the exact opposite, allowing for the sensationalization and exaggeration of real-life victims or brutal crimes. This is In While We Wait HereAs a barkeep for travelers in hostile lands, the player provides respite. The level of respite — or just plain spite — the player chooses to offer is dependent on how they feel about their patrons and their place in the world. Video games often feature cannibals who are so ham-handed that it is almost funny to see their monstrosity. They’ll cackle over big, boiling pots and introduce themselves by saying things like “It’s nice to eat you… I mean, Meat you.”

Bad Vices games focuses on a subtler kind of horror and has enjoyed great success. Ravenous DevilsThis shows how the subject matter is a hit. While We Wait HereIt is scheduled for publication in 2024.