Chef of Sherwood from Porcelaine Games, pitches itself as Cooking Mama meets Monty Python — a narrative-driven cooking-sim, set in the world of Robin Hood; the demo launched on Steam this week. After cooking up a storm for the dastardly Prince John, Chef of Sherwood is now baked into my wishlist.
In Chef of Sherwood, you’re the newly appointed royal chef to Prince John. Your job is to source ingredients, cook one lavish meal per day, and somehow keep the royal family’s ‘hunger’, ‘respect’, and ‘mood’ from plummeting to zero… Because if any of those stats hit rock bottom, it’s off with your head.
Cosy. Ish.
Basically, All Bad Decisions Lead To Death
The demo has two modes to choose from: ‘Life or Death’, where you’re at the whim of the royal family’s mood swings, and ‘Cozy Mode’, for a more relaxed experience focused on story and cooking. The full release will also have a sandbox mode.
Naturally, I chose Life or Death. I like a little pressure with my parsley.
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Most of your decisions affects the royal family’s core stats. Repeat a dish? They’ll notice. Miss a quest deadline? Dead. Serve something they hate? Also dead. Thankfully, the choice system lets you preview how each options impacts their stats, so it’s less blind panic and more strategic survival.
The family’s hunger resets each morning (accompanied by a hilarious stomach growl), while their mood fluctuates based on your cooking and how much time you spend appeasing them. They are… Deeply needy.
Shopping List
Pardington, the Prince’s loyal page, sends you into town to source ingredients from villagers — each of whom have their own agendas. Building relationships is key, but time is limited, so every outing matters.
Villager availability shifts depending on weather and events, and some characters only appear on specific days (like the market), which forces you to plan ahead, which adds a satisfying layer of strategy.
The demo only wraps once you complete the main quest recipe, so there’s no rush to finish, I spent my time chasing perfect scores across recipes instead.
My demo ended with Loxley Castle burnt to cinders, I was left wondering what I could’ve done differently… A reminder that Chef of Sherwood puts a lot of emphasis on cause and effect.
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Steam Deck Compatibility
I played the demo on my Steam Deck, after reading that Porcelaine Games have been testing Chef of Sherwood on the deck throughout development, and it shows. It ran well, with controls feeling intuitive enough for portable play.
The game does lean heavily on the trackpad, which I rarely use, but adjusted to surprisingly quickly. Some actions like mixing are a little fiddly, and I occasionally needed to rely on the touchscreen.
A Satisfying Morsel
Chef of Sherwood is chaotic, slightly stressful, and surprisingly charming. If you’re into cosy games with bite — and don’t mind the constant threat of execution — the demo is well worth your time.
