PlateUp!
Factors | Rating | Description |
🎮Gameplay | 9 | Simple to pick up, then the cards start ganging up on you. |
📷Graphics | 7.5 | Basic look, but those arm-flailing little chefs grew on us. |
🎧Narration/Audio | 7.5 | Peppy kitchen tunes, though they loop a lot. |
😮Variety | 8.5 | New dishes and layouts keep unlocking as you level up. |
🎰Re-playability | 9.5 | Every run's different, and Heat levels add even more. |
💲Price | 8 | On sale it’s super cheap so I would recommend to grab on those days. |
We love co-op cooking games like Overcooked.And Plateup is simpler than Overcooked, and that's sort of what it is, just with its own charm. We played on controller and the controls felt smooth the whole time.
📝Story/Plot without spoilers
🔸There isn't really a story. You're a little chef trying to keep a restaurant alive for 15 days. Each run starts in your HQ, where you pick a dish and a restaurant layout off a big planning board, and there's a practice kitchen where you can pet the cats. Then it's opening time, and the story is basically whatever goes wrong on your busiest day.
🎮Gameplay
🔸 First impressions were easy. There's a button to grab and a button to interact, and that's pretty much the whole control scheme. On the controller it felt smooth right away.
🔸 A day goes like this. Customers come in and order, and you cook it, serve it and clear the table before their patience bar runs out. Solo customers want the dish normally but group customers want their whole order together in a short span. Then come the dirty plates. Washing dishes is where I lost it lol, your chef just flails both arms in the air, left and right, like they're at a concert. On rainy or cold days the queue outside loses patience even faster, so you can't leave people standing around.
🔸 Between days there's a prep phase, and this is where it turns into a planning game.
------🔹 You spend your coins on blueprints that turn into appliances and furniture, then drag everything around to redesign the kitchen.
------🔹 Rerolling the shop costs more each time, so you can't just fish for the perfect sink forever.
------🔹 Every few days you pick one of two cards, and they almost always make things harder. Think extra customers, or a side dish you suddenly have to add to the menu. Some of them got annoying tbh, because one card can wreck a layout we were happy with.
------🔹 And if a single customer runs out of patience, the whole run's over.
🔸 The progression is what sold me. Overcooked is a campaign with set levels, PlateUp is a roguelite where each run is a fresh restaurant. If it was only about surviving as long as you can, I think it'd get boring fast. But you earn XP from the cards you pick, and leveling up unlocks new recipes and layouts. You even open up new rooms in your HQ as you go. So the further you get, the more you unlock, and even a failed run feels like it counted.
🔸 Later in a run things get kinda nerdy. Conveyor belts and grabbers let you automate parts of the kitchen, and a good late-game setup starts looking like a little food factory. Decor matters too. There are four themes, like Charming and Formal, and each one comes with perks, like customers losing patience slower or making less mess.
🔸 Make it past day 15 and you can franchise the restaurant, which carries some of your cards into a new run (fail that franchise and it's gone for good). Or you keep going into Overtime, where it gets brutal fast. The big August update added Heat levels on top, up to 10 harder versions of each dish once you've beaten day 15 with it, plus Chill levels if you'd rather take it easy, and a new sizzling fajitas dish.
📷 Graphics
🔸 It's a minimal look. The chefs are these little gummy-looking blobs and the kitchens are simple and clean, nothing fancy at all. But it's cute in its own way, and those flailing arms are very funny. Some layouts come with seasonal themes too, which is a nice touch. Music's peppy, though after a long run it does start to loop in your head.
📝Main Pros and Cons
🟩Pros-
Easy to learn and smooth on controller
Roguelite unlocks make every run feel worth it
Redesigning the kitchen between days is so much fun
Late-game automation is very satisfying
Animations are very good
🟥Cons-
Some cards are just annoying
Blueprint luck can make or break a run
🏷️Tips for beginners
🔸 Don't stress about failing early, every run still gets you XP toward new recipes and layouts. Use the practice option during prep to try a new recipe or appliance before the day starts. Grab the Research Desk when it shows up, since it lets you upgrade appliances. In co-op, split jobs early, one of you in the kitchen and one out front. Most players rate the Formal and Exclusive decor themes highest. And if the cards are getting to you, there's a Chill option in the Accessibility settings that makes every dish easier.
😇 Verdict
🔸 On the surface PlateUp looks like a smaller, simpler Overcooked, and in a way it is. But the roguelite side is what kept us playing. Runs change every time and there's always another unlock a few runs away. If you've got a partner or friends to cook with, grab it 100%
Rating: 8.5/10
Redesign your kitchen between days and pray nobody waits too long. PlateUp is roguelite co-op cooking with real progression. 🍳
