PlateUp!

Genre: Party Game / Roguelike

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local, Local Wireless, Online)

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Review:

PlateUp!, released in 2022 on PC and ported in 2024 to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, is a family-friendly game that invites immediate and direct comparison to the Overcooked franchise, as the easiest way to describe this game is “Overcooked plus Roguelike”. As in Overcooked, this is an Arcade-style Party game with a strong emphasis on co-op where players work together in a restaurant to fill orders from customers as a clock ticks down. However, here the two games depart from each other in their overarching gameplay and scope.

As in Overcooked, players prepare food by bringing ingredients to prep stations, working on the ingredient to process it, then bringing that processed ingredient to a stovetop or oven, or possibly combine it with other ingredients, depending on what’s being cooked. However, players must manage the front of house just as much as the back of house this time, taking orders from customers, delivering food to tables, bussing plates, and cleaning up messes.

At each stage of service, customers give players a limited amount of time they’re willing to wait – at the door waiting for a seat to open up, at the table waiting for their order to be taken, and then afterwards waiting for their order to be fully delivered. If any one customer has their timer completely elapse, the run is over and you need to start all over again.

This isn’t just an endless service, however. Your role running the restaurant is separated into days. Where Overcooked got a lot of mileage out of making players play in a variety of wacky restaurants, players in PlateUp will consistently work in the same restaurant through their run, and at the end of each day you’ll earn cash for your work during the day and be given the opportunity to buy multiple randomized upgrades for your restaurant.

These upgrades range from more tables to put in your waiting area, more burners and countertops for your kitchen, or other potentially healthy items like conveyor belts to automatically deliver food or decor to make your restaurant classier. One of the major strategic elements here are file cabinets and research desks – place an item in a file cabinet and spend time during service at the desk researching, and you can upgrade it into an even better item, such as turning a sink into a dishwasher.

One of the delightful results of this is that players have a good deal of freedom to arrange their restaurant how they see fit, and then change it again the next day. You’re stuck with the locations of walls, doors, and serving counters, but everything else it up to you – move the burners closer to your prep counter for a shorter trip, rearrange the tables to make a better path for servers, even put a sink in the dining area so servers can wash dishes while they wait for the meal to finish cooking. It’s all up to you!

Every few rounds, your restaurant will gain a new star, forcing you to choose between one of two options that could help or hinder your progress. You may be asked to choose between adding a new menu item or dealing with more impatient customers. One of these randomized “upgrades” reduces all group sizes to only one, meaning you’re serving fewer customers, but also making less money. The game mostly does a good job injecting variety into the way each run changes, though you’ll definitely start to see some options as more or less preferable whenever you see them. For one thing, it’s almost never wise to add items to your menu if you can help it.

Mostly where this game really shines is giving players the sense that they have some control over their own success or failure, because at every step of the way, they’re not just working their restaurant, they’re plotting out its growth and improved facilities. And when you find a winning approach to running a restaurant, it can really feel like you’re a food service pro.

The presentation here feels pretty close to Overcooked, as you might expect. The game’s visuals use simple, colorful 3D graphics for its levels and foods, with human characters looking like thick 3D stick figures. This is all backed by upbeat but understated themes that work well for putting the focus on the action, with a Main Theme that’s pretty catchy.

My main problem with PlateUp! is that progression through the game is a bit slow, and each run can get somewhat competitive. And while expert players have constructed elaborate conveyor systems to automate their entire restaurant, the lack of any sort of tutorial or puzzle mode for the more complex pieces the game throws at you means the average player is going to be oblivious to these deeper strategies. Also, I need to point out that the game’s online lobbies are empty – you’ll want to supply your own teammates for this.

Overall, in the short term I actually much prefer PlateUp! to the Overcooked games – I like the controls here better, and the way that this game allows you to reorganize your restaurant as you please is truly delightful. However, in the long-term this game feels somewhat repetitive, so I don’t think Overcooked is in danger of losing its crown just yet. Even so, this is an outstanding co-op game well worth getting for anyone looking for their next game to play together with (local) friends.

tl;dr – PlateUp! is a family-friendly Arcade-style Party Game with Roguelike elements that is basically an off-brand Overcooked Roguelike. However, while it’s a bit repetitive and its online lobbies are empty, this is still a phenomenal local co-op game, and one that gives players opportunities the Overcooked games lack, like designing your restaurant’s layout. In the end, if you’re looking for a great game to play with friends, this is an outstanding choice.

Grade: B+

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This game has been nominated for one or more of eShopperReviews 2024 Game Awards:

Runner-Up: Best Arcade / Party Game, Best Multiplayer

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