Fans of dark drama and horror gore will be pleased to learn about today’s video game topic, Ravenous Devils. I came across this game on Xbox by browsing through recently released video games in the online store. The cover art featured a man and woman in front of a shop in the mid-1700s. The colors contrasted really well with shades of brown and white. Immediate curiosity from just one image? Check! Let’s explore what happens when Sweeney Todd meets Horror Cooking Simulator!
Horror Cooking Simulator
Ravenous Devils also had over one hundred 5-star reviews when I scrolled by. If that somehow did not grab my attention instantly, then the price tag still might have. Only a whopping $5! I just had to see what was going on here.
Graphic Warning
If you are not interested in mature themes like murder, cannibalism, and horror tropes, then here is a big cautionary warning to stop reading. The screenshots below may be graphic. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s begin!
Ravenous Devil’s Characters
As a quick introduction, the husband and wife duo players control recently moved to a new town. They now own a shop on a busy street with hopes to thrive in their new environment. The main structure of the game is quite similar to other cooking simulators where you cook dishes before customers run out of patience. You receive a good, mixed, or bad review depending on how fast and correct you serve them. The remix here is that it’s food with human meat!
Percival is a tailor who sews outfits and sells them on the second floor of the shop. The first floor and basement is Hildred’s domain. She serves fresh meat dishes and fruit for the tavern guests to enjoy. Hildred and Percival both have their hands full with separate tasks. Swapping between these ravenous devils is what makes this simulator stressful!
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Mr. J Knows All
One day, after closing the shop, Percival and Hildred receive an anonymous later from someone named Mr. J. He knows who they are and what they do, but agrees to not tell anyone. That is, as long as they kill his requested targets so he can feast upon them. The main story follows the plot all the way up to the climax of an eventful meeting with Mr. J.
Ravenous Devils Duties
Percival is in charge of the unalive process. He coaxes guests to appointments to take their measurements. Once the fateful deed is done, he must send the body down the trap door to the basement. From there, he cleans up the room and sews ripped clothing to make new outfits. He then puts the outfits on display on his mannequins to sell.
Down in the basement, Hildred prepares the corpses into ground meat, sausage, and steak. Flour is added frequently. After that, she does the plating and cooking for service. Ravenous Devils is a progressive simulator. The simple tasks I grew used to started to become complex due to the upgrades opening more options. More options means more clicking. Busy, busy, busy.
Ravenous Devils Upgrades
Percival already does the slaying, the sewing, and the selling. So what else does he do? Once the tomatoes are unlocked, a greenhouse is unlocked in the attic where Percival tends to the garden. This adds another layer to management because every crop needs fertilizer to grow. Fertilizer is produced by a corpse so it means sacrificing a body to grow crops instead of turning them into meat.
Hildred cooks in the basement, prepares the delicious food, and serves guests on the first floor. Unlocking the 3 ovens and 4 tables adds a lot of extra stress if not prepared appropriately. There are 17 recipes which are combinations of meat, sausage, steak, flour, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and eggs. Upgrades increase the cooking speed of the oven and how much meat is added from the various equipment.
Hildred’s Attendant
The job is pretty tough, but an attendant is hired later on who manages the main floor. This way, Hildred doesn’t have to travel between the main floor and the basement to serve food. Decorations are upgradable to increase guest’s patience meter. Beer can be served as well to refresh the wait time once per table.
Skins are available to purchase in-game, with my favorite being The Collector. The most expensive skins are the undead bride and skeleton. These are purely cosmetic and have no effect on gameplay
Ravenous Devil’s Extra Content
Percival finds an interesting seed and adds it to the greenhouse. What unfolds is a strange side quest to fertilize this plant over and over until it grows into a potted venus flytrap. Not just any ordinary venus flytrap, but a talking venus flytrap that tells ironic murder jokes.
Hildred finds a stray cat outside. She decides to provide it shelter in the basement. This cat is actually awesome because it will hunt rats. Rats are cooked as a 3 star meal for the self-serve plates which means easy free $$$.
Ravenous Devils Final Thoughts
Ravenous Devils is a tough subject for a video game because it has some controversial mature themes. Since I have played hundreds of video games, it’s not very often I see something that hasn’t been done before. I really liked Ravenous Devils being so different. The developers did amazing with the gameplay and overall Sweeny Todd theme. It was progressive, unique, cheap, and most importantly, fun!
I completed everything by Day 30 in the game. 100% achievement completion time at 7 hours 12 minutes. Seven hours is a long time to play for something as “simple” as a cooking simulator. And just a reminder, lots of content for only $5!! 150 meat-cookies coming right up, Boss! I’ll definitely be in line if there’s a sequel!