I waited until the last moment to play something, but I found a game that I scooped up almost immediately after playing the demo. This week, I prepare food for a wide variety of WILD animals.

This week is the Creature Kitchen Demo.

Creature Kitchen is a cozy cooking/puzzle/creature collector game from The Rat Zone. The game was released on Steam in February 2026 and retails for $8.

The demo starts out with the player wandering through a dark forest until they stumble upon a remote, oddly lit home, where doors and cabinets are locked, but there is a note that says to “keep them fed.” It becomes clear not too long afterward that “them” refers to the wildlife around and outside the home. There are little notes around the house informing you about how to cook and prepare the food, and a camera that allows the player to get a little more information about the little guys and what they want to eat.

AND YOU’RE OFF.

Taking pictures of the animals and other things roaming the house will tell you what they want to eat, and you have to prepare it. For instance, the crow will eat anything, so experiment a little and see what happens. Gather the ingredients, chop on the cutting board, mix in the mixer, then throw it in the oven void and watch the magic happen. Ring the bells, and he swoops in to devour the food. Once satisfied (indicated by the little heart or a large present), he drops a key that rewards the player with a new cabinet that has supplies to feed another animal.

The puzzle aspect seems to fit in with how to prepare the food and how to properly take a picture of the wildlife. There seems to be a ghost in the pantry, and there is a certain thing to do to draw it out. The next puzzle is how to prepare 3 foods from Italy for the thing.

Recipe cards are lying about through the forest/the home that will give you all of the info to prepare the food. Putting flour and water into the mixer (and mixing it properly) creates the dough, and frying an egg in the pan (with some cool tricks) will make a fried egg. Do it wrong and start over.

I think that the horror tag may come from how dark Creature Kitchen is. I did not spook me a single time in the demo, but the sounds and how the flashlight does absolutely nothing had me a little on edge. The wildlife is adorable. I really love the way that the raccoon runs away when I get close. I really like the pixelated, CRT look; it’s got charm.

I finished Creature Kitchen, and my wife, who was right next to me, said, “You’re buying this, right?” I obliged because I liked everything from the demo. The puzzles were not too difficult, and the progression was nice. I figured something out, made food in the most fun way possible, and then delivered it to receive a key that fueled more gameplay. The game is adorable, and the minigames to make food are just plain fun. Creature Kitchen has an incredibly fun demo that does nothing but make you buy the full game.