- Developed by Korean indie studio Project Moreum Inc., ‘Cooktroidvania’ defines the neologism genre.
- Post-apocalyptic x Cuisine x Metroidvania, over 170 dishes sustain combat and narrative
- Positive response to “Beautiful Game” demo, incorporating community feedback requesting control settings improvements
A post-apocalyptic world where cooking has been completely forgotten. The journey of a solitary chef begins as he wanders alone through a ruined world, harboring the dream of creating the ultimate dish.
Com2uS Holdings announced on the 18th that it will exhibit ‘Lone Chef,’ an action-adventure game currently under development by Project Moreum, at ‘2026 PlayXpo’ and ‘2026 BitSummit,’ Japan’s largest indie game event.
The game will be showcased at the ‘Indie Arcade’ booth at PlayXpo, held at KINTEX in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, from the 21st to the 24th, and will also be unveiled to global visitors at BitSummit in Kyoto, Japan, starting on the 22nd. Visitors will be able to play the game firsthand at the event and experience the title’s unique gameplay.
A free demo version is currently available on Steam, and the official release is scheduled for the second half of this year. There are plans to expand the service to the Nintendo Switch platform in the future.
Post-apocalypse and cooking action… The emergence of the neologism ‘Cooktroidvania’
Lone Chef is a 2D action-adventure game that combines exploration, hunting, and cooking systems. The developer, Project Morum, defines the title as ‘Cooktroidvania,’ highlighting a unique concept that combines cooking-centric gameplay with the Metroidvania genre.
The game features 2D art with a cartoon and animation sensibility, a unique post-apocalyptic worldview, and comic storytelling. It aims to differentiate itself from the dark atmosphere of existing doomsday games by depicting a world where the ruins of a collapsed civilization and strange creatures coexist with bright and cheerful colors.
Above all, food is not merely a means of recovery or a buff item. Cooking within the game serves as a core mechanism for forming relationships between characters and unraveling the worldview. Characters gradually break down boundaries through food, and through this, players encounter hidden stories and new relationships.
Over 170 recipes… What you eat changes the battle
‘The Lone Chef’ features a total of over 170 dishes, including 121 basic recipes and 48 ancient recipes. Basic recipes can be crafted by combining various ingredients, while ancient recipes are special dishes that can only be completed by discovering the recipe during exploration. Some recipes are also closely linked to the stories of specific characters.
The cooking system incorporates a ‘Tag’ system where effects vary depending on the combination of ingredients. Meat affects STR, fruit affects VIT, vegetables affect AGI, and grains affect HP. In essence, a player’s dietary choices directly influence their combat style.
The game combines cooking, action, and exploration into a single, repetitive gameplay style through a structure where players gather materials by hunting, enhance abilities by cooking, and then return to exploration and combat.
“Beautiful Game” vs. “Control Settings Need Improvement”… Stepping Forward for Global Verification
Since the release of the demo, the community has continued to praise the game’s visuals and unique concept. While some users highly appreciated the distinctive worldview and art style, others pointed out the need for improvements to the control system and settings menu.
The development team stated that they intend to improve the game’s quality by actively incorporating player feedback. The currently released demo provides an experience covering approximately half of Chapter 1 of the main scenario.
Com2uS Holdings, which is responsible for game publishing, plans to accelerate its expansion into the global market by participating in PlayXpo and BitSummit.
“Participating in this event will be an important opportunity to introduce the unique gameplay of ‘Lone Chef’ to global users, including those in Japan,” said a Com2uS Holdings official. “We expect to captivate the strong core user base of the Metroidvania genre based on the diverse fun elements of ‘cooking.'”
A studio that started from ‘unknown’… An experimental challenge that transcends genre boundaries
Project Moreum Inc. is a South Korean indie game studio established in 2019. The team name, ‘Moreum,’ means ‘unknown’ or ‘uncertainty’ in Korean and embodies the philosophy of realizing an unknown imaginary world in the form of a game.
Project Morum highlights a development style characterized by close collaboration among planning, art, and development personnel based on a small-scale team structure. The studio bases its creative work on a deep affection for animation, comics, games, and genre subcultures, emphasizing a development philosophy that prioritizes pixel-level detail and emotional direction.
Their representative work is the cat action adventure ‘Shutter Nyan!’. This game has garnered attention for its unique concept and art style, and has accumulated a track record of awards at domestic indie game events, including the MWU Korea Award 2019 Innovation Award, the DDP Indie Game Award 2019 Creative Award, the Indiecraft 2021 Community Special Award, and 3rd place in the Next Generation category at the G-Star x Xsolla Award 2021.
The new title ‘Lone Chef’ is the project that most clearly reveals the studio’s identity. Project Morum is experimenting with a new gameplay experience that weaves together exploration, hunting, cooking, and narrative, introducing a unique genre called ‘Cooktroidvania’ that combines cooking with Metroidvania exploration structures.
Information regarding ‘Lone Chef’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer / Publisher | Project Moreum Inc. (Korea) |
| Genre | Cooktroidvania (Cooking × Metroidvania) / 2D Action Adventure / Story Reach |
| Release platform | PC (Steam) |
| Scheduled for release | Undetermined (Demo currently available) |
| Art style | 2D Cartoon/Animation / Post-apocalyptic |
| cooking system | 121 Basic Recipes + 48 Ancient Recipes = Total 170 Recipes+ |
| Genre tags | Metroidvania · Story Reach · Dating Sim · Post-apocalyptic · Comedy · Romance |
| Main Keywords | Cooktroidvania, Cooking, Exploration, Hunting, Post-apocalypse, Solitude, Narrative |
| Official Channel | Discord · projectmoreum.com |
| Steam Page | Go to Wishlist |
