Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

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netravelr
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Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#1 Post by netravelr »

It's been a long road, but I'm so proud to announce that Culina: Hands in the Kitchen is now available!


Buy now: Culina is currently available for purchase on Steam and Humble Bundle.
Introduction
Culina: Hands in the Kitchen is a visual novel/strategy game where you step into the shoes of a culinary school graduate that opens up his own restaurant.

In order to run the restaurant, you will need to buy ingredients and craft them into recipes to sell. Different customers have different preferences, so you will have to choose your recipes carefully. You will need to interpret information, keep records, determine prices, and plan marketing strategies based on that data. By gathering information from a variety of sources, you can make purchasing and pricing decisions. Then you will be able to see the fruits of your labor and if your plans are profitable.

You can also spend time with co-workers and friends in the city. Having friends has a number of benefits, such as getting discounts on recipes, unlocking new ingredients, or upgrades for your restaurant. If you maintain a good enough relationship with them, you might even find romance!

But you can not only spend time with your friends. Your parents are expecting for you to make enough money every week to pay your rent, so you will have to manage your time and money wisely.

Will you be able to pay off your debt? Will you end up with new friends, a potential romance, or end up all alone?

It is all up to you!

Features
  • Build the restaurant of your dreams by customizing it the way that you want to
  • Decide who you want to be: Become a better cook, develop bonds with the people you meet, or perhaps kindle a romance
  • Purchase ingredients from different vendors, each with their own separate perks
  • Craft recipes with purchased ingredients to appeal to customers
  • Advertise to draw in more customers and upgrade your restaurant to be able to serve them
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#2 Post by Kissmealready »

Wow! This looks great. I love management sims with visual novels. Buying it now!

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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#3 Post by netravelr »

Kissmealready wrote:Wow! This looks great. I love management sims with visual novels. Buying it now!
Thanks so much for the kind words! We're super excited to have people play and would love to get your feedback!
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#4 Post by RedOwl »

Congrats on the release! Looking great. Hope it does well. ^_^
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#5 Post by Kissmealready »

I just started this and haven't gotten past the goal to make $500. I suck at stat raising sims..so I wish this game were a bit forgiving instead of ending the game if I don't meet the goal at the ends week.

Would be nice if one could skip the tutorial completely.
Also, difficulty levels, if possible.

Will update with more feedback as I continue playing.

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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#6 Post by Rosstin »

Nice work!
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#7 Post by netravelr »

Rosstin wrote:Nice work!
Thanks!
RedOwl wrote:Congrats on the release! Looking great. Hope it does well. ^_^
Thanks so much! Looking forward to </reality> too, backed already and I hope it goes well!
Kissmealready wrote:I just started this and haven't gotten past the goal to make $500. I suck at stat raising sims..so I wish this game were a bit forgiving instead of ending the game if I don't meet the goal at the ends week.

Would be nice if one could skip the tutorial completely.
Also, difficulty levels, if possible.

Will update with more feedback as I continue playing.
Hi there! Thanks so much for the feedback. I'll try to add in a way to skip the intro after you've completed the game once, but in the meantime you can always skip text by holding down the Ctrl button. As for the difficulty, we made the first week not fail you if you failed in order to allow players some time to get the hang of things. With that in mind, really try to push advertising as soon as you can as it will increase the number of customers as well as the quality of customer coming in. Having more people with more money will make it a lot easier to bring in money. Hope this helps!
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#8 Post by jack_norton »

Congrats on release, looks good :)
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#9 Post by LadyOfGatsby »

Congrats! I have to say that a lot of hard work seems to be put in this because of how polished it looks. I will definitely buy and support of steam!
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#10 Post by netravelr »

jack_norton wrote:Congrats on release, looks good :)
Thanks so much! It means a lot. :-)

LadyOfGatsby wrote:Congrats! I have to say that a lot of hard work seems to be put in this because of how polished it looks. I will definitely buy and support of steam!
Thanks so much! We hope that you enjoy it! Any feedback is appreciated.
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#11 Post by Kissmealready »

Ok I feel I suck at games because I can't get past the 3rd goal. I like flexibility when playing. I think you should add another ending incase someone doesn't meet the goal. Like his parents could let him keep 50% of the earned money if he meets the goal. If he doesn't, he only keeps $100. idk. I think being able to experiment with the different features in the game in the beginning is important, and tbh, I would enjoy it. However, due to my inability to meet the $ goal ties me down to repetitive tactics that make it tedious and boring once I've done it once or twice..just my 2 cents.

I apologize for highlighting this feedback with a con, but there are many pros. I love the interactive features in the game. Sometimes, I need a game to be like a good book. I love getting lost in one. And it's rare that I do. I'm soo picky about VN's, but this definitely has a spot on my list. I think I would pay another $10 bucks for customizable features, for example, being able to name the restaurant, make dishes with more ingredients (perhaps after a few levels)..One of my favorite games, Rock Robin has features like those and I think it' really cool. Make's replay ability higher too.

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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#12 Post by netravelr »

Kissmealready wrote:Ok I feel I suck at games because I can't get past the 3rd goal. I like flexibility when playing. I think you should add another ending incase someone doesn't meet the goal. Like his parents could let him keep 50% of the earned money if he meets the goal. If he doesn't, he only keeps $100. idk. I think being able to experiment with the different features in the game in the beginning is important, and tbh, I would enjoy it. However, due to my inability to meet the $ goal ties me down to repetitive tactics that make it tedious and boring once I've done it once or twice..just my 2 cents.

I apologize for highlighting this feedback with a con, but there are many pros. I love the interactive features in the game. Sometimes, I need a game to be like a good book. I love getting lost in one. And it's rare that I do. I'm soo picky about VN's, but this definitely has a spot on my list. I think I would pay another $10 bucks for customizable features, for example, being able to name the restaurant, make dishes with more ingredients (perhaps after a few levels)..One of my favorite games, Rock Robin has features like those and I think it' really cool. Make's replay ability higher too.
Hi there,

It's no problem to have a con; after all we can't make games better if we don't hear about it, and I hear you having some issues with the 3rd goal. If you're having difficulty, there is a "cheatcode" of sorts:
if you put in a last name of Moneybags when you start the game you'll start off with a lot more money
I also added in a way to skip the intro to the game after you complete it once, so that should help reduce the repetitiveness of playing. That being said, I find that using Moju's shop to purchase upgrades as early as possible will set you up to succeed. Also, some of the customers that you unlock are willing to have a higher markup than others...

I'm also really happy to hear the nice things you had to say about the game. I could potentially add in the ability to rename the restaurant and having more complex menus is definitely something we have in mind if we are successful enough to make a sequel! Anyways, thanks so much for checking back in with me and I really hope you have a good time getting through that third milestone!
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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#13 Post by underthesamesky »

I've played through this game a few times now and I seem to keep getting stuck on Dante's route, just two levels short of maxing out his relationship. Is there another event with one of the other characters that I have to do first? Or a specific amount of days I have to wait to be able to check on him again?
I get to the part where you go out for drinks with him and he accidentally confesses, and then you have the option to begin questioning your feelings which leads to the kiss CG. The next morning I've tried both answers - the one where you say you want to see where it goes, and the other where you say it won't ruin your friendship - but nothing seems to happen after that? The event finishes and I can't seem to trigger the next one.
Aside from that little speed bump, I've been enjoying the game immensely. I love time management games, and it's fun to try and improve your restaurant and make new recipes and stuff. I thought the ending was a little abrupt on my first play through, but that may have just been because I got the bad end. ^^;

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Re: Culina: Hands in the Kitchen - Now Available [BxG/BxB]

#14 Post by scorlight »

underthesamesky wrote: Sun Sep 17, 2017 10:55 pm I've played through this game a few times now and I seem to keep getting stuck on Dante's route, just two levels short of maxing out his relationship. Is there another event with one of the other characters that I have to do first? Or a specific amount of days I have to wait to be able to check on him again?
I get to the part where you go out for drinks with him and he accidentally confesses, and then you have the option to begin questioning your feelings which leads to the kiss CG. The next morning I've tried both answers - the one where you say you want to see where it goes, and the other where you say it won't ruin your friendship - but nothing seems to happen after that? The event finishes and I can't seem to trigger the next one.
Aside from that little speed bump, I've been enjoying the game immensely. I love time management games, and it's fun to try and improve your restaurant and make new recipes and stuff. I thought the ending was a little abrupt on my first play through, but that may have just been because I got the bad end. ^^;
No you don't have to, I'm on Dante route too. After that part, 1-2 days later, go back to your room at night then think about him :D
P/s: Anyone got Dante's ending? I end the game and he appeared in the main menu too but... I'm not sure the ending I obtained is his ending. The last day finished and that's all, it didn't even mention anything about Dante

Erros feedback:
There is a small typos in the game. One line said "Dante rushed over to my station and dug around the pile IF ingredients I'd roughly cut up" => I believe you wanted to write "of".
On the day right after that, evening, Dante's route. There are two errors: The first one is when Dante's mom showed up, the text box said "STRANGER I am sorry for bother. I bring my lunch for my boy. He forgot it at home" => The name of the character lies in the dialogue box instead of the name box. The second one is when MC's parents called back, the Dad said "I knew that boy was a gay. I told you [MOMNAME]" => Mommy? What's your name? :shock:
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