Beastro is out on XBOX today, with day one Game Pass access. If you’ve heard of our ‘cozy deckbuilder’ and are wondering how those two things can be blended together, then there is a simple answer: Deckbuilders are cozy at their very core. 

Let me explain. At first glance, Beastro is approachable. You farm, plant, water and grow your ingredients to make delicious meals. The cards are colorful, the creatures and inhabitants of the village you live in are charming, and the world is full of food, flavor and discovery. 

But scratch beneath the surface, and the deckbuilding challenge becomes clear. The ingredients you farm enable you to build different and diverse decks. Those decks, in turn, form the basis of how the village protectors, the Caretakers, defend the village throughout the day. 

This is the ethos that we’ve made Beastro with – it takes a moment to learn, but hours to master.

It’s cozy, but it’s also a deckbuilder that opens the door to the genre for players who may not have thought this game was for them. 

And it all started with our own love of trading card games… 

Build, Battle, BBQ – How It All Started

For me, card games are intrinsically cozy. Sitting around the fire with friends and family, whether it’s on holiday or at Christmas, is both a deeply personal memory and a shared experience that people of all generations can relate to.

My wife’s family spend a whole bunch of their time playing traditional card games like Bid Whist, Spades and Euchre. Also, our friends and I host Build, Battle and BBQ nights, where we open a bunch of trading cards, create decks and battle them together before eating some barbecue. 

These are things that bring people together, and we wanted to bottle that energy and bring it to video games with Beastro. 

But there is a challenge. Deckbuilders, and trading card games in general, can be intimidating. Either the community around them, or just the mechanics of the game itself. Keywords. Effects. Card types. Synergies. Metas. It’s… a lot. They aren’t always the easiest place to pick up and play. 

Beastro changes that. 

How Beastro Brings Cozy Into Deckbuilding

We’ve built Beastro to be the first deckbuilding game people ever play. You might collect cards that are cute, or maybe enjoy playing traditional card games with your family. If that’s you, then Beastro is a great entry point. 

At its core, we wanted it to mirror a traditional playing card, but cut out some of the fluff that makes other trading card games a little overwhelming. So the core information on Beastro’s cards is the number, then the flavor (effectively the ‘suit’). That’s it. 

From there, there’s more depth if you want it. Different flavors balance and enhance each other, which can be make-or-break as part of your deck. It’s a feature we took from trick-taking card games and then gave it a fresh new feel to suit Beastro.

So if you’re the sort of person who enjoys really getting into their decks, then you can go down that route – but you also grasp everything essential in the first few minutes. 

Crucially, there are also methods to advance your deck outside of the actual deckbuilding. You can grind it out if you prefer, or you can spend more time investing in your farming, planting or cooking techniques to improve the cards you have already.

So no matter how you play, you can still enjoy what might be your first deckbuilder on your own terms. 

Tips for Building Your First Deck 

If you do find yourself picking up Beastro and are looking to build out your first deck in this cozy-crunchy title, then these tips will help: 

Look at effects when you’re ready – there’s no rush! Once you’re comfortable, start looking beyond numbers and flavors. Some cards have effects that can create new opportunities and open up new ways to build your deck. They aren’t essential, but they can help your Caretakers when they’re beyond the walls. 

Keep a good mix of flavors. You never know what you’ll encounter in the wild, so bring a little bit of everything to keep your approach varied. This also gives you a chance to explore different mechanics whilst you discover who – and what – is outside the village walls.

Balance and enhance. Balancing a monster’s card can be useful, but enhancing your own flavor is just as important. Sometimes you won’t win by countering your opponent, but you’ll win by strengthening your own strategy instead. 

Use what you love. There are definitely some cards, and some Caretakers, that have a wider range than others. But each one has its strengths. If you find cards and recipes that you like and they fit your style, but they aren’t that strong yet, then look into techniques that help you improve them. 

Beastro

Timberline Studios

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

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Palo Pori is a beautiful and peaceful village of artisans and tastemakers. Beyond the village’s protective wall, darkness has begun to stir. Ravenous monsters have claimed the land and threaten to sink their teeth into this final morsel of hope and happiness.

Play as Panko, a young, talented chef, helping to run the local eatery. When Panko’s teacher goes missing, a mysterious visitor arrives with warnings of the dangers beyond the wall. It’s up to Panko to step up and take over the restaurant and tend to the ingredients and patrons. But that’s not all, Panko also finds himself serving the Caretakers, brave adventurers, sent to save the world. In this adventure, preserving peace starts in the kitchen!

FEATURES – WHAT’S ON THE MENU?

FROM TOWN TO TABLE
In Palo Pori, fresh is best! Gather ingredients and resources, care for animals and grow your own fruit and veg to build up your very own cozy town to table restaurant. Forage for wild herbs and unlock new seeds to grow to expand your meals.

SERVING YOUR COMMUNITY
Chop, flip, and sizzle your way through mouthwatering mini-games as you whip up delightful dishes for the townsfolk. Good food is always better with company, so work hard to improve your cooking and experiment with ingredients, to keep your patrons happy.

Tailor your restaurant to the tastes of your community, develop new meals, progress your know how through a skill tree and adjust the decor to increase your restaurant’s appeal.

FEED THE CARETAKERS
You’ll also need to feed the hungry Caretakers; these brave denizens of the land will venture out into the wilds to fight the ravenous monsters threatening the peace of Palo Pori. Each Caretaker hails from their own flavour region, affecting their own tastes and preferences: some like it bitter, some like it sweet and some are just looking to fulfil their craving of the day! Craft thoughtful meals and balance the flavour profiles to boost their spirits, sharpen their skills, and unlock new abilities. Because let’s face it… Who can save the world on an empty stomach?

DELICIOUS DECK BUILDING
Now it’s time to put your meal to the test! This is where taste meets tactics. The dishes you serve will build your Caretaker’s deck – each ingredient unlocking a card. And once they’ve eaten, they’ll venture into the wilds to fight the monsters. Upon their return, they’ll recount their journey and play out their battles through a charming puppet theatre sequence. They might even bring you back some MONSTEROUS ingredients from their ventures. Fight the monsters in turn-based deck building combat, inspired by traditional trick-taking card games. Outplay the monsters, by matching their flavour magic or neutralising it with a balancing card. Add an enhancing card to power up your moves! Your magic can turn the tables!

Utilize the unique effects of your ingredients to put your enemies to sleep, blow away their cards, and more, but watch out, you’re not the only one with special abilities. If you’re not paying attention, you might get burned.

In this food-based fantasy adventure, it’s time to give peas a chance! – Are you ready to get cooking?

Unlock the magic in food.