During Steam Next Fest, I played a demo for a very simple game called Spice Pound. The entire premise is to grind spices with a mortar and pestle, so simple that I thought there was no way it could keep me entertained for any amount of time. Boy, was I wrong.
I loved the demo and wanted to see what the full game entailed, so I was very happy when the developer, Rolt Games, reached out to see if I wanted to cover the game. I opened it up immediately, thinking I would see what else the game had for me and write a quick little review. I spent the next 12 hours playing Spice Pound and unlocking all 37 achievements. The last 2.5 hours were spent just chasing the last 2 achievements: 10,000 meals served and strike spices with your pestle 100,000 times.
There is something Zen-like about the gameplay in Spice Pound. Starting with salt, you tap until it’s finely ground, and it seasons the dish in the kitchen window. You will earn a modest amount of money, but each time you serve a meal, the coins accumulate, and you upgrade the salt, increasing the value of the dish served; earn enough, and you can unlock pepper.
Repeat this process, unlocking upgrades and spices. There are also upgrades in your equipment (mortar, pestle, bowl and mat you work on).
This isn’t a difficult game; there are no timers or fail states, and you can play it however you like. Do you want to max out each spice to 100 before moving on, or move on quickly to unlock everything and maximize your profits?
There are songs that will unlock with certain spices, and the music playing in the background is a nice accompaniment to the tap tap tap as you work in the kitchen.
Season dish after dish, unlock rarer spices, and watch the money roll in.
What I wasn’t expecting was the ability to ‘prestige,’ to start from the beginning again with points to spend and permanently unlock some upgrades on your next run. I loved this unexpected mechanic, which added a nice little spin to the game. If I had played smarter, I might have benefitted from using the prestige earlier and using my upgrades to move through the levels faster, but I wanted to work my way through all the spices first.
I started out expecting a simple little game that I’d invest a few hours into, but then spent 12 hours in one day because I couldn’t stop playing it. I’m not remotely embarrassed by that, and if that isn’t the easiest way to say I recommend this game, then I’m not sure what is.
Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.
**Special thanks to Rolt Games for the review code**
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