Dungeon Munchies follows the recently deceased protagonist, waking grace up at his funeral with a magic tag on himself. The tag revived him but he isn’t in the world he was expecting. The area looks like the post-apocalypse with mutant animals, bugs, and plants running everywhere.
He is soon greeted by a demon named Simmer who recruits him to be a chef in training. What exactly is her plan? There might be something more to it but that is the basic premise. Dungeon Munchies overall is like a 2D version of Monster Hunter with some very light Metroidvania elements tossed in for good measure. Here are some tips to get this newly revived life started.
6 There Are Difficulty Levels
There are three difficulties at the start of Dungeon Munchies: Apprentice, Sous-Chef, and Executive Chef. All of these are obvious nods to cooking in real life. The variety is good for all types of gamers out there.
However, there is a catch. Whatever difficulty players select is permanent. There is no way to change it once the campaign starts, which is unfortunate. Apprentice may be too easy as it is almost impossible to die, whereas Executive Chef is more punishing than it needs to be. There are no assist options either. Give each difficulty a quick shot, or go right to the middle with Sous-Chef.
5 Understanding Cooking And Purging
The gameplay loop of Dungeon Munchies is very simple. Kill monsters, collect their materials, and then use those materials for cooking and crafting. As mentioned earlier, it is like Monster Hunter but if that series was a bit more disgusting. Cooking is like this game’s skill tree. For example, the first meal players can make is a mosquito-based roll.
As they say, “you are what you eat” because the main character will sprout abnormalities based on their diet. The mosquito dish will have him grow wings, giving players the ability to double jump. Once cooked, every item can be equipped, purged, or re-equipped at camp with no additional cost.
4 Good Weapon Combos
It’s important to not overfill the character with too many abilities all at once. These can make the player move sluggishly. Sometimes food skills may not be beneficial at all. Why bother cooking up an item players may never use?
It’s important to pay attention to what each food will grant in terms of buffs. For example, if a dish amplifies the power of bows, but players don’t have a bow equipped, then that dish is useless. It may sound like a weird thing to say but food and weapons go hand in hand in Dungeon Munchies. Try out different combos and see what works best.
3 Stick Around And Farm For Materials
Dungeon Munchies has a fairly straightforward goal in mind: become the best undead chef in the world. There aren’t many branching paths in the game even though it shares similar elements with Metroidvanias. Players may feel like buzzing through stages as quickly as possible like a normal action platformer.
However, it’s a good idea to make several passes through a single area before moving on. This is a solid strategy to follow. Play through an area and then make it to the next warp station. After that, warp backward and play that previous stage all over again. Repeat this process between each new area. This is a good way to farm monsters for materials which is critical for cooking and crafting.
2 The Game Is Always Saving
Dungeon Munchies does not do a good job of explaining how it saves. The checkpoints in the game are marked by recycling bins. When players reload their files, that is where they will typically spawn. There are exceptions but those are rare.
Because of this, players may think that these recycle bins are save points but they aren’t. Dungeon Munchies is always saving. It’s like the games in the Dark Souls series. There are not many ways to cheese the system if players screw up. It’s nice having progress always be recorded. However, it can also cause anxiety. Know this before going into Dungeon Munchies. It should keep players on their toes.
1 Take Manual Notes
As mentioned earlier, Dungeon Munchies does have some Metroidvania elements. Players will randomly be rewarded with new body parts in-between stages. These parts will grant the player new traversal abilities such as double jumping without the need for the mosquito dish anymore as well as wall jumping. There is no map in the game, or at least there isn’t in the early stages.
This means it is easy to get lost, or hard to remember previous stages with impassible obstacles. That’s why it is recommended for players to take manual notes. Take a screenshot of the blocked passage. Then mark down what stage that screenshot was taken from. This should help with finding secrets easier even if it does sound like busywork. It definitely is, but there is a reason why every stage in Dungeon Munchies can be traveled back to. That’s the only hint that should matter.
Dungeon Munchies was released on December 15, 2021 and is available on PC and Switch.
