Grill Chefs - Restaurant Simulator Β· published
In Grill Chefs, preparing ingredients is about much more than pressing a button and waiting for the result! Hello, Chefs! π¨βπ³ Today, we're excited to introduce one of the most important systems shaping the gameplay of Grill Chefs: our Physics-Based Cutting & Chopping System! From the beginning, our goal has been to make food preparation something players actively participate in, rather than simply watching an animation play out. Even chopping a single tomato can become a little kitchen adventure!
First, you pick up the vegetable you want to prepare and place it on the cutting board. While holding a chef's knife in your right hand, you can use your left hand to hold, rotate, and position the vegetable for cutting. Then you choose from the available cutting styles, including dicing, slicing, rings, and other ingredient-specific cuts. Not every vegetable is prepared the same way. Your selected cutting style determines both the knife movements and the portions you'll produce. You're not just watching an animation. You're actively managing the preparation process.
This is where things get interesting! When necessary, the first cutting action automatically trims stems, roots, or other unwanted parts before the actual chopping begins. Each cutting action completes a separate step in preparing the ingredient. During vertical cuts, the knife moves downward, and separated slices fall or tip onto the board. During horizontal cuts, the knife changes orientation and moves through the vegetable to complete the cut. Some cutting styles require your left hand to rotate the vegetable or reposition its halves before the next cut. You can also speed up the preparation process with rapid chopping. More importantly, the cut surfaces are created from the vegetable's own geometry. As chopping progresses, the shape of the remaining vegetable changes accordingly. The path of the knife and the resulting pieces are directly connected!
In Grill Chefs, the way you cut an ingredient also affects how many portions you receive. For example, dicing a tomato produces 2 portions, while preparing it as thick slices produces 3 portions. This means choosing a cutting style isn't just a cosmetic decision. It's part of how you plan and organize your kitchen. You can also manage ingredients prepared with different cutting styles separately.
You've finished chopping. What happens next? The chopped pieces don't simply disappear or teleport into storage. They remain on the cutting board and form portion piles. When you need space for the next ingredient, you can use your knife to push the chopped pieces toward the edge of the board. If you've prepared different cutting styles, you can select which portion type to pick up. You're managing more than the cutting itself. You're managing your workspace and the ingredients you've prepared.
Once you've finished chopping, you don't need to carry every portion individually. You can transfer compatible portions you've collected on the cutting board into an ingredient container together. Each container holds only one type of vegetable, but different cutting styles of that vegetable can be stored in the same container. For example, you can keep both diced and sliced tomatoes in one container and select the portion type you need later. But what if you stop chopping halfway through? Your progress isn't lost! You can pick up and store the partially prepared vegetable. When you place it back on the cutting board, you continue from exactly where you left off.
A perfectly organized kitchen sounds great... but this is Grill Chefs! π Drop a cutting board or ingredient container, and its contents can scatter across the floor. Chopped ingredients that spill onto the ground become waste, while whole vegetables and partially prepared pieces can still be picked up. Vegetable crates have their own physical behavior, too. Tip one over, and the contents can roll out. Throw it hard enough, and the crate can break apart. Every action in the kitchen has consequences. Keeping things organized or creating absolute chaos is entirely up to you!
Grill Chefs is being developed as an online co-op experience for up to 6 players. To make this possible, ingredient states are managed by the server and synchronized between players. When another chef chops vegetables, you can see the cutting actions and the resulting pieces. Players who join the restaurant later can also see the current state of cutting boards and ingredient containers. We're extensively testing cutting movements, piece placement, physics interactions, and multiplayer behavior to keep the entire system consistent.
Our physics-based cutting and chopping system is one of the foundations of the kitchen experience we're building in Grill Chefs. What excites us isn't just seeing vegetables cut into realistic pieces. It's turning the entire preparation process into gameplay, from picking up an ingredient to storing the finished portions. We're continuing to develop, refine, and test the system to make it feel more natural, responsive, and satisfying. You'll also get to see these mechanics in action in our upcoming Road to Demo #02 video! π¬ What do you think, Chefs? How much would a detailed chopping system add to your restaurant experience? We'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments! π¬ Join our Discord community:
https://discord.gg/Z9taBBUMJZ See you in the kitchen! π₯ β Grill Chefs Development Team