There’s few things in life that can have as varied an impact as food. To some its cultural heritage, memories, a way to bond with friends, a way to relax after a long day, or just simply nutrition so you don’t die. Food in gaming is no different. A background task, or a critical component can take many different forms and engagement styles. So it makes sense to have a game about those aspects. Using food as a tool to remember past family members, and to bring together new friends. Combine that with a cozy road trip, and cute animal characters, and then you’ve got a potential recipe for success… This… is Fruitbus.
There were a good number of interesting indie titles shown off during the Summer Showcases. Fruitbus from Krillbite Studio was one of the titles sitting closer to the top of my interest list. A cozy little title involving you taking over your late grandmother’s food truck, and driving around gathering all manner of fruits and veggies, before crafting them into delicious… Or not so delicious, recipes to serve to your waiting customers. Krillbite have tried to create something unique and interesting here, and that’s what indie games do best. A game that celebrates the idea of how food brings us together, connects us to the past and allows us to remember those who might have left us. It’s a noble idea, and a great little hook as well. Fruitbus starts off with you running around enjoying some quality time with your grandmother, before flashing forward 10 years. Grandma has passed on, and left you her Fruitbus and a simple task of throwing a farewell feast for her friends to reminisce, remember, and celebrate.
Along the way you’ll meet a wonderful cast of characters who each had their own run-ins with Grandma and her Fruitbus and share their memories of her with you. It’s quaint, a simple wish being fulfilled. When you start your journey you’re only able to make salads. This involves chopping items and putting them in a bowl, over the course of your roadtrip you’ll learn smoothies, bread, stir fries and a host of other delicious items. The core loop here is a simple one to understand, which is what you want from a cozy game. Go out and gather items, bring them back to your truck, open up shop and craft the requested items for your customers, giving it your own flair along the way.
You’re not alone in this journey though. Grandma’s riding shotgun the whole time, allowing you to remember stories and memories you shared with her, as well as having a cute narrator tell you about new items when you discover them in the world. There’s charm to it, you’re building something of your own, while remembering that Grandma lived her own crazy life you only saw parts of. She even drove the bus down the side of a volcano. There’s a path you’re walking here, like footsteps left from those before, you’re making your own path while remembering and visiting theirs. Seeing how they did it, and then setting out to do it your own way, with your own truck and food style.
Outside of the food system, you’ll also be tasked with looking after the truck itself. Bonding with it in a way that’s reminiscent of Pacific Drive for me. This truck might have been Grandma’s, but now it’s yours and you can make it your own. Customization options include decorations, toppers, paint, and much more. It makes the entire journey feel more personal, this is a passing of the torch. Remembering that which has passed, as well as celebrating it. Passing the torch to the newer generation who’ll keep the memories alive. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I spent a good amount of time customizing the interior layout of my truck to get the benches and storage just right, before then coloring it all kinds of different ways.
Customisation is key here, and Krillbite have done a good job of not only allowing that freedom when it comes to the recipes and food, but also the truck, it opens the game up to be much less restrictive and freeing. You can choose what you want to do, simply throw together the easiest recipes, while focusing on the truck. Go for efficiency over homeliness in the interior and set your benches up for speed, while creating custom recipes designed to be the best combinations for money. It’s your truck, you make the rules.
And what freedom you have. There have been few moments this year in games that have left me as happy as watching a tourist order a smoothie, sneaking a chili pepper into it and waiting for the reaction. I’m only sad there’s not more of a disgust reaction when I serve customers trash food, or when they order weird combinations like… A garlic smoothie? I’m sorry, who orders a Garlic smoothie. You total wrongun.
Not all of Fruitbus comes up fresh and fruity though. Some areas feel a little neglected, either on purpose due to design, or limitations of being a smaller indie team. The areas and setting are great, but there’s a good amount of the world that just feels like it’s there to create distance between the points of interest you’re traveling to. Most of the food you’ll be gathering are at these points of interest, so outside of a few collectibles there’s not really any reason to stop in the middle of nowhere and explore. It’s a minor issue, but given that the food items you gather can expire, I was hoping for more abundancy when it came to the placements. You’re limited on space in the truck so there’s no harm in having a few more spawn points in my mind.
It’s also at this point that I need to put the brakes on this road trip, we were given a pre-release copy of the game to review, and with that came the caveat that there might still be gremlins running around the system. One of those regrettably cut our journey short, as we randomly lost our tools out of our backpack. I’m not going to be too harsh on the game for this, it was a pre-release version, we have informed the devs of the issue, supplied footage of it, and while it did happen to us, I’m not entirely sure it’s going to be a widespread issue. While it hinders us from experiencing the full game, I’m not going to be heavily marking down the game for the issue but sadly it did prevent us from seeing the end of Grandma’s journey.
Ok, with that pitstop out of the way let’s bring this bus home. Fruitbus is the kind of cozy game that I adore. I’m a sucker for any kind of crafting system, and when you combine that with the personalization of your own Fruitbus, it just lifts it that little bit higher. The game elicits memories of Pacific Drive and games like Atelier for me. That personal connection to your vehicle, while roaming around the world, gathering items and then crafting your own little things out of them. The world is more hub based than I would like, but it doesn’t detract too heavily from the charm, nor does it impede your ability to just kick back, relax, and enjoy making a smoothie or two while reflecting on the crazy tales of Grandma.
