Ever wonder what you’d get if you blended Cooking Mama and Fallout? Us neither, but While We Wait Here does just that and, based on its demo, it’s set to be a moving but haunting experience.
When we say Fallout, we’re not thinking about lone survivors, exploring the wasteland and taking on Deathclaws. This is Cooking Mama by way of Fallout 4’s opening, with people just waiting for the end, knowing there’s nothing they can do about it.
At least, that’s what While We Wait Here, from the maker of Ravenous Devils, appears to be about. Your character, the co-owner of a roadside diner, appears to be something of an unreliable protagonist. And while we don’t want to spoil things too much, he’s oddly undisturbed about some things that happen before his eyes, like the hazmat-suited CSU member who just turns up in the storeroom.
The demo lulls you into a false sense of security as you potter around cooking burgers. You’ll wish you could throw something at one, drunk abrasive customer, but there’s nothing too out of the ordinary. The Steam store description makes it clear what the game is about, so we were expecting the TV to jump into life. Were we going to go be warned of a sudden, impending asteroid impact?
No, we weren’t. Instead, the way While We Wait Here pulls back its curtain, to reveal the real state of the world, is deeply disturbing. And.. that’s where the demo ends. We were so disappointed we didn’t get more, you could hear our yell of frustration halfway across town. But we absolutely want to see where this goes next.
What will Cliff, your harried chef do next? Keep on cooking while the world’s lights go out? How soon will the cracks start to appear? And what about his partner Nora… who… well, spoilers. Let’s just say that While We Wait Here promises to offer a unique, unsettling spin on the restaurant sim.
The demo doesn’t have a confirmed release date, though developer Bad Vices Games is aiming for 2024. You can get While We Wait Here’s demo on Steam, and if you’re as impressed as we were, why not give it a wishlist?
