UMAMI Review: A Delightful Treat

If you enjoy cozy games, puzzles, and food-themed games, then UMAMI is just perfect for you. This simple but delightful puzzle game has you piecing together 15 beautifully-designed cakes with different themes. Not only that, but you can discover some sweet surprises as you solve each puzzle. Let’s tuck right into UMAMI and discover why this is a title you should add to your collection of cozy puzzle games.

UMAMI is now available on Steam.

Story – Every Unique Cake Made By a Different Chef

UMAMI doesn’t strictly have a story, and that’s okay. A game like this doesn’t really need it. The main focus is on constructing the 15 cakes available.

However, if there is some form of narrative, it’s with the different chefs responsible for each cake creation. They’re all different animals such as foxes, bees, penguins, and hedgehogs, and with different names. Against each cake recipe, you get a picture of the chef at work.

It’s a cute touch that gives a little extra something to each level, to make it feel like every cake you’re putting together has been lovingly crafted by a different artist. Each cake also has a scrumptious description that will make your mouth water – and want to get cracking with solving. 

Gameplay – Creating Cakes Piece-by-Piece

The core gameplay of UMAMI is to construct awe-inspiring cake creations, and these truly are masterpieces. Each of the 15 cakes you have to piece together really are works of art, and something out of this world. They almost look too good to eat!

Piece of Cake

In UMAMI, you have to put the pieces of the cake together in the right places, almost like a jigsaw puzzle. They come in different shapes and sizes, and are distinguishable by their intricate designs. The cake pieces come in the form of wooden blocks that you must place on the central board. It’s important that you put every single piece in the correct place, so they can all slot together neatly to create a masterful cake tower.

To help you work out where every piece must go, you can bring up a picture of what the finished cake looks like, from the front and the back, to give you a complete 360 view. Fortunately, UMAMI‘s cakes aren’t repetitive. They’re designed in such a way that you can easily distinguish what piece goes where. It’s not so ridiculously easy that you can finish the puzzle in two-minutes flat, but it’s also not so hard that your head will be spinning trying to figure it out. It’s good fun working out what goes where, and very satisfying when you slot a piece in the right place.

The first cake, themed around a cat, half completed.

Something Extra to Find in Every Level

Constructing showstopper cakes isn’t the only thing you can do in each level of UMAMI. You can also locate bonus cards by clicking on the objects scattered across the levels. You can view these cards anytime in between levels. Each card portrays the chef who created the cake in the level you’re currently working on. Finding these cards isn’t mandatory, but it’s a nice extra to give more background character to the chef – and you get an achievement for getting every single card. Also, it’s something for avid collectors to do.

This isn’t the only other achievement you can get. You can also pet the animals on the cakes. It’s a nice touch for animal lovers, and gives you warm fuzzies after completing a complex cake!

One bonus card can be found in each level by clicking on the decorative objects.

Graphics & Audio – Mouthwatering Delights

UMAMI has a cute style that suits the game perfectly, as well as the cakes. Each cake is just so stunning to look at, and they’ve been so uniquely designed from one another. No cake is alike! They’re such masterpieces, you can spend ages admiring all the intricate details. The objects found in the different levels add to the cakes as well, complementing the designs and themes. It’s amazing how well everything just pops out in UMAMI, like you can reach into your screen and pick something up and eat it.

The menu designs and pictures are worthy of a mention as well. Each chef’s design stands out from one another, coming to life in their respective portraits as well as their matching bonus cards.

The music of UMAMI is a nice touch as well. It would have been nice to have had some additional tracks playing throughout, just to vary it a little more. Saying that, the one track that does play on loop is pleasant and easygoing to listen to rather than annoyingly repetitive, providing soft background music as you work through each level and each glorious cake comes together. 

UMAMI was reviewed on PC with a key provided by JJames PR.