Suika-like games have become their own subgenre in the puzzle world. The idea behind them is that you have a contained space to merge objects inside it to score points. The bigger the object, the more combinations it takes to get there, and so the more points that combination is worth. Merged items get increasingly large and often more angular and trickier to move around, making them more awkward to manage. At some point, you’ll run out of room and that signals game over.
Hot Pot Game is a Suika-like that takes on the theme of hot pot food. The smallest item to throw into your hot pot is a potato. As soon as two potatoes touch, they become one shrimp. Two shrimps become one tomato, two tomatoes become one carrot, two carrots then become one pumpkin and so on up the food chain. Eventually, you’ll hit crab status if you are skilled and lucky. Whilst Hot Pot Game has several modes, most of the modes have you dropping ingredients in from the top of the pot. This means you’ll want to drop them in places where combos could happen, but as things merge all the time, that goal is a moving feast… literally.
To make Hot Pot Game stand out, there is a levelling-up system that introduces special abilities into your pantry. You can choose from randomly selected upgrades and they’ll drop into a separate container for you to use when you see fit. I love the theming of everything. The potato masher gets rid of all potatoes. Salt dries up ingredients, making them smaller. You can temporarily make the pot wider for a few turns. There is a powerful insert ability that means you can click in the pot where you want the next ingredient to go, potentially saving you from certain game over. You can also add on special angel wings that protect you from game over failure indefinitely. Usually, if an ingredient is sticking out the top of the pot, you have 5 seconds to get it back inside, or you’ll be out. Angel wings prevent that, simply removing the offending object from play.
Whilst there are modes of the main game with and without pantry special abilities, there is also a circular magnet pot mode. Then places a magnet in the centre of the screen, and you’ll be tasked to throw ingredients in a constantly rotating circular level. This is just as playable as the base game and comes with multiple variants like the main game. There is also Abnormality Mode, which triggers special events like eruptions, space travel, or shooting stars to spawn. Lastly, ‘Chestnut Mode’ has the hot pot spawning chestnuts over time. You can’t merge them together on their own, you have to get rid of them by merging ingredients next to them. Leave them too long and your pot will be full of things you can’t get rid of. Each mode has its own leaderboards locally and online, with daily, weekly, and all-time filters.
It’s the variety of modes and abilities, working in tandem with some excellent theming, that makes Hot Pot Game competent. Whilst the graphics and audio are rough around the edges, the intention and variety are here and make up for the roughness. Hot Pot Game carries the spirit of Doujin but as a Suika-like puzzler, and whilst it’s not the best in the subgenre, it does have plenty of replayability.
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