‘More Than You Can Chew’ Is a Smoothie-Based Deck Builder Game That Has the Juice, Both Literally and Figuratively (Hands-on Impressions)

When I first saw gameplay screenshots of More Than You Can Chew, I wasn’t sure what I was looking at. It reminded me of something I’d see on Intergalactic Cable. Or something that would be playing on a TV during Grand Theft Auto. Its weirdly smooth aesthetic, combined with its surprisingly in-depth card management, led me to discover an interesting deck builder that I likely would have never heard of before. Even if the first year that I played was slightly confusing, it’s a game I know I’ll be returning to on my phone and computer again and again.

‘More Than You Can Chew’ Offers a Strategic Take On Food Preparation Sims in a Way I Never Imagined

More Than You Can Chew is a game about serving up smoothies. But, you wouldn’t get that from just looking at it. Heck, I still can’t believe it, even after dropping more than a few hours into this free-to-play card builder. Using bizarre fruits like Burnberry and Lemmy’s together, I could make delicious drinks for the weird little guys that were lining up outside of my food truck in expert fashion. It’s surprisingly in-depth, even if the experience doesn’t look like it would be.

For example, I needed to serve a customer a smoothie that contained three of the same fruit. I found out that I couldn’t just throw everything into the same blender at the same time. No, no. That would be far too easy. I would need to use a specific card, like a Zingify, to raise the level of the fruit to make it suitable to hand over to the dude outside. I will say, I absolutely vibe with the aesthetic. But I will also admit it took a little while to finally get my groove.

I was just kind of thrown into my role in More Than You Can Chew. Which does make sense thematically with the tone of the game. This food truck doesn’t belong to me, but rather, to my brother. He’s busy, so I’m trying to help out and I don’t really have much of a clue as to what I’m doing. The line continues to grow, but so does my eagerness to learn more about what’s coming next.

It’s a Charming deck builder, but I Do Think a Bit of Handholding To Start May Be of Value

More Than You Can Chew is one of those types of games that has plenty to offer. A lot is going on here, both visually and gameplay-wise. This project started as a Game Jam title, and after falling in love with the concept, Oopsy Gamesy wanted it to be more than the sum of its parts. And More Than You Can Chew does that, easily. But I will not deny, giving players unfamiliar with the genre a bit of additional help at the start of the game may not be a bad idea.

I’ve played several Deck Builder games before, once again both literally and metaphorically. So I’m rather familiar with the general idea of how to play them. My wife, on the other hand, was drawn in by the aesthetic and put off by the lack of direction. However, after helping her out a little bit with the process and how to make it work? She started to slowly find her groove when it came to playing More Than You Can Chew.

If you’re intrigued by the artstyle or the general premise, I can recommend giving this one a download. The best part of it all? It’s completely free on itch.io, and it’s available to play on Mac, Linux, Windows, and Android. That way, if you decide you don’t like it? Throw it into the blender with the Peachicot and see what you can make. But, I would suggest giving More Than You Can Chew a try and seeing if it’s right up your alley.