Big News, Little Chefs!

Today is a huge day for us! Kokoro Kitchen is officially launching on October 17th, just 4 weeks away!

It feels totally surreal to be this close to the finish line. There's still a bit of polishing and cozy chaos ahead, but were feeling really good about where things are heading. That said, you know us. We like to keep things chill and flexible. If anything unexpected pops up and we need a little more time, well keep you in the loop.

Thank you so so much for being on this journey with us. Your support means the world, and we seriously cant wait for you to step into the warm, delicious world of Kokoro Kitchen.

Let the countdown begin!

We appreciate you!

Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!

Kokoro Kitchen Demo 2.0 is live now! This little taste of our game will cover 5 in-game days and includes:

starting cut scene and tutorial

15 recipes

8 upgrades

1 very special NPCs

We really hope you enjoy this little slice of what our game has too offer.

Mac and Linux versions are also available! These have not been tested, so if you have any issues please reach out to us in our discord. We would really love to hear from you and it would be really helpful as we finish up the game

We hope you have fun!

Appreciate you!

Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!

The last puzzle pieces are clicking into place and our game is almost ready! Last weekend, we kicked off a full-game playtest with a small, and very important, group of testers. Within just a few hours, they had uncovered some silly bugs we were sure we had fixed. Thank goodness for their feedback, we couldnt bring this game to life without them!

We also have a brand-new trailer to share! Its live on our Steam page now, along with fresh screenshots and spruced-up videos in our game description. The updates to the game might seem small, but to us, they make the whole game sparkle just a little more.

In more exciting news, it looks like we can whip up a second demo for you! Were aiming to have it ready in time for the Cozy Jobs Simulator event kicking off this weekend. This little slice of our game game will cover 5 in-game days and includes:

starting cut scene and tutorial

15 recipes

8 upgrades

1 very special NPCs

There will almost certainly still be some bugs hiding in there, and wed love your help in catching them. Your feedback means the world to us, and its how we make the game the best it can be!

We appreciate you all!

Axie & Leaf

P.S. You might want to keep an eye out for a special announcement next Friday!

Hey Little Chef!
Since our demo, weve really been cooking up a storm with this game!
All 42 recipes are now in, along with a whole range of upgrades and our special NPCs (aka the Regulars). We even added two new hairstyles for your customization!

In this video, youll catch a glimpse of some of the little touches we've added:

• Tabs in your recipe book that slide out and let you sort recipes

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• Dash trails on your character

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• Trails on items when you pick them up and put them down

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• Floating ghostly prep ingredients on the prep table that populate with the real version once you play the mini-game

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Heres what we are working on next:

• Regulars reacting when your menu doesn't have what they want

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• A brand new mini-game for making Miso Paste

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• The long-awaited tutorial (finally!)

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Were right on track for our planned release date, which well be announcing soon!
Thank you for sticking with us. We cant wait to serve this game up to you.

We appreciate you!
Axie & Leaf

Thank You for an Amazing Demo!

Our first demo has now officially closed, and we just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who played and shared their feedback! Your support means the world to us.

Over the past two weeks, weve experienced some amazing growth thanks to you all:
8,326 new wishlists (totaling 15,264 now!) and ranked 2,153 in wishlists on steam!

This wouldnt have been possible without you, and were so grateful for all the insights, encouragement, and suggestions youve given us.

Well be running another demo/playtest closer to launch and this one may only be open to our Discord community. If youd like to get early access, help shape the game, or just stay chat about recipes, be sure to join us on Discord (here ).

Thank you again for making this first playtest such a success. We cant wait to show you whats next!

We appreciate you!

Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!

Thank you all so much for the incredible love and support you've shown our game during the events weve been part of this past week! From sweet messages to thoughtful feedback and just taking the time to check out our demoit truly means the world to us.

As a small thank you, weve decided to leave our demo up for another week! So if you havent had a chance to play yet (or want to dive back in), nows the perfect time.

From the bottom of our heartsthank you.

We appreciate you!

Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!

The Kokoro Kitchen demo is out NOW! We hope you enjoy playing it, and please share it with your friends.

The Demo is pretty small but it should allow you to touch each of the important parts of our game - cooking, serving, farming, special NPCs, and more!

We also pushed a little update yesterday:

• Fix of issue that was preventing launch or causing trouble when switching resolutions/screen mode.

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Please reach out to us using the survey in the game or our email (mangoleafgames@gmail.com) if any issues come up!

Appreciate you!

Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!

Were so excited to share that were part of the Women-Led Games Sale event on Steam, starting today! Its an incredible celebration of games led by women creators and were honored to be included.

To mark the occasion, weve also unveiled our brand new Steam capsule art! We wanted the new look to capture the cozy, heartfelt spirit of our game and we hope you love it as much as we do. Koda Constellation is the amazing artist that created this for us - if you are interested in a commission of your own check out Koda here: https://vgen.co/KodaConstellation

But thats not all...

Tune in tomorrow - Saturday, June 7 at 11:00 AM for the official Women-Led Games Showcase, where well be showing off something new weve been working on!

Watch it live here:

https://youtube.com/@Women-LedGames

Thank you so much for supporting indie devs and women-led teams.
Weve got our demo coming soon, so stay cozy and keep cooking!

We appreciate you!

-Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs,
Thank You for Playing the Kokoro Kitchen Playtest!

Our playtest has officially come to a close, and were so incredibly grateful for everyone who took the time to play, explore our little restaurant, and share your thoughts with us.

Your feedback has been invaluablefrom cozy compliments to helpful suggestions, its all helping us make Kokoro Kitchen the best it can be. Weve already started making changes based on what you told us (yes, we heard you about the tutorial needs ), and we cant wait to show you whats next.

This is just the beginning! If youd like to follow along with development updates, join our cozy little community on Discord: Link here And dont forget to wishlist the game to stay updated on future demos and our full release!

Thank you again for all the support and kind words. Youve made our heartsand our ghostly customersvery full.

We appreciate you!
Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!
Weve been cooking up some fixes and improvements based on your feedback so far. Thank you SO MUCH for everything you have shared up to this point. We are hoping these updates make the playtesting experience even better! Heres whats new in this update:

Customer Clumping Fix

No more customer traffic jams they should now politely navigate around each other instead of forming a mosh pit in front of your store.

UI Scaling Improvements

Weve tweaked screen resolutions so the UI should now behave across different screen sizes. Big screen? Small screen? Steamdeck? We got you. (Hopefully - please let us know if there are still issues!)

Chill Vibes Update

NPC order patience has been extended to help take the edge off the rush. Things should feel a bit more manageable now!

Tutorial Access

We indicated some important keys on the starting screen you help you out at the beginning. You can now also find a helpful tutorial page right in the main menu.

ESC Functionality

Pressing ESC (as well as TAB) will now bring up the menu because that's what ESC should do.

No More Shadow Realm Shenanigans

Plates and watering cans can no longer be yeeted into the void. RIP dimensional chaos.

Upgrade Fixes

All items can be placed on the side table now.

Takeout meals are now gated behind the proper upgrade no sneaky early takeout action!

Thanks for playing and for all your feedback please check out this updated version and let us know what else we can do to make the final version of this game even better!

We appreciate you!
Mango Leaf Games

P.S. You shouldn't lose your earlier save, but if you do please let us know!

Hey Little Chefs!

Our first Playtest had just gone Live! If you have signed up, you should receive a notification as well.

The Playtest Build features elements from all the important parts of our games:

• Purchase new recipes
• Grab crops for your garden
• Get upgrades for your Kitchen and Restaurant
• Play mini-games in the Preparation Room
  

Hey Little Chefs!
We opened our playtest sign ups over the weekend - thank you to all the chefs that have already joined!

We've been adding a lot of juicy polish to the game this past week like:
- pretty UI for mixing meals, cooking, etc.
- fun animation for the character for assembling meals, watering plants, etc.
- First pass at a tutorial system!
We can't wait to see what you all think!

The playtest will launch sometime around March 31st. I'm sorry we can't give you an exact date - we just want to give ourselves the time we need to get a solid version off to you all!

So excited to hear your feedback!!

We appreciate you!
Axie & Leaf

Hey Little Chefs!
We have been hard at work getting things together for our first big playtest at the end of March! We got some really helpful feedback from close friends and are working hard this week to implement their suggestions before we have you all give it a try!

Here are some of the things that we are adding to the game for the playtest:
- Character Customization: Check out some of these cute options! We will also have other clothing and hair options for you all to play around with <3
- Adding Some Juiciness: Working on some cozy UI indicators for when your meal is cooking, when you clear your work station, and when you assemble the meals.
- Controller Support: Implementing some controller support as well as mouse support - since the game is really just keyboard controlled at the moment.
- and Much More!!

We are trying to make the playtest the best it can be, while also know we can't get everything done yet. We are soooo very excited to get all your feedback!!!

Keep your eyes on Kokoro Kitchen - Big things are coming!

Appreciate you!
Axie & Leaf

Hello Chefs!
Welcome to the first update from Kokoro Kitchen! We are very excited to share some new areas with you and updates on the previous spaces. This recent screenshot update includes showing off the farm, the preparation station room, the bedroom, and the starting screen. Honestly, finally having a starting screen in the game is huge - the game finally feels real!

We are working hard to give each space a little bit of juice - adding sound FX, music, little bits of animation here and there - so that our first playtesters can get a true sense of our vision. In the coming weeks, we intended to show off a little game play video - and our to do list before then includes:
- Finalizing the day/night cycle
- Updating the merchant system - including adding in our adorable Merchant NPC
- Incorporate additional functionality for purchasing upgrades & new recipes

While many of those systems are already build out in the code (YAY Leaf! He works so hard <3), we finally have some 3D asset to use and can start actually making more recipes - like the Katsu Sandwich and all our sushi options!

As for our timeline moving forward (and when you get your hands on something playable) here is what you can expect:
- Late March: Playtesting begins! It will likely be a little rough and we would appreciate all the feedback to help us polish it up before we release our first demo!
- Summer Steam Next Fest: First big Demo launch!!
- October: Game release!

Please keep in mind, we both work full time while making this game and, though we put out heart and soul into it every spare minute we have, this timeline may change as life/work things take their toll.

If you are interested in being a playtester - or just hanging out with us devs - please join our Discord! (You'll find the link on our steam page).

Appreciate you!
Axie & Leaf