Bistro Heroes

If you’ve ever wanted to save the world and serve soup while doing it, Bistro Heroes from Team Tapas (of A Girl Adrift fame) is the casual RPG you didn’t know you needed. It’s a charming little mash-up of monster hunting, fantasy cooking, and town-building, all wrapped in an art style so cute it might just give you cavities.

The loop is simple but satisfying: venture out into bite-sized battles, hunt down all manner of fantasy critters, and come home with armfuls of ingredients. Those go straight into your bistro’s kitchen, where you whip up dishes to sell for gold. That gold? It funds everything from unlocking one of 11 adorable heroes to decking out your restaurant and town with whimsical furniture that also buffs your party’s stats.

Combat is refreshingly hands-off but far from brainless. Your four chosen heroes attack automatically, but you’ll still need to time special abilities just right to avoid disaster. Each character comes with unique strengths, and swapping in the right team for each stage’s enemies adds a light layer of strategy to the otherwise relaxing flow.

Customization is where Bistro Heroes really struts its stuff. Hero outfits range from cute to ridiculous, and decorating your town is half the fun, especially when every sofa, table, and painting quietly makes your team stronger. Monetization exists in the form of optional in-app purchases for cosmetics, energy, and skins, but nothing here feels locked behind a paywall, patience wins the day.

With its fairytale visuals, gentle pacing, and quirky “RPG-meets-cooking” premise, Bistro Heroes feels like a warm bowl of stew on a rainy afternoon: simple, comforting, and unexpectedly satisfying.