Cake Bash review

There are few sweet treats more universally beloved than cake. Whether you’re into cheesecake, muffins, or a Cherry Bakewell, it’s hard to resist the unhealthy appeal of baked goods. It isn’t always easy to choose a cake when offered several choices of delicious dessert, and if Cake Bash is to be believed nobody wants to be the last pudding left behind.

The aim of Cake Bash is to win the most bakery based mini-games to be crowned the tastiest treat. Each mini-game rewards chocolate coins to the winner, which can be used to buy decorations to ensure you appeal to the customer coming to collect a sugary snack at the end of the day. With a bit of luck, skill, and some ultra-violence, you’ll be able to reign supreme and leave your friends stuck on the shelf.

Controlling your cake of choice is easy. From the isometric perspective, you can punch, dash and unleash a powerful charge attack. There are also weapons and items that you’ll find strewn across your chosen battlefield, that you can swing or throw at your foes to send the crumbs flying.

There are two types of mini-games you play in a full game of Cake Bash. The main type are called Cake Bashes, and each have a different objective. Sometimes you’ll be challenged to collect the most jelly beans, with the added twist of being able to punch the little sweeties off your opponent’s moist body. There’s Fruity Pie where you have to throw the most berries into a flan, with golden berries worth extra points. My personal favourite game is Sparkler where whoever is carrying the colourful burning stick earns points, and extra points are awarded for holding it as the star shape at the end burns. All of these games use the same basic control scheme, but the objective and stages make each round feel totally different.

The stages are perfectly imagined for the confectionery theme, packed full of thematic hazards to prevent you from bringing home the chocolate gold. Boxes of your cake brethren fall from the ceiling at the bakery, whereas on the Patio a rogue pigeon will try to wreck your batter based body. Every combination of objective and stage brings something new to the table, and if you find a favourite you can vote to play it next between rounds.

As well as Cake Bashes, there are also Snack rounds. These shorter contests play totally differently, ranging from filling a scone with the perfect spread of cream, to skewering the best combination of fruit from a chocolate fountain. The highlight of these shorter games is definitely the Gateau Royal, where all 4 players have to survive on a crumbling cake as knives and forks rain down from above.

After every couple of rounds, you’ll be taken to the shop to spend your coins on decorations. Your final score at the end of the game depends entirely on what you buy. You’re rewarded with bonus points for getting three of any decoration, but as all 4 players are able to run and buy items at the same time you might miss out. There’s also a Gashapon machine if you want a random item on the cheap, but it’s also packed full of mouldy items that will severely impact your score. There’s a lot of strategy and risk when spending your hard-earned chocolate, so even if you don’t succeed in the mini-games there’s an opportunity to beat your buddies overall.

Each game of Cake Bash is 7 rounds long, with 4 trips to the shop before the final judgement. There are options to play with Bots, local friends and even online. The Bots aren’t really going to pose much of a challenge after you’ve played a couple of games, but they are perfectly adequate to help fill out a lobby. Online play can be enjoyed with friends or randoms too, thanks to the handy Matchcaking system.

One of my favourite aspects of Cake Bash is just how many playable cakes there are. They are all just skins really, but the desserts are just so charming with their realistic models brought to life with stick arms and legs. You can play as different flavours of doughnut, cupcake, éclair l, Victoria Sponge and more. I spent most of my time playing as a strawberry Fondant Fancy (the tastiest member of the Fancy Family) until I unlocked a unicorn cupcake that was just too flamboyant to ignore. There are loads of skins to unlock, each with different requirements needed.

Cake Bash is a charming and thoroughly entertaining party game, that’s fun to play locally or online. The unique combination of mini-games and shopping adds an enjoyable layer onto the mini-game mayhem, and the aesthetic is just delicious. If you can rope some friends in for a few rounds of frantic batter battering, then Cake Bash is the most fun you can have in a bakery without piling on the pounds.