CATering: Roadtrip Rivals is an action game for PC that puts players in control of a crew of cats operating a food truck on a global culinary journey. The core experience centers on cooking regional dishes at festivals while traveling between destinations with friends, blending preparation tasks with opportunities for direct competition and interference.
Gameplay
The central loop involves preparing meals drawn from real-world festival cuisines. Players chop ingredients, manage cooking stations, plate dishes, and serve customers under time pressure. Each stop introduces new recipes and local ingredients that must be incorporated to satisfy demand and build reputation. Between festivals the group drives custom roads modeled after actual locations, stopping at scenic points for additional activities. Customization options let players alter the truck's appearance and assemble a personal cat crew, which influences both visual style and how the team operates during service.
Competition arises naturally during service. Crew members share the same limited space and resources, so one player's actions can directly affect others. Throwing ingredients, knocking over equipment, or disrupting the flow of orders turns routine cooking into a scramble. The emphasis stays on quick decisions and physical interactions rather than long-term strategy, keeping sessions fast-paced and reactive.
Game Modes
Play supports both cooperative and competitive approaches within the same sessions. Groups can focus on joint success by coordinating to complete orders efficiently and maximize overall ratings. Alternatively, individuals can prioritize personal performance, racing to serve the most customers or earn the highest individual scores. Sabotage elements encourage players to interfere with rivals' stations while still contributing to the shared goal of keeping the truck running. Road segments between festivals add lighter activities that break up the cooking phases without requiring separate mode selection.
No distinct named modes exist beyond these integrated styles. The same core systems handle both friendly collaboration and direct rivalry, with the balance shifting based on how participants choose to engage.
Travel and Customization
Destinations draw from real locations and their food cultures, offering new ingredients and presentation styles at each festival. After service ends, the crew packs up and drives onward along procedurally varied routes inspired by actual geography. These drives include optional stops for minigames and exploration that reward discovery with new recipes or truck upgrades. The journey itself forms a significant portion of the experience, giving players time to experiment with crew compositions and truck modifications before the next cooking challenge.
Customization extends to both the vehicle and the feline staff. Different cat personalities and appearances change how tasks are handled and how chaos unfolds when competition intensifies. Players can mix and match elements to suit preferred playstyles, whether emphasizing efficiency or leaning into disruptive tactics.
Is It Worth Playing?
CATering: Roadtrip Rivals suits groups that enjoy chaotic multiplayer action mixed with light management tasks. The combination of cooking under pressure and opportunities to sabotage friends creates memorable sessions that reward both teamwork and mischief. Sessions scale well with different group sizes, and the road-trip structure provides natural pacing between intense cooking segments. Players who prefer pure cooperation or pure competition may find the blended approach less ideal, but those open to switching between the two will find plenty to explore. The game remains in active development with ongoing additions to recipes and routes, making it a solid choice for regular multiplayer nights focused on creative chaos rather than serious simulation.
