Pelican Empyrean

A minimalist roguelike cooking card game where food and magic combine into a fantastical adventure!

The wealthy Pelican has his sights set on the sky paradise of the empyrean, but his beak is too full to reach it. As it dawns on him that he's weighed down by a life of greed, he resolves to transmute his wealth into gifts for any and all people, one delicious meal at a time.

Feed the People!
Each round you're dealt a guest and a meal. Each guest has their own quirks about how they want their food prepared. It's up to you to manipulate ingredients to find all the right elements to cook the perfect meal, but make sure it satisfies the guest's needs too! Are they a glutton, an aristocrat, a fussy child?
Open your kitchen and your heart to every individual!
Each meal is more than just its ingredients - a good chef knows how to pay close attention to the needs of their guests and infuse their cooking with the magic of love and the love of magic!

Overshoot the Target!
Complete a set of meals by reaching the target score. Reach the target by preparing good meals. The twist is that all points you get beyond the target convert into money, so be strategic about how and when to overshoot the score for  the greatest rewards!
The Magic of Artefacts
But it's not about greed! Use that reward money to buy magic artefacts that can flip the rules of cooking on their head, to bend reality and create out-of-this-world deliciousness. And beware the looming Devourer - a malevolent bird of prey that feeds on magic and will eat the artefacts right out of your kitchen.

It's Not a Deckbuilder?
At least not in the traditional sense. Instead, building up your collection of artefacts and actively choosing when and how to cast their spells is the locus of your creative empowerment across each run.
Transcend!
Cooking itself can only get you so far, synergies of magical artefacts are the real secret sauce. In the end, just a few powerfully good deeds can bring the whole artifice crumbling down and transcend the Sisyphean task you’ve set for yourself.
So be bold, and play without fear! Curiosity and experimentation are rewarded - sticking to the straight and narrow is not a sustainable path to success. A secret way is hidden in plain sight....
The End in Mind
So it's a play forever game right? As a roguelike, for sure it has a ton of replayability, but also we believe in closure, so there's a very definite ending you can aim for, and even a few delicious secrets beyond that!