Arcane Eats is a fun turn-based deck-building card game with mechanics and visuals similar to Hearthstone. But unlike the famous Blizzard title, this game is more about cooking, cozy atmosphere, and some really nasty customers! This Arcane Eats beginner's guide will make it easier for you to understand game mechanics, cooking strategies, and, most importantly, which cards are the best. Bon appétit!
How to Play Arcane Eats Walkthrough
Arcane Eats looks like a cozy cooking game, but it's actually a very layered card game where you must carefully plan if you want to defeat enemies (very mean customers). To make it easier for you to understand how things work, we'll start by translating the game's culinary terminology into classic card game language.
Basic Game Terminology (And What It Actually Means)
| In-Game Terminology | What It Means |
|---|---|
| Cook Time | Dormant period |
| Customer | Enemy |
| Energy | Mana |
| Hunger | Customer's hit points |
| Mind | Health |
| Tempted | Taunt |
| Tough | Armor |
| Food | Attack |
| Ingredient | Minion card |
| Tool | Spell card |
| Cooks | Heroes |
| Assistants | Familiars |
| Guild | Deck Type |
Best Cards in Arcane Eats
As we only played the Arcane Eats demo, not all cards and decks are available to play with. That said, some cards have become my favorites as they help me deal more easily with those annoying customers.
| Card | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
 Phoenix Egg | Ingredient | * Draws a card * Cheap * Fireproof - goes to discard instead of burned pile |
 Plate Armor Pasta Shells | Ingredient | * Triple damage * Heavy - protects your meal * Comes in three, allowing you to spread it on all meals |
 Siege Crabs | Ingredient | * Tough - Protects your mind (health) for a turn * Multiple stacks on one meal |
 Mystical Slow Cooker | Tool | * Adds a massive amount of food (DMG) at the cost of slowing the cooking process |
 Dream Shrimp | Ingredient | * Adds food to x5 to random cooktops * Great as a protection against customers * Combo potential |
How to Buff Cards - Town Management
Before the combat, you'll buy, discard, and upgrade cards, hire assistants, and restore health. To do this, visit each building in the town and look for cards and buffs that best suit your deck. To translate that to game lingo - when the restaurant is closed, you'll pick groceries and improve recipes to build your restaurant menu and impress customers and food critics (bosses).
Buying priorities for each Savory Springs building:
| Building | What to Buy/Hire/Use |
|---|---|
| Hiring Agency | Hire the Count as he gives you 5 Toughnes (armor) each round if you've played three or less cards |
| Market | Save money for golden cards that cost 100 Gold. |
| Kitchen Supply | Look for Tools that protect your ingredient, like Reinforced Iron Lid. Mystical Slow Cooker is also an excellent choice. |
| The Bottomless Pit | Ignore it unless you have really bad cards and Gold to spend on discarding. |
| Sauce Pool | Don't upgrade cards unless you have really good ones or have surplus of Gold. |
| Fountain Spa | Here, you restore health for Gold. Avoid using unless really necessary. |
| Charms | Not available in demo. |
Related: Best Trading Card Games (TCG)
Best Cooking Strategy in Arcane Eats
For the best combat (cooking) results in Arcane Eats, you need to combat defensive tactics with careful meal planning. That's especially true against mini bosses and food critics (Guy Fierr, who's an actual ferry).
- Start preparing multiple meals, but calculate it so you can feed the first customer quickly and have food ready for the next one.
- If you don't have the Count assistant, always use Tough cards to protect yourself against attacks.
- Use cards that multiply on several stoves so you have multiple feeding options.
- Don't forget to protect your meals from customers who bump into them.
- Don't rush! Feed customers only when you're ready to take them down, unless you need an extra stove. Some customers become even more annoying (stronger attack) if you feed them bit by bit.
Arcane Eats Demo FAQ
Arcane Eats is planned for release in 2026, though the exact date is yet to be announced. We'll update you on this as soon as we have more information.
According to the demo, Arcane Eats full version will have three guilds (deck types) on launch. It's expected that more guilds will be added in updates. Each guild has its own cards and approach to cooking.
The Count is by far the best assistant in the game as he gives you 5 Toughness each round, letting you focus on creating meals instead of worrying about defense.
Now that you know more about Arcane Eats, check out Best Card Games on PC, here on Pro Game Guides.
Nebojša Prijić is a Managing Editor at Pro Game Guides with over 25 years of experience in journalism, screenwriting, and copywriting. He previously worked as Editor-in-Chief of Maxim Serbia magazine and the IGN Adria website. Nebojša is an old-school gamer who loves real-time strategies, shooters, and RPGs, but most of all, he plays Roblox and mobile games with his son. He remembers the first Diablo, PC games on a single floppy disk, and playing Mortal Kombat on the keyboard.
