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Kirby's Dream Buffet facts for kids

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Kirby's Dream Buffet
Cover art, depicting four Kirbys of different colors on a large cake
Cover art
Developer(s) HAL Laboratory
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Director(s) Shinya Kumazaki
Producer(s)
  • Tadashi Kamitake
  • Toyokazu Nonaka
Designer(s)
  • Yuya Kozuka
  • Ryosuke Sakamoto
Programmer(s) Hiroshi Ohnishi
Artist(s) Riki Fuhrmann
Composer(s)
  • Yuuta Ogasawara
  • Jun Ishikawa
  • Shogo Sakai
  • Hirokazu Ando
  • Megumi Ohara
  • Yuki Shimooka
Series Kirby
Platform(s) Nintendo Switch
Release date(s)
  • WW August 17, 2022
Genre(s) Racing, party, battle royale, action
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Kirby's Dream Buffet is a fun action, racing, and party video game. It was created by HAL Laboratory and released by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game is a special adventure in the popular Kirby series. It was first announced in July 2022 and came out digitally in August of the same year. You can play it with friends in the same room or with others online.

In Kirby's Dream Buffet, four cute Kirby characters roll through exciting levels. These levels are all designed like delicious desserts! Your main goal is to collect as many strawberries as possible. As you eat more strawberries, your Kirby grows bigger and faster. You can get strawberries by winning races, beating enemies, or even bumping other players off the course. To help you, there are special food-themed power-ups. These power-ups give you cool abilities, different from Kirby's usual Copy Abilities.

The game got different opinions from players and critics. Many people liked its colorful look. Opinions on how the game played were mixed, and some players wished the online mode was better. Many people compared it to another game called Fall Guys. Kirby's Dream Buffet came out shortly after Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which is another big Kirby game.

How to Play Kirby's Dream Buffet

Kirby's Dream Buffet is a multiplayer video game where four round Kirbys roll through levels. These levels are all themed like yummy desserts! The goal is to collect the most strawberries. The story begins when Kirby gets shrunk by a magical Dream Fork. He then lands right into a giant cake he was about to eat.

Controlling Your Kirby

You can control a Kirby, or the computer can control one using AI. The AI has four different skill levels. Other characters, like Waddle Dees, are also controlled by the computer. As your Kirby eats strawberries, it gets bigger and moves faster. But watch out, a bigger Kirby is harder to float in the air! You can beat enemies and use special food power-ups. These power-ups help you attack other players or get ahead. For example, a chili pepper makes you zoom forward. A doughnut turns you into a rolling wheel for a short time.

Playing with Friends

You can play this game with up to two friends on one Nintendo Switch. If you have more consoles, up to four people can play together locally. You can also play online with up to four players. For online play, you need a Nintendo Switch Online membership. You can join random matches or create private games with your friends.

Exciting Game Modes

There are three main types of rounds in the game:

  • Race: This is like a regular race track. The first three players to reach the finish line get extra strawberries. The first player gets 50, the second gets 20, and the third gets 10.
  • Minigame: These are quick challenges on a small level. You have 20 seconds to grab strawberries. You also need to avoid obstacles and defeat enemies.
  • Battle Royale: In this mode, players compete on a small level. Power-ups and strawberries appear over time. You can steal strawberries from other players. You also get bonuses for knocking opponents off the level.

The main way to play is called the Gourmet Grand Prix. In this mode, you play through a race, then a minigame, another race, and finally a Battle Royale. After these rounds, bonus strawberries are given out. These bonuses are for things like collecting the most strawberries or knocking down the most barriers. The player with the most strawberries at the end wins the whole game! There's also a "Free Rolling" mode. This lets you practice Kirby's moves and change how your character looks.

Unlock New Items

As you play and complete rounds, you earn points to increase your "Gourmet Rank." There are 135 ranks in total. Each time you rank up, you unlock cool new things. These can be a new costume, a different color for Kirby, a new level, or a music track. You can use these to customize your character. In online games, everyone can customize their Kirby. In local games, only one player can. You can also find "Character Treats." These are like cookies based on other characters from the Kirby series. You can display these treats on a cake in your main game area.

Making and Releasing the Game

Shinya Kumazaki GDC 2023 (cropped)
Shinya Kumazaki, the game's director

The game Kirby's Dream Buffet was made by HAL Laboratory. Shinya Kumazaki was the director, guiding the game's creation. Riki Fuhrmann was in charge of the art style. Nintendo first showed the game with a trailer on social media on July 12, 2022. It was planned as a special game in the Kirby series.

Inspiration and Comparisons

When the game was first shown, many people thought it looked like Fall Guys. They noticed similar obstacle courses in both games. The fun, party-game feeling also reminded some players of the Mario Party series. Kirby's Dream Buffet was part of the celebration for Kirby's 30th anniversary. It came out around the same time as another big Kirby game, Kirby and the Forgotten Land.

Release and Special Treats

The official release date was announced on August 11, 2022, during the Kirby 30th Anniversary Music Festival. This announcement also shared that food power-ups would replace Kirby's usual Copy Abilities. Kirby's Dream Buffet was released digitally worldwide on the Nintendo eShop on August 17, 2022. It cost about $15 or £13.49.

On the same day the game came out, the Kirby Café restaurant chain made a special announcement. Their branches in Tokyo and Hakata-ku started selling a dessert inspired by Kirby's Dream Buffet on September 1, 2022.

Beyond the Game

Even though the game doesn't have a long story, it was turned into a light novel. In this book, a magical fork shrinks Kirby and his friends. They then begin a race up a snack mountain. The book was released in Japan on December 14, 2022.

A special event for the game Tetris 99 happened from December 15–19, 2022. Players could unlock a new theme inspired by Kirby's Dream Buffet. This theme included art, music, and block designs from the game.

In April 2023, Sanei, a company that makes Nintendo merchandise, announced something exciting. They released eight new Kirby plushies. These cute plushies were based on the characters from Kirby's Dream Buffet.

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