Cake Bash is a multiplayer party game where you play as a piece of cake or other confectionary as you complete challenges in a bakery.  Smack around the other cakes as you get the most toppings so you can be the best tasting cake in the store.  Cake Bash is available on all current consoles and PC, but reviewed on PS4 here.

The main mode of the game is “Get Tasty.”  First pick your cake.  There’s a cupcake, donut, muffin, carrot cake, éclair, and more.  Then you’ll alternate between a few “Bash” games and “Snack” games with a shopping spree in between.  Up to four can play locally or online.  In Bash games, you can punch other cakes, and pick up secondary weapons like lollipops to really give them a wallop.  But beating up the other cakes isn’t the goal, it’s just helpful to slow them down.  You’ll have to do things like collect the most jellybeans on top of your cake, throw the most fruit into a tart, and more.

“Snack” games are mini-games that don’t require you to hit other players.  Here you may need to do things like toast marshmallows at just the right temperature for points, balance the most scoops of ice cream on a cone, or survive on the top of a cake being cut into smaller chunks.  Depending on how well you do in the games, you’ll earn coins.  Use these coins in the shopping round to buy toppings for your cake.  If you buy three of the same topping, it’ll turn into a bigger topping worth more points, so strategy is key.  You can also get a random topping for cheaper, but be careful because sometimes smelly fish bones are in there that can subtract points!  Whoever has the most toppings from a few rounds of this is declared the winner.

You can also play the “Bash” and “Snack” games separately, but you need to unlock them by playing the Get Tasty mode first.  You can also view what you’ve unlocked.  One problem is that it takes too long to unlock everything.  And the game is only really fun with other players, but luckily the CPU bots are neither too easy or too hard, so that’s good.  And of course these kinds of games can always use more content.

I do really like the graphics in the game.  They really play up the bakery theme well in both presentation and gameplay, and it feels like you could almost reach in the TV and take a bite of the cakes!  Their arms, legs, and faces also remind me of those videos where people put faces on inanimate objects so they look alive and doing silly things.  Other neat ideas include pigeons that land on the table in the patio stage to try and nibble on you!  So despite its problems, Cake Bash is still a delicious little multiplayer party game.

Kid Factor:

Cake Bash is rated E for Everyone with an ESRB descriptor of Mild Fantasy Violence.  You can punch and wallop other cakes around with fists and lollipops, but cakes just get knocked back and stunned with dizzy cartoon stars.  Even when they get burned, the cakes just shake it off and keep going.  Reading skill is helpful for the text.

Tags: Game Reviews