Dungeon Pizza isn’t finished cooking yet, but what’s already on the plate has left me hungry for more.
A slice of sanctuary
You are in a dungeon and, you guessed it, you are making pizza. Would I call it cosy? For a game that uses rats’ tails and eyeballs as toppings, yes — Dungeon Pizza is cosy. This isn’t your garden-variety pizza-shop simulator, and it isn’t a traditional fantasy RPG either. You aren’t the adventurer defeating monsters; you’re the one keeping adventurers, travellers and outcasts fed when they come home. As you build relationships and a community around your little pizzeria, you unlock further recipes and ingredients. That little slice of sanctuary in the big bad world is the appeal.
The characters and art style
The 2D hand-drawn illustrations have a cosy fantasy vibe, with bold outlines, simplified shapes, expressive characters and exaggerated proportions. It’s a quirky, playful storybook look that keeps its slightly gross dungeon charm. Lupa was my favourite character in the playtest. The variety of personalities and backstories stood out, and the dialogue felt natural. The colourful character animation makes the dungeon feel inviting rather than intimidating.
What I’d love to see next
I’d love a visual gauge showing roughly how many ingredients remain in each jar, along with more ways to spend the money earned — upgrades, decorations, equipment, ingredients or improvements to the pizzeria. Those additions could give money more purpose and make progression feel stronger. I don’t know the development roadmap, so some of these ideas may already be planned.
Room to grow
My biggest takeaway was that I wanted more ingredients and more depth — and that’s a very good problem for an early playtest to have. Rather than finishing and thinking I’d had enough, I was thinking about everything else I wanted to do. The developers have already iterated based on feedback and playtesting; one example noted in my original review is a day/night cycle that lets Boss head upstairs to the attic to sleep.
The playtest verdict
Dungeon Pizza isn’t finished cooking yet, but what’s already on the plate has left me hungry for more. This 8/10 score reflects the playtest build I played for around 40–50 minutes, not the final release.
A charming foundation — and plenty more to come
In my original review ahead of PAX Aus 2026, I noted that Dungeon Pizza was available in playtest form on Steam and was set to appear at PAX Rising. I played the available build through to completion while streaming live on Twitch. Some systems were still simple, but the game already had a genuinely charming foundation and a clear identity.
It’s weird, cute, cosy and a little gross — with a chonky cat making questionable pizzas for dungeon adventurers. What more could you want? Well… more. And I mean that in the best possible way.
A People's Choice win
As featured in my original review, Dungeon Pizza won the People's Choice for Best Indie Game at TGX 2026. The team then immediately broke the trophy — which, as I put it at the time, felt remarkably on brand.
A word from the developers
I asked Growing Games what they were proudest of and what they hoped players would take away from Dungeon Pizza.
On adding sleep to the game: “For me, it was when we first added sleeping to the game. It completely shifted the feeling of Dungeon Pizza from a collection of fun interactions into an actual world you inhabit. Suddenly, the days had a rhythm and the dungeon felt like somewhere you could settle into, rather than simply pass through.”
On what they hope players remember: “We hope players leave feeling like they’ve become part of Dungeon Pizza’s strange little community. Come for the chill pizza-making loop but keep coming back to see what all the freaks are up to! We’d love players to get creative, share their funniest moments and show off all the weird pizzas they’ve made.”
Developer responses reproduced from the original KateFearGaming review slides.
The team behind Dungeon Pizza
Growing Games credits Louis Van Dyke (programmer and producer), Oscar Jemmott (game designer, composer and sound designer), Elly-Rose Burrowes and Maggie Buckley (co-illustrators and concept artists), Sam Davis (concept artist), and Reece Wherry (programmer).
Original review gallery
Ten slides supplied from my original Dungeon Pizza playtest review.
