19-05-2025
Sedap! They ate kai fan for a year to make cooking video game
SINGAPORE: In soon-to-be-released video game Sedap!, players can serve up a feast of regional dishes such as nasi lemak and mango sticky rice while battling mythical South-East Asian beasts.
This two-player cooperative cooking action game marks the studio debut of home-grown game developer Kopiforge. It is set to be released on digital marketplace Steam on May 22, retailing at S$14.50.
Despite the virtual feast on offer, the game's rocky development meant the studio's three co-founders had to survive on a menu of budget meals as they took home an average salary of $700 each.
Co-founder Jay Wong says 'eating only kai fan (chicken rice) for a year' has become an inside joke at the studio to describe their meagre budget. The 26-year-old graduated from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) with a degree in media art (with a specialisation in games).
The team also relied on hawker fare and cost-of-living hacks to finish their labour of love.
'Sedap! is our love letter to South-East Asia,' says Wong, who adds that the game's concept began from noticing how under-represented the region's culture was in video games.
This got him wondering, 'What if we made a fantasy game, but instead of dragons and goblins, we featured creatures from our own myths? What if the food you cooked wasn't generic soup or steak, but nasi lemak or mango sticky rice?'
The result blends the chaotic action of popular cooking simulator game Overcooked (2016) with distinctly regional influences.
Players can prepare more than 50 dishes from across the region, from globally known fare such as bubble tea and chicken rice, to regional staples like Cambodia's fish amok, Myanmar's mohinga, and teh tarik.
The game's regional influences also mean players take on creatures from South-East Asian myths, while playing to a soundtrack composed using traditional instruments.
Bringing this game to life meant dealing with quarter-life crisis.
The game initially began in 2021 as a graduation project by Wong and Nadiyah Toi, 25. The two later co-founded Kopiforge in 2023 with Foo Jing Ting, 27, to start developing the game full time. Foo was a senior of Wong in Nanyang Polytechnic.
Despite picking up accolades – including Best New Game at the BIG Festival @ gamescom latam 2025 and Best Student Game at the Level Up KL Sea Game Awards 2023 – securing funding was a challenge.
Failing to secure a grant from the Infocomm Media Development Authority, the team relied on small grants and a single private investor.
They also pitched the game to over 100 publishers before clinching a publishing deal at the end of 2024.
'The year 2024 had a lot of layoffs in the video game industry, and I heard that funding in general was cut by a lot,' says Wong.
'We were a first-time studio with no prior game development experience, so I could guess why we didn't attain funding.'
These funding struggles meant the bulk of their finances were dedicated to paying their freelance collaborators – who were brought in after the studio's founding – fair rates, leaving the three co-founders with an average monthly income of $700 each.
This took a personal toll. 'Singapore's culture puts a premium on productivity and high income,' says Wong.
'Most of my peers, especially those in tech, were already earning so much more than me, and I struggled with feeling left behind.'
To join Kopiforge, Foo left a better-paying gig as a system engineer at computer hardware company HP, but it is something she does not regret.
She says: 'Since university, I've felt like I was part of a different rat race from my peers because I always wanted to be in a role where I could create things, despite being trained in a technical field.'
She graduated from NTU with a degree in computer science in 2022.
For Toi, the sacrifices began even earlier, when she faced backlash from both family and school teachers over her decision to pursue a degree in game art at NTU.
'I figured I would probably hate myself if I went for something practical and spent my life wondering what things could've been like if I'd committed to art instead,' she says.
Their bet is about to be tested. What happens next hinges on the game's sales, which will show whether their gamble – and all those kai fan meals – were worth it. - The Straits Times/ANN
