Geek Review: Butter Royale (Apple Arcade)

Battle Royale as a genre has remained a popular one since it burst into the gaming scene with PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017. Since then, games such as Apex Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone have also been released, captivating the minds of battle royale fans everywhere. 

Though if there is one thing these games have in common, it’s that they are all not exactly suitable for kids, with players spraying bullets at each other or throwing grenades at one another. The desire to build a battle royale experience that is suitable for all ages is what prompted Singapore-based game developer Mighty Bear Games to create the 32-player food fighting game Butter Royale.

Butter Royale is set sometime in the near future where all forms of deadly weapons have been banned. However, an innovative engineer has managed to figure out a way to weaponize food as NOMs (Nutritionally Operated Machines) such as the Mayonator 3000 which, as you can guess, shoots out mayonnaise to send your opponents s-cream-ing for mercy, or the Gumballer that lets you pelt your opponents with sugary sweet gumballs. Matches in-game all take place in the Butterfield, with numerous locations with equally punny names such as San Francheesco, the Flour Fields, and Camp Smore, where 32 competitors have to butter up and put their best bread forward to emerge victorious. 

One great thing about Butter Royale is that games usually don’t last more than 5 minutes tops, so it is great for those who want to play a quick round to destress in between work or studying. Or if you are making a quick commute and looking for a game to play. One of the reasons for the fast matches is due to the wave of butter that slowly oozes its way to the centre, forcing players to move towards the centre of the map, and into one another. This happens till there is only one player standing, after having successfully creamed every other competitor that’s on screen. Yes, you read that right. In Butter Royale, you don’t die or faint or get incapacitated, you get creamed. After which, you simply load up another battle to head back into the Butterfield. 

Another great aspect of the game is its colourful visuals and huge cast of characters to choose from, from kooky ones like a garden gnome or alien, to crossover characters that you can redeem using your Support ID like the Kingsblood from Cat Quest and Smolian from Battlesky Brigade, both also games developed by Singapore-based game developers. With such a diverse cast of characters, players will definitely be able to find one that best suits their personality. 

There are also many different NOMs for players to choose from, depending on their preferred playstyle. Such as the Piercing Pancakes which fire three pancakes at one, or the Sniparmesan which works much like a sniper rifle, great for shooting enemies at a distance, but takes a little longer than other NOMs to reload but also gives you a bigger field of view to help you better scope out and take down your enemies. There’s even a Durian Launcher that lets you launch painful durians at your enemies much like a grenade launcher would. 

As a game on Apple Arcade, Apple’s premium subscription gaming service that lets users download and play games for a monthly fee, Butter Royale comes with no in-app purchases so parents can rest easy knowing their kids won’t be tempted to spend any money on cosmetics in-game. Though there are no monetary transactions to be made with real money, the game still has an in-app shop, offering items such as melee weapons or skins that players can choose to purchase with in-app currency that can be earned through gameplay. In the game, there is ultimately nothing you can’t get as long as you play it enough.

Butter Royale also comes with no in-game chat in any form, so children won’t need to be subject to unnecessary toxicity in-game, or be given a platform to badmouth other players. Despite the lack of chat functions, players can still choose to squad up with friends and family when playing. There are also daily and weekly quests for players to complete, to receive more experience points and in-game currency.

The game is also incredibly easy to pick up, with players only needing to use the left on-screen wheel to move around and the one on the right to aim and fire. Picking up new NOMs and other upgrades such as armour, ammo, or health is as simple as standing inside the upgrade’s circle till it turns green. There is no need to worry about what weapon attachments you need to stack onto your NOM to turn yourself into a one-man cream machine, or whether the NOM you picked up is heavier or not, and if it will, in turn, affect your speed when moving around. 

If you’d like to one-up your gaming experience, you can also strap on the Razer Kishi for Apple smartphones as Butter Royale is one of the several games that is compatible with the Razer Kishi. Simply secure your phone onto the Kishi’s lightning port and you are good to go, there is no need to fiddle with any apps or settings to set up the controllers. There was also no need for key-mapping, with the app having icons on the screen informing you of which button to press. 

One small nitpick we have to make about the game though, is that it disconnects incredibly easily. One battery notification can disconnect you from the game, sending you all the way back to the lobby. This can be incredibly frustrating especially when you’re on a winning streak, only for a mistimed notification to send you out of the game. 

Butter Royale is overall an incredibly fun and goofy game to get into if you are looking for a casual battle royale game to play, or a kid-friendly battle royale game to play with your kids or younger siblings. It’s filled with tons of interesting looking characters, fun-to-play weapons, and groan-worthy puns to keep you entertained. Just be sure to keep your phone charged up and to not navigate away from the game mid-match lest you find yourself getting disconnected.