Written by Dorothy Kwan

Have you ever imagined yourself making shawarma, chasing after customers who decide not to pay, and stealing your money? No? Then maybe you could try the recently popular game Shawarma Legend. Released in July 2024, it has gained much popularity, especially in China. As the player, you make Shawarma, a popular street food in the Middle East that originated in Turkey. By working in the shop, you can upgrade equipment and food with your hard-earned cash, ultimately trying to become a Shawarma Legend.

“Immerse yourself in Shawarma Legend, the newest and most exciting cooking game that lets you step into a world of culinary delight!”

– Shawarma Legend Official Introduction

However, reviews for this game are polarized. 

Features That Make the Players Rage

The Beggar— The Most Hated Non-Player Character

This beggar buys from you and forgets to pay. Don’t do anything to him, just remind him

Making an appearance every day from day 10, this non-player character orders food just like any other customer but escapes quickly after receiving the orders if the player does not remind him. He also makes an “eihehe” sound in the background, when he successfully escapes with the shawarma, coke, keby, french fries, and TWO boxes of orange juice he almost ran away with. Sadly, the game has no available shop upgrades to prevent his appearance or remind him to pay. 

Forgetting Ingredients

Sometimes you might find yourself aggressively touching the screen to toss the ingredients inside the shawarma as quickly as possible. You then realize you forgot ONE certain ingredient. However, it’s now grilling so you can’t take it back. Eventually, you give it to the customer and then they give you fewer coins. 

The Countdown Timer Does Not Offer Concern About Your Uncollected Coins

Every working day has a countdown timer. Once the countdown stops, the round abruptly ends, and the player cannot interact with anything inside the shop. Sometimes your coins are collected at the last moment, but they are stopped mid-air in the middle of the screen, unable to reach the player’s money bar.

Buying price upgrades before time upgrades

Polarizing comments

The Music (Positive)

At the beginning of the game, the player can select different languages for this game. Language choices with a treble clef 𝄞 indicate that there is a theme song, which is infamous for brainwashing players. Most players tend to find this humorous and somewhat addictive, further improving the game’s humour and contributing to the game’s overall popularity. However, some find this unpleasant as this is AI-generated.

The “Diverse Customer Base” (According to the Official Introduction)

Art pieces and character designs in the game have been somewhat controversial and criticized for being completely AI-created, sparking some ethical concerns and dissatisfaction with the game. Some call the art “vibrant” and a successful attempt to represent “traditional Turkish culture”, or do not pay attention to the art at all. Other players from Steam are outraged with the use of AI, seeing the game as a low-effort project, and worried about the effect of AI use in the game industry. 

Personal comment

Personally, I feel that this game is interesting only for short moments to kill time since it is very simplistic. The game overall requires very little skill and does not have any deeper lore to dive in and explore. This could be entertaining to play for 10 minutes, but its repetitive nature limits its appeal over longer durations of time. 

Works Cited

“How AI Propelled ‘Shawarma Legend’ to Unprecedented Fame in China – Your Guide to Becoming #1! – FoxData.” Foxdata.com, 2024, foxdata.com/en/blogs/-how-ai-propelled-shawarma-legend-to-unprecedented-fame-in-china-your-guide-to-becoming-1/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.

“Shawarma Legend on Steam.” Steampowered.com, 2024, store.steampowered.com/app/3036080/Shawarma_Legend/. Accessed 19 Dec. 2024.