“Why do we desire, above all other things, that which has the greatest power to destroy us?” -Margaret Rogerson
It began with a slice of bread. It ended with my final breath. The demo of Sometimes Toast is O.K. might seem like an innocent preview of a harmless sandbox game about bread. But I see it for what it is: an omen of my own self-destruction, brought about by the curse of freedom and toast.
A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
Sometimes Toast is O.K. is a game that knows exactly what it is. Its philosophy is encompassed by its title. Indeed, it is a game about toast. You, the player, are in a kitchen. You are presented with bread and various means to toast that bread. And that’s it. The kitchen is your oyster: you can explore the cabinets, throw stuff around, and find all sorts of creative ways to toast bread.
It’s a game about toast, and that’s O.K. All there is to experience is toast.
Or so I thought.
Innocent Beginnings
When I began the demo, I chose to play the tutorial, which introduced me to the basics of movement and toasting. Sometimes Toast is O.K. is a point-and-click game, so the player navigates the environment by clicking and scrolling. One of the most important parts of the game, picking up bread, is achieved by dragging it with the mouse, or right-clicking it to pick it up.
In the tutorial, I took shockingly long to place four slices of bread into a basket, which was my fault. I wanted to see what would happen if I threw the bread in each direction. The answer was nothing, and I could feel that the bread was disappointed in me. Ashamed of myself, I continued the tutorial until I met the toaster.
I thought that I couldn’t get more embarrassed, but the toaster proved me wrong. This is when I learned that the physics of bread is more crucial than I had assumed. I clicked on the bread to pick it up, but when I set it on top of the toaster, it flopped on top of the slot horizontally. In case you’re unaware, that’s not how you put bread in a toaster. I tried again, clicking, then lowering the bread onto the slot. Same result.
Finally, the bread swayed into the right direction, and I coaxed it into the toaster. Then, I cranked that baby to the highest temperature setting. Within seconds, the bread’s color deepened to a smoky black. I immediately pressed “E” to eat the burned toast whole.
But my appetite for toast was yet unsatisfied, and this was only the beginning.
The Journey to My (Repeated) Death
Like I always do with sandbox games, the first thing I did when I entered the kitchen was test the game world’s limits. However, the demo has most of the features locked. Literally: most of the cabinets had locks on the doors. So I threw the dishes out of the cabinets that I could open (none shattered, very sad) and headed to the toaster for Round Two.
This time, I was a toaster pro, which may or may not have been helped by the bread already sitting inside the slots. Once those slices were toasted and eaten, I clicked my way to the fridge and discovered even more bread, as well as some colorful jars of jam. Above the fridge is the freezer, where I placed some bread. Later, I discovered that the freezer bread inexplicably became surrounded by a solid block of ice. Cool!
After spending a few minutes toasting bread like a regular person, I discovered what would be the source of my death: the oven. A convenient sticky note nicely invited me to toast bread inside the oven. I found a red button, which spawned near infinite amounts of bread. Delighted, I filled the oven until it was bursting.
And then…I turned the oven on. Watching the bread toast into a crunchy amalgamation of goodness filled me with satisfaction.
Until the toast turned black, and the room began to darken with smoke. Unfortunately, with a few bright red flashes that I assume was my soul leaving my body, I perished for the first time.
A Fiery End
When I suffocated to death the first time, another part of the kitchen had caught my eye: the stovetop. The first thing I did when I passed away was immediately replay the demo.
Skipping the tutorial, I reentered the kitchen, ignored the toaster, and neatly placed a slice of bread onto each burner. Turning them on one-by-one, I sat back and let them cook.
The bread caught on fire, but I quickly grew bored. My second bread genocide of the day began, with the fridge as my source of victims. If the fire from the four slices of bread I had ignited wasn’t enough to kill me, the fire from the ten other slices that I threw on the burners certainly was.
And thus I died a second time, and I decided to turn off the demo before it got the best of me thrice.
We Haven’t Even Met the Demon
While the demo introduces the mechanics of toast-making, there is much more to look forward to in the full game, like jam. And, of course, a demon in the cabinet. No, I’m not kidding. Personally, I cannot wait to meet the little guy and burn even more toast.
Though the demo is fairly short, it showcases its gameplay in a way that has definitely piqued my interest. Despite the suffocation, clicking around the kitchen and finding fun ways to abuse bread is an oddly relaxing experience. I’m curious to see how long the full game will be, especially since the developer promises some tasty secrets hidden in those locked cabinets.
Sometimes Toast is O.K. is developed by Team Toast and published by MAGIC Spell Studios. MAGIC Spell Studios is a facility at the Rochester Institute of Technology where students and faculty work together to create entertainment. And toast.
The fiery demo for Sometimes Toast is O.K. is now available for Steam Next Fest: June 2025.
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