Kirby's Dream Buffet

''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' is a multiplayer video game in which the player characters – four ball-shaped Kirbys – roll through dessert-themed levels and compete to collect the most strawberries. • Minigame: Events that typically take place on a small level, wherein players have 20 seconds to gain strawberries while avoiding obstacles and defeating enemies. ==Development and release==

, the game's director ''Kirby's Dream Buffet was developed by HAL Laboratory with Riki Fuhrmann serving as art director. The game was revealed by Nintendo with an announcement trailer via social media on July 12, 2022, set to be released in the summer of that year as a spinoff installment in the Kirby series. Upon reveal, the game was widely likened to Fall Guys'' (2020), with similarities being noted between the games' obstacle courses. Moreover, the party game atmosphere was compared to that of the Mario Party series. Along with Kirby and the Forgotten Land (2022), ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' was believed to be part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of Kirby's debut. ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' was digitally released worldwide for the Nintendo eShop on August 17, 2022, priced at $15 or £13.49. On the same date of the game's release, the restaurant chain Kirby Café announced via Twitter that both its Tokyo and Hakata-ku branches would begin selling a dessert inspired by ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' on September 1, 2022. Despite not featuring a typical storyline, ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' was adapted into a light novel in which a witch's magical fork grants Kirby's wish to eat even more snacks, shrinking down Kirby, King Dedede, Meta Knight, and other characters, thus beginning a race to the Gourmet King's throne on a snack mountain. The book was released on December 14, 2022, in Japan. The Tetris 99 (2019) 31st Maximus Cup event, which ran from December 15–19, 2022, featured a new theme that could be unlocked by earning 100 event points. The theme included art, music, and tetromino designs inspired by ''Kirby's Dream Buffet. As part of Tetris 99s "Second Chance: Kirby Edition" 49th Maximus Cup, the Kirby's Dream Buffet'' theme returned exclusively on August 31, 2025, and could now be earned with only 20 points. In April 2023, Sanei, one of Nintendo's primary merchandising partners, announced that eight Kirby plushies based on ''Kirby's Dream Buffet'' would be released. ==Reception==

Critical response ''Kirby's Dream Buffet received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. In summarizing the game, Jasper Pickering of The Independent wrote, "While nothing groundbreaking, Kirby's Dream Buffet'' is like a macaron – bite-sized, sweet and colourful, but best enjoyed in small servings." Accolades In 2022, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominated ''Kirby's Dream Buffet for Family Game of the Year during the 26th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, which was ultimately awarded to Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope''. ==References==