Without rice, your recipes change. Sushi is replaced by "Gloom Carp wrapped in nightmare kelp." Risotto becomes "Risky-Totem Grit." The game forces you into creative, disgusting, magical culinary arts.
Why? Because the game’s director, in a famously unhinged dev diary, said: “You cannot focus on magical rice cultivation if your thighs are on fire. True survival is perineal.” Without rice, your recipes change
Key Mechanics to Encourage Engagement