Bento Express

The train is arriving. Your noodles aren't ready.

Bento Express is a first-person kiosk sim set on a quiet island platform in rural Japan. Run a wooden stall alone or with up to 3 friends in online co-op. Every hour a train rolls in, and hundreds of tired passengers need breakfast, lunch or dinner on the go.

Run the stall together

Host a session and invite up to 3 friends through Steam. They join your stall and your save. One of you cooks rice while another boils noodles, someone works the till and someone washes the bowls before the next train comes in.

• Online co-op for 1 to 4 players over Steam. Friends can join from an invite or straight from your friends list.

• Built-in proximity voice chat. Your voice gets quieter with distance, so you can call out orders across the stall. Use open mic or push-to-talk, with noise gating and echo suppression.

• Text chat for everyone who'd rather type.

• Still prefer the quiet shift? Solo play with helpers is fully supported.

Make your own stall keeper

Build your character in the creator. Choose a body, face, skin tone and hairstyle, then pick your top, jacket, trousers, shoes, hat and apron, each in its own dye. Add glasses, a kitchen mask, a necktie or a backpack. Some items and the gold dye are rewards for achievements, so you'll earn your best look on the platform.

Prep every dish

Nothing here is a one-click recipe. Tip the sack, pour the water and flick the switch to start the rice. Season the miso pot. Boil the noodles. Flour and fry the karaage. Hold your pour and release on the gold band for a perfect batch that cooks faster.

Serve against the timetable

Trains arrive exactly on schedule, and passengers who are boarding can't wait. When the bell rings, anyone who hasn't committed to an order runs for the doors. Passengers who have already bought a ticket or reached the till can still finish, but they will miss the train.

Two ways to sell

• Soba at the side window. Customers buy a meal ticket at the machine and wait at your counter for a fresh bowl. Wrong or missing toppings mean they pay less. Dirty bowls pile up until you wash them.

• Bento at the till. Take the cash, count out the change and close the drawer.

Make the numbers work

Ingredients, boxes and rent all cost money. Unsold food is thrown out at closing, and every day ends with an honest summary of what you served, missed, wasted and earned. Use your profit to upgrade the ticket machine from a coin slot to a touch panel with IC card support, so soba customers clear the queue faster.

A platform that feels alive

• Watch the sun move across the sky from morning to night.

• See rice paddies and hamlets stretch out under Mt. Fuji.

• Hear a day-long soundtrack that changes between the opening, the day and the closing.

Features

• Online co-op for up to 4 players, or play solo

• Built-in proximity voice chat with open mic or push-to-talk, plus text chat

• A character creator with dyeable outfits, accessories and items you unlock with achievements

• First-person stall simulation with hands-on cooking

• Timetable-driven passenger waves, with boarders and arrivals

• A cash register with change counting and a meal ticket machine with upgrades

• Daily costs, waste and profit that make every day a real decision

• Dynamic time of day, light and sky, and a countryside backdrop

Hang the noren. Call your crew. Open the stall.