They ask to stay at the cabin for a few days. This goes more with the chompettes theory, but in the NG+ ending when Karin dies her soul is transformed into the new turnip chompette.Īt one point in the game, we are given the ability to check under the floorboard in the bedroom where we find a chicken bone, I think this is a reference to the chicken legs that the cabin stands on.Īfter the credits in the "normal ending" we see how the character met the four hikers. There are several references to our character being long lived, between the old notes that date back over a hundred years, saying they have killed and eaten thousands of people, and in the Karin ending, she dies while our character lives on.Īcts as a device for transformation. They are an immortal or long lived being. Let's start with the most obvious, they eat people. What comparisons can we make between our playable character and the baba yaga? She is not always a villain in stories, but does nearly always act as a transformative plot point. There are references to several different beings with this name all of varying age and personality.
But it is important to note that "Baba Yaga" is more of a name or status. In most stories, she is described as an elderly woman with a long nose and bony legs who lives in a cabin that walks around on chicken legs and eat people. She is seen in several fairytales, the most well known being Vasilisa The Beautiful (more on that story later!). The Baba YagaThe Baba Yaga is one of the most famous creatures in sl av ic folklore. Okay so now we know where and when the story is set, and what led the four characters to find themselves at the cabin. If the four left their country during Holo mo dor which was primarily in winter and spring, it would make sense that they arrived at the Tatra Mountains in the early summer months. What I also found with this information is that June and July are the months with the highest average amount of rainfall. It is even reported precipitation occurs from 215 to 228 days a year, just as Mariah says from reading the book about the area. It is a relatively small mountain range, occupying an area of 785 square kilometers (303 sq mi). This is a map of the region from 1933, the red star is roughly where the Tatra Mountains are located. In the normal ending, Anatoly's spirit says, "fleeing west did nothing.” A sad statement about how they travelled west to find food during the fam lne, but in the end died due to a similar situation. But even more proof that this is the year, a pretty great hint comes from Anatoly. Also, the only electronic device seen is the radio, and the main character says one of the four must have brought in. (Britannica) There are other small hints towards it being set around this time, showing both traditional clothing as well as the new influence of western E u pn fashion (men wearing tucked in shirts) and mass production of clothing. They escaped U cral ne as they say throughout the game, in search of food, and were hiding from the government in the mountains. I believe this illustrates why our four characters are traveling along the Tatra Mountains, historically known for being used for unapproved border crossing. It was outlawed for peasants to search for food outside of the country. This fa mlne raged from 1932-1933, and has documented results in peasants even turning to can niba lism. So when is it set? 1933, during the peak of, or directly after Holo mo dor, a man-made (time of no food) in that country. It is important to note that the time period of the game influences the map of this region. Several times the four characters mention leaving U cral ne (directly to the east of those countries). Where and When is the game placed?*It's clearly shown throughout the game that this is inspired by and set in eastern E up, the developers even state this and place it in the Tatra Mountains (Game description on Steam), which border P lnd and Sl v kia. Okay, to get to the good stuff first, these are the questions my theories are based around. I quickly realized there is soooo much more to this game than initially meets the eye! (Perfect for theorizing about!) I have complied a lot of notes and am still working on research, but here is some of what I have so far. Watching cooking companions got me so invested in the game and story, there's so much to it and the developers did an amazing job with it! So I couldn't wait and played the game myself, watched other play throughs, and all of the official endings. Hi, this is my first post, it's some of my findings and theories about Cooking Companions!! Be warned this will definitely include spoilers for the game so if you want to wait and watch matpat finish playing on gtlive first then don't read anymore!