The Table Collection — Yes Chef Labs × Relatable

The Opportunity

Nobody owns games on the dinner table

Every game lives in a cardboard box under the TV. None of them belong on a dinner table — and none of them tap into food culture.

We see a collection of games disguised as objects that already live on a table — a vintage butter dish, a chrome diner napkin dispenser, a bread basket. Beautiful enough to display. Social enough to start a conversation. Relatable enough to go viral.

We've developed three concepts with mechanics and sample rounds. When Relatable reached out, we saw the perfect fit — our food-culture brand and creator network paired with Relatable's game design expertise and retail distribution. Here's what we've been developing.

Three Concepts

Concept 01

On a Scale

Vessel: Butter Dish

Think: Wavelength + prompt cards

A hidden number. A category. Everyone gives an example that matches. One person guesses.

4–10 players60s rounds

Concept 02

Secret Ingredient

Vessel: Napkin Dispenser

Think: Imposter + food culture

Everyone knows the word. One person doesn't. Say one clue. Find the fake.

4–8 players90s rounds

Concept 03

Meal or No Meal

Vessel: Bread Basket

Think: Go Fish + Spoons + Exploding Kittens

Collect ingredients. Complete meals. Trade, bluff, and don't get spoiled.

2–6 players20–30 min

These are starting points — let's build them together

We believe in the vessel concept and the food-culture positioning. Combined with Relatable's game design expertise and retail distribution, this collection has a real shot at creating a new category. Click into each concept to see mechanics, replayability, and a simulated round walkthrough.

Concept 01

On a Scale

"On a scale of 1 to 10…"

Vessel: Vintage butter dish

A category is drawn. A number (1–10) is hidden from the guesser. Everyone else gives a specific example that lands on that number. The guesser reads the room and guesses.

Think Wavelength — but with prompt cards, specific answers, and a sweet / salty toggle

How It Plays

Draw the Number

A number card (1–10) is revealed to everyone except the guesser.

Draw a Category Card

The guesser draws a card with 3 sweet and 3 salty options. They pick one and read it to the table.

Give Your Answer

Going around the table, each player names one specific example that lands on the hidden number. A 1 is the worst. A 10 is the best. No explaining.

Guess the Number

The guesser locks in their guess. Exact match? The table erupts. Close but not quite? Still respect. Rotate the guesser.

Card Anatomy — Sweet or Salty

Sample Card

☀ Sweet

Gas station snacks

Pizza toppings

Weekend activities

🧂 Salty

Excuses for canceling plans

Things to say to your ex

Reasons to ghost someone

4–10 players60-second roundsNo appCards only

Replayability

Same cards, never the same game

By the Numbers

Each card has 6 categories (3 sweet, 3 salty). A 60-card deck = 360 unique category prompts. Paired with 10 possible numbers, that's 3,600 unique round combinations before you ever repeat.

Built-In Variance

The same category at a different number is a completely different game. "Pizza toppings" at a 2 vs a 9 produces wildly different answers. And different people calibrate differently — that subjectivity is the replay engine.

Expansion path: New card packs drop easily — themed editions (Date Night, Family, After Dark), seasonal packs, or collab decks with creators and chefs. Cards only, no new vessel needed.

Concept 02

Secret Ingredient

"Who doesn't know the ingredient?"

Vessel: Classic chrome diner napkin dispenser

Everyone pulls a card. All cards show the same food-culture word — a dish, an ingredient, a kitchen term, a chef, a food trend — except one person who gets the imposter card. Say one word. Blend in or get caught.

Think Classic imposter / Chameleon energy — but the content is food culture

How It Plays

Deal the Cards

Everyone pulls a card. All show the same food-culture word except one that says "Imposter." The imposter doesn't know the word.

Say One Word

Going around the table, each player says one word related to the secret word. The imposter bluffs. Too obvious and you help the imposter. Too vague and you look like the imposter.

Debate & Vote

The table argues. Everyone points on the count of three.

The Last Chance

If caught, the imposter gets one guess at the word. Guess right and they still win.

The Food Culture Content

Every secret word lives in food culture — dishes, ingredients, techniques, cuisines, trends, tools, famous chefs, restaurant types. This means the game naturally sparks food conversations and "have you ever tried…" moments. It belongs at a dinner table in a way no generic word game can.

Sample words: Sourdough, Truffle, Al dente, Omakase, Cast iron, MSG, Brunch, Guy Fieri, Mise en place, Food truck

4–8 players90-second roundsNo app, no diceCards only

Replayability

The food world is infinite content

Base Deck

150+ food culture words in the base game spanning dishes, ingredients, techniques, cuisines, kitchen tools, food trends, and famous chefs. Each word plays differently depending on who's at the table and who draws the imposter card.

Natural Difficulty Range

Words range from universally known (Pizza, Sushi, BBQ) to food-nerd deep cuts (Mise en place, Dashi, Maillard). The same deck works for a casual family dinner and a table of chefs — the imposter just sweats differently.

Expansion path: Themed card packs by cuisine (Street Food, Fine Dining, Brunch, BBQ), by trend (TikTok Foods, Viral Recipes), or co-branded with chefs and restaurants. Endless content pipeline.

Concept 03

Meal or No Meal

"Lock it in or lose it all."

Vessel: Bread basket

Collect ingredient cards to complete recipes. Trade with others. Dodge Spoiled cards that wreck your hand. First to serve 3 meals wins.

Think Go Fish collecting + Spoons urgency + Exploding Kittens chaos cards

How It Plays

Draw a Recipe

Each player draws 2 recipe cards and keeps 1. Simple meals need 2–3 ingredients. Feasts need 4–5 but feel way better to serve.

Draw or Trade

On your turn, draw 2 cards. Offer trades to any player — beg, barter, bluff.

Watch for Spoiled

Spoiled cards are mixed in. Draw one and you lose an ingredient — the table picks which one.

Call "Meal!" or Keep Cooking

Have all ingredients? Call "Meal!" to lock it in. Or hold out and push your luck for something bigger.

First to 3 Meals Wins

First to serve 3 complete meals wins. Simple as that.

The Deck

🧄🍅🧀

Ingredient Cards

Tomato, Garlic, Cheese, Chicken, Butter, Noodles, Lime, Egg. The Go Fish energy — collecting sets.

🤮

Spoiled Cards

Draw one, lose an ingredient — table votes which. The Exploding Kittens energy.

📖

Recipe Cards

Quick meals are easy to finish. Feasts are harder but way more satisfying. The Spoons energy — race to complete.

Sample Recipes

★

Grilled Cheese

→ 🍞 Bread
→ 🧀 Cheese
→ 🧈 Butter

★

Quick & easy

★ ★

Pad Thai

→ 🍝 Noodles
→ 🥚 Egg
→ 🍋 Lime
→ 🥜 Peanuts

★★

Legit meal

★ ★ ★

Lasagna

→ 🍝 Noodles
→ 🍅 Tomato
→ 🧀 Cheese
→ 🧄 Garlic
→ 🥩 Beef

★★★

Full send

The Core Decision

Every Turn

Meal? Or No Meal?

🍳 Meal!

Lock it in. Served and safe. But quick meals are easy — everyone can do those.

🔥 No Meal.

Keep drawing. One ingredient away from a feast. But next draw could be Spoiled.

Ages 8+2–6 players20–30 minPush your luckTrading

Replayability

Every game is a different kitchen

Built-In Randomness

Different recipe draws mean different goals every game. The ingredient deck shuffles differently. Spoiled cards land at different moments. And the trading table is completely unpredictable — alliances shift every round.

Deck Composition

Base game: 30+ recipe cards across three tiers, 80+ ingredient cards across 15 types, and Spoiled cards mixed in. Enough variety that the same recipe rarely comes up twice in one session.

Expansion path: New recipe packs by theme (Brunch, BBQ, Holiday Feast, World Cuisine). New card types could introduce twists — a "Substitution" card that lets you swap one ingredient for another, a "Rush Order" card that lets you steal from someone's hand.