Sushi Messi

Yesterday’s sushi is back on the conveyor belt, dressed up as today’s menu. It would rather be eaten than thrown out. The head chef would rather nobody got sick.

Leftovers is a prop hunt played on a sushi conveyor belt. One player is the head chef. Everyone else is a leftover, working in the back kitchen to build convincing fakes and sneak them onto the belt before closing.

As a leftover

• Build fakes at the prep station: pick a dish from the menu, then grab a plate, rice and fish, cut the roll, and garnish it.
• Fresh ingredients run out fast, and the other leftovers want them too. Yesterday’s fish is always there, but it smells.
• Hide the tells. Wasabi covers the smell, soy glaze makes dull fish shine, and a shiso leaf keeps the flies away. Every cover-up can be spotted up close.
• Send your fake out and start the next one, or switch to the belt to steer it. Swap places when the chef looks away, cut in front of the real thing, and glisten to tempt a customer.
• Score when a customer eats one of yours, and score double if they ordered that dish. If enough customers get sick, the restaurant closes and the leftovers win.

As the head chef

• You only see detail where you’re looking. Everything outside your lantern light is a shadow.
• Pick up a plate and compare it to the menu: plate color, piece count, garnish, rice, and how glossy the fish is.
• Sniff it, toss it, or put it back. You can also taste it, which tells you for sure but makes you sick for a moment if it’s a fake. Tossing fresh sushi costs you rating.
• Keep the rating above zero until closing.

Play online
Create a room, share the 4-letter code and pick roles. Up to 6 players can join: one head chef and up to five leftovers. If nobody wants to be the chef, the computer takes the job. You can also play either role solo.

Controls

• Chef: drag, or use A/D or the arrow keys, to look around. Tap a plate in your light to pick it up. While holding a plate, press R to put it back, S to sniff, T to taste, or X to toss.
• Leftover: tap containers in the kitchen, or use the buttons. On the belt, the arrow keys swap places and Space makes your sushi glisten.
• Works with mouse, keyboard or touch.

In online games the head chef’s browser runs the shift, so the chef should keep the game tab open and in front.