PS5

Published on January 21st, 2026 | by Nay Clark

Cakey’s Twisted Bakery Review (PS5)

Cakey’s Twisted Bakery turns cartoon mascots, sugary colors, and fresh-baked pies into the last things you want to see while running for your life! Cakey’s Twisted Bakery is a stealth survival horror game developed and published by TinyMindz, originally launching on PC on July 5, 2024, followed by Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on December 11, 2025, and now has arrived on PlayStation 5 as of January 8, 2026. Mascot horror remains a crowded space, but this bite-sized experience manages to carve out its own identity by blending familiar chase-based horror with a surprisingly playful central mechanic built around baking. It sits comfortably alongside games like Happy’s Humble Burger Farm and Billy’s Game Show, delivering a compact, focused experience. The real question is whether the frosting layered on top elevates the formula or simply coats something more familiar underneath.

Set in 1994, the story revolves around a series of child disappearances tied to a strange otherworldly phenomenon that pulls kids into a nightmare version of Cakey’s Bakery at night. You play as a young girl searching for her missing brother, George, after finding yourself trapped inside this twisted bakery where the secret ingredient isn’t sugar or flour, but human meat. It’s a dark premise wrapped in candy-colored absurdity, and it works surprisingly well. The narrative doesn’t overstay its welcome, but it does enough to establish tone and stakes through environmental storytelling, scattered notes, and unsettling visual details. There are multiple endings, encouraging repeat playthroughs, and while the story isn’t especially deep, it’s effective for a short horror game and adds weight to what could have otherwise been a purely mechanical experience.

The goal is simple…survive, evade monsters, and bake pies to fight back. The bakery itself acts as a semi-contained playground filled with dark rooms, ingredient crates, hiding spots, and roaming threats. Ingredients are scattered randomly throughout the building, ranging from mundane items like peanut butter and aged sugar to more disturbing finds like bones and meat cubes. These are brought back to Cooker Jr., a loud, intentionally irritating oven with a personality of its own. Once you’ve gathered enough materials, you can bake one of four pies: Chunky Chocolate (purple), Funky Funeral (red), Sweet Runaway (blue), and Poltergeist Peanut (yellow). Each monster has a randomly assigned weakness to one of these pies that constantly changes, and hitting them with the correct type gradually lowers their health until they’re defeated.

This system creates a light layer of strategy, especially early on, as you’re encouraged to scout, collect, and plan before engaging enemies. There’s also a table near Cooker Jr. where you can store completed pies, allowing you to stockpile ammo and approach encounters on your own terms. This makes the game approachable and forgiving, though it also contributes to one of its biggest drawbacks. Once you understand the loop, it’s easy to exploit. Baking multiple pies before monsters become aggressive can significantly reduce tension, especially on Normal difficulty.

Movement options are basic but functional. You can run, crouch, and toggle a flashlight to navigate the many dark corners of the bakery. The flashlight runs on a limited timer, forcing you to use it sparingly and rely on environmental cues instead, like swinging doors or highlighted footsteps. There are designated hiding spots scattered throughout the map, such as tables or boxes you can crawl under. While these are effective, they’re also a little TOO safe. Monsters will watch you hide but never actually check these spots, often returning to idle behavior shortly afterward. This makes stealth more predictable than frightening, and while it helps the game flow smoothly, it slightly undermines the horror.

One genuinely excellent quality-of-life feature is the generous autosave system. Every three minutes, as long as you’re not actively being chased, the game saves your progress. For a horror game built around trial, error, and exploration, this is a lifesaver and removes a lot of unnecessary frustration. There are also a handful of upgrades hidden throughout the bakery that improve your survivability, rewarding you for taking the time to explore off the main path.

Progression is structured around defeating monsters and collecting keys. Each defeated enemy drops a key that unlocks a new section of the bakery, introducing another monster into the mix. The three main threats are Cakey, Frostina, and Candy Bane, and they each behave differently. Cakey is the most straightforward, with a heavy walk cycle and audio cues that signal his presence. Frostina is faster, quieter, and more unpredictable, keeping you on edge in tight spaces. Candy Bane is blind, but stops frequently to light up his eyes and look for movement. These distinctions add welcome variety, even if their AI patterns remain fairly simple throughout the game. Once you’ve collected the final key, the tension spikes during a final escape sequence that stands out as one of the most exciting moments in the experience.

Visually, Cakey’s Twisted Bakery is stronger than it might initially appear. The bakery environment is dark but visually distinct, filled with unsettling contrasts between cheerful candy colors and grim subject matter. Pink portals dot the map, monsters pop in and out of rooms, and the overall art direction leans into a twisted Saturday-morning-cartoon aesthetic. Enemy designs are memorable and expressive, and performance on PS5 is smooth overall. The only technical hiccup I encountered was a rare instance where Cakey became stuck, allowing me to pelt him with pies without resistance. It didn’t ruin the experience, but it did momentarily break the horror immersion.

Monster noises and chase music are fairly standard for the genre, but they do their job. Cooker Jr.’s voice acting is surprisingly charming. Its loud, quirky personality adds a playful contrast that still manages to keep the bakery’s unsettling atmosphere bubbling beneath the surface. Where the sound design shines is in its environmental details. One particularly unsettling room filled with stacked boxes of children stands out, especially if you hide inside one of the open boxes and hear muffled crying from the others. Moments like this do a lot of heavy lifting in establishing atmosphere, even if the game could have gone further with ambient sound variety and dynamic audio cues. 

Final Thoughts?

Cakey’s Twisted Bakery is a smart, focused horror experience that keeps its scope tight and effective and delivers solid value for its asking price. It’s not especially difficult, and its AI and mechanics can feel a bit too accommodating at times, but that accessibility also makes it easy to recommend. For horror fans looking for a tense but manageable experience, there’s a lot to like here. It’s short, replayable, and packed with charm, and while there’s room for improvement, particularly in enemy behavior and atmosphere, it’s easy to imagine a sequel expanding on these ideas in exciting ways. As it stands, Cakey’s Twisted Bakery is a sweet, unsettling treat.

About the Author

Nay Clark Gaming holds a special place in my heart and I never stop talking about video games. I really love all types of games and have an interest in games that have complicated stories and lore because I enjoy untangling the mystery of it all. When I'm not gaming, I unsuccessfully try to control three amazing and incredibly bright kids.

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