Overview
Quite the change of pace here. Sure, you'll still be dodging horrible monstrosities as they attempt to maim and devour you, but now they're wearing hats! Everything else is more festive as well, from the decor to the music to your 1990's yearbook health meter. And there is no joy like Mia's little whoop of delight as she gets a laser blaster.
Whoops aside, the rules of the game are this- there is section of the map that has been blocked off and filled with food items. You must gather up these items and feed them to Jack until his Satisfaction Meter is full. Better food fills it faster, and some items can be combined for even tastier meals. Your success depends on how quickly the meter is filled- the more time on the clock when you finish, the better your ranking. A relatively low ranking can still unlock the next level and basic powerups, but the highest rankings will unlock the best powerups. So, like Nightmare, this is an iterative thing- you do okay and get a reward which lets you do better so you get better reward which lets you do even better than before, etc.
Also like Nightmare, you'll get to start with various powerups and weapons from the get go. The tradeoff here is that they all take up inventory space, which means less space for carrying the food Jack craves. The last thing to note is that you can add time to the clock by hurting and killing enemies. Later powerups will increase this gain, making it a viable strategy to just run around killing to build up your time meter, then leisurely get around to food preparation bit.
Gameplay Additions
Red Blaster
A laser gun with infinite ammo that also grants you superspeed. It does take up an inventory slot, but onlys lasts a quarter of a minute.
Blue Blaster
Like a Red Blaster, but instead of super speed, this greatly increases the time bonus you get for shooting enemies.
Key Monsters
Some brightly colored ddoors are locked until you kill the monster of the corresponding color. You can tell instantly if a door is still locked by the lock icon on it. Key monsters always spawn in the same places, but never more than once per play.
Bobblehead
Mr Everywhere is back, but not as you know him. This time he'll be levitating, floating, and tumbling through the air in the most unlikely places. Keep at ear out for his distinctive bobbling and catcalls. Destroying one of this poltergeisty dolls doubles the amount of bonus time you currently have- if you can snag one just after wielding the Blue Blaster for a bit, you'll be sitting pretty.
Food Combos
Food combos net more points than unadorned food, so learn what goes with what. Items with combo potential will have a little plus sign in the corner of their icon. You actually get an achievement for making all possible combos, so get to know the list below.
fruit + beer = fruit beer
cake+sugar = sugar cake
spice+stew = tom yum
cake+cheese = cheesecake
cake + fruit = fruitcake
cheese+stew = cheese fondue
spice+chicken = spicy chicken
garbage+sugar = baker family special
Feed all these to Jack for the Miracle Chef Achievement.
If you're full up, you can feed Jack regular meals (plain chicken, plain cake, etc), but single ingredients (like spice, sugar, and cheese) offer barely any points at all- you're better off tossing them in your inventory chest for later.
Unless you're heading back to the table with some empty space, cheap wine is rarely worth the inventory slots. The only reason it's there is to be confused with the much more satisfying Dulvey Cru wine. Take the extra second to read the name of the item before scooping them up, because you can't drop food items.
General Tips
Use the F key to knock open doors- you don't have time to just press through with your face.
Equip Skills in the very top row of your inventory (where the quick items reside).
Combining foods can rearrange other items in your inventory. You can always tell the plain chicken form the spicy chicken because teh plain with still have a '+' icon in the corner.