Let’s face it: left to your own devices, you’re a boring eater. You walk into a buffet and immediately go for the "safe" dinner roll and the lukewarm pasta you've had a thousand times. Buffet Bingo is the ultimate cure for choice paralysis. By outsourcing your culinary destiny to a total stranger, you turn a Tuesday night dinner into a high-stakes safari of flavor.
Will your "Guide" lead you to a hidden 10/10 homemade peach cobbler, or will you end up staring down a precarious pile of shrimp cocktail balanced on a slice of pepperoni pizza? Only the tongs of fate can decide. Grab your friends, pin on your secret badge, and prepare for the most fun you can have with communal serving spoons.
It’s time to eat a meal that literally isn't your own.
Pick a Guide (stranger) before they plate their first item.
Copy their plate exactly. Same items, same portions.
The 3-Bite Rule: You must eat 3 bites of everything.
Rate your experience. Highest score wins the round.
She knows exactly which casserole is homemade and which came from a bag. Follow her for comfort food, but be prepared to eat dinner at 4:30 PM. If she takes the green Jell-O, you take the green Jell-O.
Masters of gravity who treat the salad bar like a high-stakes game of Tetris. Expect a precarious tower of onion rings balanced on a load-bearing slice of ham. Do not sneeze near their plate.
They aren't here for food; they are conducting chemistry experiments with ranch and sriracha. You will be dipping pizza into a mixture that looks like radioactive sludge. Hope you brought your safety goggles.
Vegetables are a myth to this carnivore. They will bankrupt the restaurant with a mountain of crab legs and prime rib. Your sodium levels will be critical, but your ROI will be legendary.
They take three peas and a crouton, eat them, and immediately return to the line. You will walk a marathon tonight just trying to keep up. Cardio is unfortunately included in the price.
A plate of pure anarchy where sushi touches lasagna next to a waffle. They have no plan, no boundaries, and absolutely no fear of food poisoning. Tastes like expensive confusion.
They circle the buffet perimeter three times like a shark before picking up a single plate. You will starve while they analyze the moisture content of the mac and cheese. Patience is your only utensil.
The most dangerous game. You will end up with one chicken nugget, a lemon wedge, and a handful of crackers. Do not follow unless you want to leave hungry and confused.
Never spotted by your Guide.
Guide followed a stranger too.
Recreated a complex sauce.
Mirrored a high-heat plate.
Two players picked the same Guide.
Found the secret homemade gem.
Mirrored a 4" tall vertical stack.
Followed the guide to cake town.
Followed a child. Deep regret.
Finished a 10/10 plate entirely.
Survived a chaotic Vacationer plate.
Left an absolutely spotless plate.
Never crowd your Guide. If you can smell their perfume or hear them humming, you are too close. Maintain the "Creep Buffer."
If they turn around, you must immediately pivot toward the nearest sneeze guard and act like you are agonizing over choice.
You may not nudge or distract your Guide to influence their choices. You are a shadow, not a villain.
Do not block paths. If a server asks if they can help, say "I'm just taking it all in."
A true Ninja leaves no trace. Do not take massive portions only to throw them away. Every gram of food left behind penalizes your final score.
Your final Shadow Score is a simple average of four metrics. Each category contributes exactly 25% to the final result.
Metrics like Regret and Waste are inversed (11 minus your input). This ensures that a "1" in waste correctly results in a high score.
The result is rounded to the nearest tenth.