History Main / WizardNeedsFoodBadly

* Infinity mode in ''VideoGame/DeadRising''. Every 100 seconds of gameplay reduces Frank's health by one square (in addition to damage taken from enemies), the grocery store and its unlimited food is shuttered, and food scattered throughout the store doesn't respawn. It's necessary in that game because Infinity Mode is timed with an online leaderboard. Without a timer, there would still be fools with their UsefulNotes/{{XBox}}es humming away and Frank West just sitting on an awning that the Zombies can't reach.

* While food was not strictly necessary in ''Realmz'', having "Iron Rations" in any party member's inventory gave a bonus to health regained while resting, consuming them in the process.

** ''Linley's DungeonCrawl'' and subsequent ''Stone Soup'' versions (up through 0.25) twisted the hunger clock a bit. Most species weren't able to eat all types of food, some were vegetarian and some ''preferred'' tainted meat over fresh. Especially interesting is the race of Vampires - their "hunger" (actually thirst for blood) determined their status between life and unlife. Being devoid of blood would grant the vampire sweet undead abilities and resistances, but they wouldn't be able to regenerate. Conversely, vampires that drank enough blood would regenerate normally but were subject to poisons of the mortals and unable to use their undead powers.
** After a few versions' worth of progressive simplification, food was removed completely in version 0.26. The replacement mechanic, the "Zot clock," limits the number of turns you can spend in any given part of the dungeon but doesn't require you to actively buy, butcher, or eat food. This has downstream effects on other parts of the game: [[CastFromCalories spell hunger]] is no longer an issue, and Gozag (the god who turns your enemies' slain bodies to gold) is much less risky to worship.

** ''Linley's DungeonCrawl'' and subsequent ''Stone Soup'' versions (up through 0.25) twisted the hunger clock a bit. Most species weren't able to eat all types of food, some are vegetarian and some ''preferred'' tainted meat over fresh. Especially interesting is the race of Vampires - their "hunger" (actually thirst of blood) determined their status between life and unlife - being devoid of blood would grant the vampire sweet undead abilities and resistances, but won't be able to regenerate. Conversely, vampires that drank enough blood would regenerate normally but were subject to poisons of the mortals and unable to use their undead powers.

* ''Linley's VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' and its more recent ''Stone Soup'' version twists the hunger clock a bit. Most species aren't able to eat all types of food, some are vegetarian and some ''prefer'' tainted meat over fresh. Especially interesting is the race of Vampires - their "hunger" (actually thirst of blood) determines their status between life and unlife - being devoid of blood will grant the vampire sweet undead abilities and resistances, but won't be able to regenerate. Conversely, vampires that drink enough blood regenerate normally but are subject to poisons of the mortals and unable to use their undead powers.

* ''[[http://www.mobygames.com/game/storm Storm]]'', a 1986 Gauntlet-like by Mastertronic, uses food as the health meter. If it starts running low, the message ''"Storm needs food badly..."'' or ''"Wizard is about to die..."'' (depending on the character) will scroll on the top of the screen.

* ''VideoGame/{{Spellforce}}'' has a [[CommandAndConquerEconomy variety of resources to collect]], including food, but food is not directly necessary for your individual units. Instead, it's spent to increase your unit cap, so you can recruit more units. Still played straight because not building a Food Store means your units can regain HP ''or mana'' and an [[TheMedic elven priestess]] that can't regain mana won't be useful very long.

** [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4 The fourth game]] introduced the Psyche meter, which performed largely the same function, albeit by much more arbitrary parameters. Eating food did recover it, among other options.

* ''VideoGame/{{Spelunker}}'' had no real notion of "food," but it featured a blue energy meter that dwindled continually and was replenished by picking up potions.

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', you need to keep the colony's food supply well-stocked or else you'll end up starving, which decreases all physical skill increases by 1, and cake will also no longer be in stock at the Supply Depot.

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', you need to keep the colony's food supply well-stocked or else you'll end up starving, which decreases all physical skill increases by 1, and as of the October 6, 2022 update, cake will also no longer be in stock at the Supply Depot.

* ''Fanfic/TheSecretReturnOfAlexMack'' frequently notes how Alex has to eat constantly, and even more after significant use of her powers. She gets a utility belt that's mostly to store energy bars, repeatedly has to replace her mother's special ice cream after eating her way through the freezer, and becomes delirious in Russia after [[spoiler: riding a nuclear missile across the world ''and disassembling it in midair'' while starving]].

* In the ''Literature/LoneWolf'' series, every so often you'll be prompted to "eat a meal or lose 3 ENDURANCE points," which can't be healed until after you've eaten. You can avoid this by having the Hunting skill of your tier.

** In Spelljammer, you spend a lot of time traveling in outer space. Well, something resembling the medieval conception thereof, anyway. Spelljammer [=DMs=] tend to remember to keep track of this because it's a lot easier to mark off a day's rations from the ship's stores than it is to have all the players mark off a day's rations from their own supplies (frequently, it's more like "it takes you eight days to get there, mark off 8 days' provisions" anyway).

* ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'' subverts the above: Rather than being able to eat ''anything'' this game's variant on the ''Create Food'' spell does exactly that. However, most such spells have a limited duration, after which the food vanishes, taking its nourishment with it. While you could make a spell that created food that didn't vanish in this way, it would be too expensive to be worthwhile. Worse, living off magically-created food would cause Warping if done for any extended period of time.
* The main tension in the ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'' board game, aside from the constant ParanoiaFuel, is that you have rapidly expending resources drained by crises, and if you run out you lose. Also leads to such decisions as "Lose one population or three fuel". Very effectively captures the atmosphere of the show.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Space 1889}}'' your characters had to eat every day. The days passed [[TimeKeepsOnSlipping ridiculously quickly]].

* ''VideoGame/{{Achaea}}'' forces the player to keep an eye on his food and sleep status. If he forgets to eat or sleep for too long, he'll start randomly passing out (and in the case of food, eventually starve to death). This limit is lifted when the character reaches [[CharacterLevel level 80]], as they are considered to have transcended mortal needs. Fortunately, sleep is possible anywhere (although time-consuming, and leaving the character open to attack) and food can be kept for at least a RealLife day before it disappears. Mounts and some pets also starve, unless magically enhanced (read: paid for).

* Used as part of the game mechanics of Windham Classics' ''[[Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy Below the Root]]'' and ''Swiss Family Robinson'' in slightly different ways. In [=BtR=], your character needs to rest and eat occasionally. Failing to do so will cause them to collapse and be teleported to their home, losing a day's worth of game time (you had 50 days). The five characters you could play each balanced physical endurance with PsychicPowers; the character with the greatest ESP is a sickly child who needs to eat and rest often; a couple of more robust teens have little or no ESP. In the other one, you had to eat once and drink twice per "season" [[TheManyDeathsOfYou or perish]].

* VideoGame/CenozoicSurvival: You need to manage your hunger bar and thirst bar. If you run out of either, you die.

* Even older is Creator/{{Epyx}}'s ''VideoGame/CrushCrumbleAndChomp'', a turn-based strategy game that has the player play a {{Kaiju}} out to destroy a city. The player must regularly eat people to sustain his monstrous self. Failure to do so would result in the monster going mad with hunger; this was simulated by having the game make a bee-line to the nearest tasty human, crushing any buildings in the way, and entering commands much faster than you could normally. Which was fine, except when there was a nuclear power plant in the way, which would result in your monster trying to stomp it and getting destroyed. Or simply going for the one on-screen where it would be more tactically wise to switch screens, as the longer you stay on one screen, the more heavy artillery shows up.

* ''VideoGame/DeadInVinland'', like ''VideoGame/LostInBlue'' above, is about surviving shipwrecked on an island, so making sure your party doesn't starve is a central part of the game. Complicating this, some foods can cause damage to (or more rarely heal) other states like [[MultipleLifeBars Fatigue, Sickness, or Depression]], or have a chance of causing one of the game's impressively huge and varied array of StatusEffects - either buffs like "Healthy Meal" or "Tasty Meal," or debuffs like "Nausea," "Diarrhea," or "Tapeworm" (yes, really). It doesn't help that the BigBad demands a hefty tribute every week, which is often food and becomes larger and more difficult to fulfill the longer you stay on the island.

* In ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors Vol.2'' for PSP your army's food supply in measured in seconds. By capturing enemy's supply depot you're gaining another 5 minutes to play, losing supplies decrease your time. Out of [[strike:time]]supply is one of the lose conditions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Wolf}}'' requires you to manage your wolf's hunger and thirst to survive. If you expect your cubs to survive, then they need food, too.

* In ''VideoGame/RootsOfPacha'', you have a stamina meter which depletes each time you use a tool. If it drops to zero, you can't use your tools further until you eat or rest in a relaxation spot. You also start the next day with reduced stamina if you stay up late until 2AM or fail to tend to your baby on the current day.