How to get the Cryptogastronomy badge in Peak

(Image credit: Aggro Crab / Landfall)

Peak's Roots update introduced 10 additional badges relating to all the items in the new biome, but as always, there isn't much information to go off aside from that. The Cryptogastronomy badge is one such example, though you can probably deduce that it means cooking and eating something. But with how many edible items there are in the Roots biome, narrowing down which one may waste precious climbing time or risk you succumbing to the fog.

If you're a committed scout and want to fill out your sash, alongside your wardrobe (as these challenges always unlock new cosmetics too), you'll want to unlock as many as you can as soon as possible. So, here's what you need to do if you want to unlock the Cryptogastronomy badge.

How to unlock the Cryptogastronomy badge in Peak

To unlock the Cryptogastronomy badge, you need to cook and eat a Mandrake. It sounds simple enough, but actually tracking down a Mandrake is where the challenge of this badge comes from. It looks exactly like a Medicinal Root from a distance, which can be found throughout the Roots biome, but has facial features and will literally scream at you until you stash it in your inventory.

If you are within the range of its scream, you'll gain a drowsy status effect for essentially as long as it is screaming. Even if you're not the player who plucked the Mandrake from the ground, you can still be affected by the scream. You counteract the drowsy status with an energy drink, but it will return after the effects wear off, so it's worth using something like a Cure-All or Faerie Lantern instead.

You'll then need to cook the Mandrake with a portable stove, or the campfire at the top of the map. When you consume the Mandrake, it'll have the same healing effects as a Medicinal Root, and you'll immediately unlock the achievement—and in turn the Cryptogastronomy badge. When your run finishes, you'll unlock the Sprout Hat cosmetic as a reward too, and thankfully never have to hunt down a Mandrake again.

Kara is an evergreen writer. Having spent four years as a games journalist guiding, reviewing, or generally waffling about the weird and wonderful, she’s more than happy to tell you all about which obscure indie games she’s managed to sink hours into this week. When she’s not raising a dodo army in Ark: Survival Evolved or taking huge losses in Tekken, you’ll find her helplessly trawling the internet for the next best birdwatching game because who wants to step outside and experience the real thing when you can so easily do it from the comfort of your living room. Right?

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