- General tips
Victory in the Fry-Off is based primarily on the quality of your ingredients and which stat you use for a given task. See item 2 of this section, below, for tips related to ingredient quality. When making choices, each character has their own strengths and weaknesses, so your best bet is to check the high and low stats when selecting your character (or by checking the stats page) and select the most appropriate option. If you don't have a good stat to use for a given choice, you can sometimes select an option that randomizes your chance of success. Likewise, you can knock your competitors down a few points by sabotaging them a couple of times throughout the game. Sometimes you'll also be given an opportunity to consult the Silma—the rule book for the Fry-Off. This doesn't earn you any points in the Fry-Off, but it has to serve some purpose...right?! (See item 3 under "hidden achievements" if you want to see what this option accomplishes—but be warned, it's spoilery.)
- Shopping tips
Buying the top tier ingredient (12 lucre) increases your Fry-Off score by 2 points. Buying the second tier ingredient (7 lucre) increases your Fry-Off score by 1 point. Buying the third tier ingredient (4 lucre) has no effect on your score. Finally, buying the free ingredient decreases your Fry-Off score by 1 point. If you leave the store without buying anything, a helpful assistant will give you a basket with all the free ingredients — with all the point reductions included. (See item 5 under "visible achievements" to learn why in Godstone anyone would want to do that—but spoilers abound.)
- Sabotage tips
Sometimes, you'll be given the opportunity to try and sabotage a fellow contestant. A successful sabotage attempt will lower that contestant's score by 5 points. Sometimes you can partially succeed, in which case their score will be lowered by 2 points. There is no penalty for failing a sabotage attempt, but keep in mind that you'll lose the chance to gain points for your own Fry-Off score if you're busy sabotaging someone else.
- Playing as Leggy Ass
Leggy Ass has very high breadcraft and high speechcraft, but low strength and low baking mastery, as well as only 30 lucre. To succeed as Leggy, you'll need to select options that use breadcraft or speechcraft when possible. Leggy can't buy many good ingredients in the store, so will need to strategize accordingly to take home the top prize. It's pretty hard to get first place as Leggy Ass.
- Playing as Avis Barb
Avis Barb has high strength and high speechcraft, but low baking mastery and breadcraft. She starts the game with 50 lucre. To succeed as Avis, you'll need to select options that use strength of speechcraft when possible. Avis's mid-range lucre means she has to economize in the store, but she can still afford a mix of second- and third-tier ingredients. Avis could be considered the game's "normal" difficulty character when it comes to getting first place.
- Playing as Froyo (and Samfool)
Froyo has high baking mastery, normal speechcraft, low strength, and very low breadcraft. He also has the highest amount of spending money of any of the characters, at an exceedingly comfortable 125 lucre. The easiest way to succeed as Froyo is to shell out for all of the top-tier ingredients. Focusing on baking mastery options is also a good idea. Because of his high lucre, it's pretty easy to win the Fry-Off as Froyo.
- Playing as the Which King?
After you win the game as another character, you'll unlock the Which King?. The Which King? has very high breadcraft and strength, very low speechcraft and baking mastery, and the least cash of all the characters—a meagre 15 lucre. Despite his insolvency, it's not too hard to win the Fry-Off as the Which King?. Just make sure you pick strength or breadcraft options.
Warning: this section contains spoilers!
- It's Designer!
Roll a 6 (or, if Froyo, have Samfool roll a 6) and be assigned the premium kitchen. (This is the only achievement where success is based entirely on a random die roll.)
- Po-ta-toes
When in the storefront, select "Get a Sack of Potatoes (FREE!)" when looking at onions.
- Undisqualified
First, you need to get disqualified. You can do this buy purchasing potatoes instead of onions in the store (see above). To get undisqualified, you also need to convince the judges not to disqualify you. You can do this by selecting the option that best matches your character's stats when you reach the choice of how you'll explain your potato habit to the judges. If you've bribed Doldrums at least once, you can automatically succeed by selecting the option that focuses on them.
- Rings of Onion
To get this achievement, you need to receive the highest number of Fry-Off points (at least 12). The player starts the Fry-Off with 9 points, so you need to pick up at least 3 along the way to accomplish this. Each successful frying choice earns you 2 points, while partial success (only available sometimes) earns 1 point. Note that buying more expensive ingredients makes this easier. Buying the top tier ingredient (12 lucre) increases your Fry-Off score by 2 points. Buying the second tier ingredient (7 lucre) increases your Fry-Off score by 1 point. Buying the third tier ingredient (4 lucre) has no effect on your score. Finally, buying the free ingredient decreases your Fry-Off score by 1 point. If you buy only top-tier ingredients, you'll almost always win. However, if you're cooking with only the free ingredients, you earn an extra 2 points for each success. You also get 4 extra points for selecting only free ingredients (meaning you're at a -3 penalty at the end of the storefront section instead of -7).
- Frugal Gourmet
To earn this achievement, win the Fry-Off using only free ingredients. The quickest way to get through the store here is to just choose the option that lets you leave without buying anything. As noted above, if you're cooking with only the free ingredients, you earn an extra 2 points for each success. You also get 4 extra points for selecting only free ingredients (meaning you're at a -3 penalty at the end of the storefront section instead of -7).
- Finish What You Started
Does what it says on the tin. If you finish playing through the game, you'll receive this achievement.
- You are No Man
Defeat Sour Ron and avoid eating the On(e)ion Ring while playing as Avis Barb to earn this achievement. You don't need to do well in the Fry-Off to get this. The best way to defeat Sour Ron as Avis Barb is to select the "use strength to fuel my words" option.
- To the Undying Aisles
Defeat Sour Ron and avoid eating the On(e)ion Ring while playing as Froyo (and Samfool) to earn this achievement. You don't need to do well in the Fry-Off to get this. The easiest way to defeat Sour Ron as Froyo is to save at least 54 lucre and select the "Throw all my money at Doldrums" option.
- The Leggiest
Defeat Sour Ron and avoid eating the On(e)ion Ring while playing as Leggy Ass to earn this achievement. You don't need to do well in the Fry-Off to get this. The easiest way to defeat Sour Ron as Leggy Ass is to select the "use strength to fuel my words" option.
Warning: this section contains spoilers!
No, seriously. Even the achievement names are spoilers!
(My sister was once bitten by spoilers... Nasty, unreasonable creatures.)
[Spoilers, that is. Not sisters.]
- Taters, Precious
Place first in the Fry-Off after selecting potatoes instead of onions in the storefront. The easiest way to do this is to play as Froyo and buy top-tier ingredients for everything else, and then pick the options that use baking mastery. You will also need to get undisqualified (see item 3 under "visible achievements," above), because if you're disqualified you can't win the Fry-Off.
- The Gothiest Age of All
Defeat Sour Ron and avoid eating the On(e)ion Ring while playing as the Which King? to earn this achievement. You don't need to do well in the Fry-Off to get this. The easiest way to defeat Sour Ron as the Which King? is to select either the "use strength to fuel my words" or "the power of breadcraft magic fueled by my experience here" option.
- One Ring to Fry Them All
Successfully fry the On(e)ion Ring to earn this achievement. The game decides success by adding together the number of "oneion points" you've received during the Fry-Off, the number of "sabotage points" you've received during the Fry-Off, and the result of a random die role. To earn the achievement, you'll need those three variables to total more than 8. You receive 1 oneion point every time you succeed at a Fry-Off choice, and you also receive 1 each time you check the Silma for lore. You earn 2 sabotage points every time you successfully sabotage an opponent, and 1 sabotage point for a partial success. You can also lose sabotage points when your competitors gang up on you during the onion slicing section: a complete failure here loses you 2 points, and a partial failure loses 1 point. Finally, the random die roll when the game checks for success at forging the On(e)ion Ring gives you an additional 1 to 3 points. Note that you cannot forge the On(e)ion Ring if you selected the sack of potatoes instead of an onion. You don't necessarily need to win the Fry-Off to successfully forge the On(e)ion Ring, although you can do both at the same time.
- Lord and Master
To earn this achievement, you need to defeat Sour Ron and then select "Take a bite" when the voice of Másgoth suggests you do so. See items 7, 8, and 9 under "visible achievements" above for character-specific tips on defeating Sour Ron. The Which King? is not foolish enough to put the On(e)ion Ring anywhere near his cursed, ancient mouth, so you can't earn this achievement if you selected him as your character—although the Which King? does have both a good and bad ending, just like all the other characters.