Cooking games are everywhere in the gaming space, with simulator and mini-game experiences riddled throughout the console, mobile, and PC spaces. What are the best cooking games you should be checking out though? We’ve got a list here.
Video games and cooking seem to go hand-in-hand, with countless mobile titles as well as bigger console and PC releases managing to feature some element of cooking. In almost any and every RPG title, cooking mechanics features as a way to help players recover health.
However, some games don’t simply place cooking in the backburner but instead have it be the whole premise and aim of the game. In real life, cooking is a fun hobby for many. A way to unwind and relax after a long day at work or better yet, a way to experiment and get the creative juices flowing. For others, cooking can feel like a chaotic and at times, stressful experience.
Luckily, the best cooking games manage to cover all of these experiences. So without further ado, here’s our list of the best cooking games out there.
Overcooked
When the first Overcooked game released in 2016, it was an instant hit, in large part due to the pure chaos the game encouraged. Videos online of friends and families playing the game helped elevate the game to what is now a widely popular series.
What makes Overcooked a classic cooking game is the multiplayer elements it leans into. While you are able to play the game single player, the true Overcooked experience shines when two or more people are bustling about in the kitchen.
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The game requires players to make a variety of dishes. From simple orders such as soup to burgers, fish and chips and so much more. The game does a fantastic job of having each level’s setting mirror the menu, with a killer soundtrack also adding to both the hilarity and energy of the game. This is the sort of game that could lead to some bickering and fighting so be sure to pick your fellow chef’s wisely.
Cooking Mama
It’s rare to find a Nintendo DS user who doesn’t own at least one Cooking Mama game and it’s for good reason. Cooking Mama operates like a series of mini games, with chopping, frying and other cooking steps all featured to then create one big dish.
Once the cooking is complete, the dishes served get rated on a scale of bronze, silver and gold medals. Anyone who grew up on Cooking Mama knows the perils of getting a near-perfect dish or better yet, competing against friends to see who could make the better meal.
While popularity for the series isn’t quite what it was in the mid 2000s, new titles are still being made. The latest entry, Cooking Mama: Cookstar, was released on Playstation 4 in March 2021. This is also the first Cooking Mama to get a non-Nintendo console release.
Imagine Happy Cooking
While Cooking Mama was of course the big cooking hit of the Nintendo DS, the Imagine games franchise did whip out a cooking game that was a great and often slept on title.
The game has players take control of a young girl named Lisa, who is taught how to cook a variety of dishes so that she can surprise her father when he comes back home after his travels. One night an angel appears from the sky and what follows is a cute little kitchen partnership between the angel and Lisa.
Players who must chop, fry, stir and boil the ingredients as well as plate up and garnish their food. The game also featured lots of fun mini games that really rounded at what the cooking from home experience can be like when making a three course meal.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza
One of the newer titles on this list, Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a 2019 game that, in its own words, has the goal of becoming the greatest pizza simulation game of all time. It is a solid cooking game, and one that pizza lovers and cooking fans should give a red hot go.
While there are of course, a lot of pizza cooking games out in the world, Good Pizza, Great Pizza is unique in its design and visual presence. The visuals encapsulate a traditional and rustic pizza making experience, something that the game really leans into. It’s not chaotic or a visual masterpiece but it is in fact simple and relaxing.
In terms of the actual cooking mechanics, the game itself is an authentic pizza making experience and really recreates the process of pizza preparation and cooking from start to finish.
Cook, Serve, Delicious!
Cook, Serve, Delicious! is a cooking simulator, one that incorporates all the elements of a conventional cooking title but with an added realism and attention to detail that is rare in most cooking games.
Since the first title, two more Cook, Serve, Delicious games have been developed. So for any fans of the original, there are two more experiences at your disposal and ready for you to sink your teeth into.
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While it is realistic and offers up a gaming cooking experience unlike any other, it does lead to a fair share of chaos. Like all good cooking games, the freedom of being able to serve up whatever dish and design you like can lead to some ridiculous looking food but hey, that’s part of the fun.
Sushi Go Round
Sushi Go Round started out as a small free to play game on Miniclip. While it may not be known to everyone, those who have played the game adore it.
The premise for the title is simple. Players are in charge of running a Sushi restaurant. The game has seven levels which signify each day of the week. Each day you must create the dish customers ask for whilst also keeping stock of ingredients, ordering whatever you need to when items run out.
To complete each level players have to earn enough money. Each day, the amount required increases as well as the number of customers and variety of sushi recipes. By the end of the game, the fast paced nature becomes almost out of control and is a fun and authentic take on what it would be like to manage a fast-paced restaurant.
Battle Chef Brigade
Battle Chef Brigade is one of the most unique cooking games to date. As the name suggests, it’s a cooking-based fighting game that boasts some beautiful anime-inspired visuals.
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Published by Adult Swim Games, Battle Chef Brigade is part tile-matching color game, part-brawler all disguised in a fun and fresh cooking experience. What’s even more amazing about the game however, is the story about how it came to be.
In 2014, developer Trinket Studios crowdfunded over $100,000 in a Kickstarter campaign, with the money raised then being put towards the development and creation of the title.
Papa’s Franchise
Flipline Studios struck gold when they first released Papa’s Pizzeria, a cooking game that yep, you guessed it, involves making Pizza. However, since its initial release in 2007, a massive franchise of cooking games have been developed and is commonly referenced to as the ‘Gameria’ series.
In 2022, there are sixteen Gameria titles that exist, all of which are cooking based and center around a separate food item or cuisine. Anything from tacos, hot dogs to pasta, the Gameria series has it all.
Like most cooking tites, the aim of the game is to run a successful restaurant and appease all the customers who come in. For those yet to play through the Papa’s Gameria games, most are available on the iOs and Android app stores as well as PC.
Cooking Fever
Mobile gaming is full of cooking games and simulators. So for those who love the genre, mobile is definitely the place to be. In saying that though, the quantity of cooking titles doesn’t always mean quality. While there are many to choose from, one of the standout mobile cooking experiences is Cooking Fever.
While you can play the title on PC, most will have first come across the game on their phone. Part of what makes Cooking Fever such a great game is the expansive content it has. Players go from restaurant to restaurant, cooking food and serving drinks until they then amass enough money to purchase a new restaurant chain.
Each restaurant can be upgraded so that the decor is more expensive and the equipment used for cooking and creating dishes is faster. The more upgraded the restaurant is, the more customers that come in consequently, the more money you make to then make further upgrades or purchases. It’s an endless cycle of fun and is the type of game that can be booted up and revisited at any time.
Cooking Simulator
Released for PC in 2019, Cooking Simulator still maintains its status as the most realistic cooking gaming experience one can have. It was an instant hit, and popularity continues to grow thanks to the game getting a proper VR release.
The gaming community went crazy for this wacky and hilarious cooking game that gives players the chance to basically cook anything they like. While most other cooking titles take on a more childish and less realistic design, Cooking Simulator’s design and gameplay attempts to mirror an actual kitchen experience.
For those yet to play the game or don’t have access, simply head over to any and all streaming platforms and check out some of the great content that creators produce when playing through this game.
