Highlights:
* Cooking has become a popular feature in video games due to the gratification it provides to players.
* Cooking games offer a therapeutic experience by manipulating the senses of the players.
Over the years, cooking has become a prominent feature in almost every casual or survival game. Nintendo’s Animal Crossing has a fledged-out cooking mechanic with different recipes and equipment even though it is primarily a social sim. Survival RPG games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance and Red Dead Redemption 2 feature an immersive form of cooking as players have to collect ingredients and even stir the pot. There is a larger message in the drudgery such as KCD2 rewarding players who eat healthy to prevent food poisoning and keeping their hunger meter in check after each combat.
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Cooking is a genre of its own as well. Among the earliest cooking games include Cooking Mama which was released in 2006 and the popular Papa’s Pizzeria released the subsequent year. The latter, developed by Matt Neff and Tony Solary, became so popular that it branched a series of games and spin-offs. Cooking in games is appealing for a variety of reasons, but it mostly caters to a player’s sense of accomplishment and their aesthetics.
The Reasons Why We Enjoy Cooking In Games
One of the oldest games that popularised food as a concept in video games was Pac-Man. Food in the game provided no nutritional value nor satiated the voracious appetite of the main character but it did provide points. With points, players gained a satisfying sense of achievement. This ‘sense’ translated to the cooking games. Players feel a sense of pride and fulfillment after preparing a dish or completing an order; the dopamine release soothes them.
Some cooking games even feature multiple levels of satisfaction. In Papa Louie games, the players are awarded tips by the customers and they also witness the varying reactions of the NPCs. Magical Delicacy, a cooking platformer, has a more unique take. Players have to collect ingredients by making Flora run tirelessly around the whole map, cook the food based on the criteria provided by NPCs, and eventually deliver them to gain virtual currency. The greater the effort put into making the dishes, the more satisfying becomes the result.
The visuals and sound are also big factors. They offer a therapeutic experience, a form of escapism from everyday troubles. Even players who don’t know how to cook can familiarize themselves with the basics of cooking. They can learn about the different ingredients, recipes, and techniques. Cooking games also open the door to other cultures and broaden the perspective of players. For instance, Venba captures Tamilian culture, food, and experiences in a short yet captivating narrative.
Lastly, cooking in games gives players a mode of creative expression. Preparing different types of food in different ways allows one to flex their creativity. They can experiment with ingredients to try and prepare a dish. In Minecraft, one can put their imagination to the test by trying to create different food items. Some titles like Magical Delicacy feature missions that tell players to impress the NPCs with their creations.
To refresh the senses, players can try these cozy life sim games which include the cooking mechanic.
