Video games allow people to experience things they couldn’t usually. Become a superhero, explore another world… cook a 5-star meal. There are plenty of video games that let anyone become the Gordon Ramsey of their own virtual kitchen.
Some focus on making a meal in a set time limit. Others split the focus between making and serving meals to the customers in a timely fashion in a fast-paced restaurant. However the game is set up, success with each meal can make anyone feel like they’re a master chef. Here are some of the greatest cooking games ever.
10 Cooking Dash
In Diner Dash, players have to seat and serve customers, as well as clean tables in a timely manner. In Cooking Dash, players get to be the chef, as a cooking reality television show leaves Flo’s diner and other restaurants in Diner Town without chefs!
It’s similar to Diner Dash in that it focuses on testing player’s time management skills. It starts off easy but gets challenging and hectic in later levels. With five different restaurants (each with their own style of food) and over 50 levels, Cooking Dash provides hours of fun.
9 Cake Mania
Making savory meals isn’t the only skill a master chef has, they also have to be good bakers too! Players can get a taste of the baking experience as they play games in the Cake Mania series.
Cake Mania follows Jill as she uses her skill for baking in her very own bakery. The gameplay is the same in all the games: fulfill customers’ orders correctly and in a timely manner to earn money. The money buys upgrades, like more ovens, better baking equipment, and even faster shoes to help Jill keep up.
8 Cooking Mama
Cooking Mama is a simulation game that’s made up many different mini-games. In each one, players follow the directions of Mama and use the DS touch screen to chop, slice, and mix different ingredients to create different dishes.
There’s a time limit to complete each dish, and players have to perform each step in the dish correctly. Despite the game’s cute looks, a lot of the dishes are pretty challenging. Though it does give a pretty good sense of satisfaction to get an “Even Better Than Mama” rating, as Mama smiles with pride.
7 Battle Chef Brigade
Battle Chef Brigade is probably the strangest of the cooking games on this list. Taking place in a fantasy realm called Victusia, players follow the characters Mina and Thrash, as they vie to join the elite ranks of the Battle Chef Brigade, who take down the deadly monsters of Victusia and turn them into delicious meals.
The game combines the elements of a combo-based brawler and a puzzle game to provide interesting gameplay. Collect ingredients for dishes from the slain monsters and then cook them together by making colored combos. The character designs are beautiful and the dishes look delicious.
6 Campfire Cooking
What’s the best part about going camping? Cooking on a campfire, of course! The Campfire Cooking games lets anyone experience that at any time. Players follow a family on a camping vacation, as they tell stories and cook on an open flame.
Cooking is done through puzzles, where players can rotate, jostle and twist skewers to cook their food to perfection. As players progress, the levels get more challenging and new meals are added, like stews that add another level of difficulty to the game, as the player will have to both cook the stew and toast the marshmallows.
5 Overcooked
The kitchen can be a pretty chaotic place, so sometimes having a little help is nice. Or, it makes things worse. That’s kind of the premise of the co-op cooking game Overcooked!
Four players can work together to prepare, cook and serve different meals. The story of Overcooked is a bit bizarre… and so are some of the levels, but it all adds to the fun of the game. Each level is timed and success means moving forward and unlocking a collection of adorable chefs. Some levels have environmental challenges, like sliding prep tables on a pirate ship.
4 Diner Bros
Now, while Diner Bros has a similar look to Overcooked and similar objectives, it has unique elements that make it its own game. Diner Bros is another co-op game where players work together to prepare and send out food. Unlike Overcooked, customer satisfaction is a key gameplay element.
The game isn’t just about cooking for customers. Players have a number of housekeeping tasks to do, like upgrading and expanding the restaurant, cleaning tables, and even preventing dishonest customers from stealing! Players can also hire staff when playing the single-player campaign.
3 Order Up!
For anyone that enjoys the Cooking Mama series, Order Up! is probably right up their alley. Players take control of a fresh chef as they find themselves in one of the most important places on the culinary map.
Players start out working in a fast food place and then become the owners of their own restaurant. Order Up! focuses more on getting multiple dishes out on time, versus preparing one dish. Players also have to do play a number of mini-games that aren’t about cooking, like washing dishes and shooing away pests.
2 Good Pizza, Great Pizza
Though Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a cooking game that only deals with one type of dish (if it wasn’t obvious enough), it’s still an enjoyable and challenging game. The object of the game is to fulfill each customer’s orders in the most financially beneficial way and upgrade their pizza shop.
As simple as that may seem, the collection of unique characters make it a challenge, as their orders can be pretty confusing. The owner of the rival pizza shop across the street doesn’t make it easy for players either!
1 Cook, Serve, Delicious!
The best cooking game is Cook, Serve, Delicious! This simulation strategy game combines the elements of just about every great cooking game into one. Players work their way from owning a no-star cafe to a five-star restaurant.
How players wish to rise to culinary fame is completely up to them, as nearly everything is unlocked at the beginning of the game. There is a large variety of food and drink to serve. Players don’t just cook meals, they also have to maintain their restaurant by cleaning toilets, taking out the trash and even taking on armed robbers.
NEXT: Ranked: 10 Best Harvest Moon Games Ever Made
