Overcooked

Overcooked is not your standard cooking game. It’s not even your standard co-op game. It’s a hilarious mix between raw player skill and hilarious plot twists. In this game, you and your team mates are chefs tasked with cooking a simple meal for a hungry Spaghetti Monster—in a world completely designed to disrupt everything you are doing.

Not only do you have to chop, bake, and prep your meal while making sure it doesn’t burn, you’ll have to do it while avoiding wheelchaired raccoons getting dropped into lava, and other such drama. The game forces you to move from station to station as well, making getting anything done in this crazy world difficult.

A challenging game for teams

If you’re new to the game, it’s tempting to assign each person on the team a role, sort of like an RPG healer, tank, and damage dealer. This won’t work in Overcooked. Anything can happen in the game, from the kitchen itself splitting in half (rendering the job you assigned for yourself earlier impossible for you to do) to being required to jump from moving truck to truck to get your job done.

Instead, the key to winning this game is to know all the roles, and be flexible about swapping on the fly. The more flexible and quick to react you are, the more likely you will be to win the game. Overcooked is a wonderful multi-tasking game, very similar to Tools up! If you’ve ever played it, you’ll be well prepared to handle Overcooked.

The major difference between Overcooked and Tools up! Is just how crazy the gameplay can get. When playing with friends at such a fast pace you can and will accidentally take an ingredient from a friend, click on the wrong tile and ruin a batch of food, and other costly mistakes. When these mistakes happen, you don’t just have to start over with a dish—often times something extremely chaotic happens.

Burn some food for example, and the entire kitchen can catch on fire, forcing you to choose a new location to cook. There’s no telling what will happen, but what ever it is will probably be crazy.

Not fun on single player

Overcooked allows you to play the game in single player, with one player controlling two chefs. In order to play, you have to swap between control for the two characters to get things done. This is a struggle to begin with, but as challenging as the game is it robs a lot of the fun. You’ll have the best luck at putting together a strategy with 2 players, and you’ll get the most fun out of 3-4 players.

Whimsical graphics

It’s also worth noting the presentation of the game as well. Overcooked has cute, whimsical drawings that match the feel of the overall game. The renderings are simplistic, but don’t feel poorly done.

Pros:

• Skill based gaming
• Fun to play with friends

Cons:

• Not as fun single player

Overcooked is a charming but deceptively challenging indie game that puts you and your friends in charge of fantastical kitchens. Playable either solo or with a group, you'll chop, dash, and deliver plates of food as you race against the clock. With a range of obstacles to overcome, a lighthearted story, and a variety of different recipes to whip up, Overcooked has plenty of content to keep you cooking. While some of the game's elements need some refinement, the overall experience is one-of-a-kind and produces some unforgettable multiplayer moments.

Main Game Features

• Supports up to four players
• Intense kitchen gameplay
• Campaign and Versus game modes

Story

At the start of Overcooked's main campaign, the happy-go-lucky Onion Kingdom is on the brink of utter collapse. As a massive, ever-hungry meatball ravages the land, the royal Onion King calls upon his most skilled cooks to combat the raging beast. Unfortunately, their cooperative skills need a bit of work, so the Onion King send the team of chefs back in time. In order to overcome the insatiable evil, the cooking team must practice their cooperation by whipping up dishes in a variety of zany kitchen settings. Spread across a variety of colorful and imaginative kitchens, you and your team must work together if you want to save the Onion Kingdom!

Gameplay

Overcooked is primarily designed as a cooperative multiplayer experience, but the game can be played as a single-player adventure as well. Solo players must control two cooks at once, while multiplayer groups each control an individual cook, supporting up to four players. The core campaign mode is spread out over 30 different levels, with each level introducing a new kitchen to cook in. Each kitchen is fantastical in nature, with layouts that organically change over the course of a level. You can earn up to three stars in a level, based on the number of plates successfully delivered, your timing, and your accuracy. If you are able to serve enough dishes to reach one star, you'll unlock the next stage, allowing you to progress.

The basic game mechanics of Overcooked are simple, but to successfully pass a level, you'll need expert communication within your team. As you create your dishes, you'll have to retrieve and chop ingredients, cook the food, plate it, and deliver it to the window. Some levels require extra steps, such as putting out fires, navigating tricky obstacles, and more. Teams must work together by delegating tasks and working in tandem, as one weak link can spell disaster. Due to tight time restrictions, balancing all of these various tasks can feel overwhelming and hectic, providing a truly chaotic multiplayer experience. However, successfully completing a tough kitchen or earning three stars is super rewarding, making the frustration worth it in the end.

Conclusion

For fans of cooking, co-op adventures, or crazy party games, Overcooked is a delicious win. While the graphics are underwhelming and the controls can feel slippery at times, the multiplayer experience is unique and addictive, making it a satisfying title to enjoy with friends. There's an additional Versus mode to enjoy after you finish the main campaign, but beyond that, there's not much extra.

Pros:

• Unique and fun party gameplay
• Challenging but rewarding
• Great variety in level design

Cons:

• Can be very frustrating
• Underwhelming visuals
• Lack of extra game modes