Overcooked: A Fabulous Feast for Friends

  Time to Beat the Main Game and Two Expansions: 9 Hours

The genre of multiplayer games that can be played on a single screen has steadily shrunk over past two decades. These games fall into two categories. One is the split screen, where the computer (or TV) screen is separated into one or more distinct views. The other is the shared screen, where all players use the entirety of the screen. The former is popular in first person shooting and racing games where everyone needs their own perspective. The latter is used in adventure or party games where the entire team can be forced to stay together and views their character from a top down, or side view. Many games that could be split screen are no longer are produced that way, even as the size of screens have expanded significantly from the 1990s. Developers can make more money if they force each player to buy their own copy of the game.

Overcooked, developed and released in 2016 by Ghost Town Games, is a shared screen cooking game. Each player, controlling a chef, moves about a kitchen preparing meals.

The chefs begin their journey at the end of the world, as a giant Spaghetti Monster bears down on an unnamed city. Flaming meatballs smash into towers, covering them in sauce and flames! After this introductory level, the Onion King sends the heroes back in time to learn the proper cooking techniques.
Overcooked includes six regions, each with a different number of levels. Each region has a distinct theme, though the differences are less about gameplay and more about aesthetics. There's the regular, fire, ice, desert, and space. Including the tutorial and final boss, Overcooked contains thirty levels to enjoy. To advance from level to level players need to meet two requirements. The player's success in each level is graded on a three star metric. After selecting a level, but before it begins, a screen displays the points needed to earn one, two, or three stars. During a level each served meal is worth twenty points, plus a tip between zero to ten points, depending on the speed of delivery. Each missed meal is minus ten points. Earning one star opens up the next level, but it doesn't necessarily mean the player can advance. Each level also has a star requirement. For instance, the sixth level requires eight stars to unlock. That means in the first five levels the players had to earn 1.6 stars for level, or the five stars of beating five levels, but also three additional stars. To progress to the final boss the player needs an average of 2.7 across twenty-seven levels. Though this may sound difficult, since it implies the player needs an average close to thee, it isn't too hard.

After a decade of marriage I finally convinced my wife to play some video games in the past six months. The coronavirus lockdown probably contributed to her willingness to try them. Aside from Overcooked, the only other game she has played is Stardew Valley, and in both she performed well. Though I would say I did slightly more of the work in Overcooked, she shouldered her end well, and we beat it in a reasonable span of time. The only frustrating part was the final boss, because unlike most levels which are five minutes, his was twelve, and required five attempts. This is fine. A final boss demands a mild challenge at minimum.
Each kitchen feels distinct enough without being too unique. Each has something that sets it apart, but some obstacles are repeated in other kitchens. The players receive orders on the top left of the screen. More orders appear as players serve them. The base game includes only five types of food. Soups are composed of three of one type of vegetable. There's mushroom, tomato, and onion soups. There is no mixing of these, each soup is a single flavor. There's salads, chopped lettuce and tomato. There's hamburgers; a bun, a beef patty, and sometimes lettuce and/or tomato. Pizzas are made with chopped (kneaded) dough, cheese, tomato, and sometimes mushroom or sausage. Finally, the player cooks fish and chips, chopped fish and potatoes, deep fried.

The chef's actions are pick up object, chop (which is used on everything from dough, to fish, to cheese), cook, plate, serve, wash, and use the fire extinguisher. Sometimes in the frantic bustle to complete orders a pot or pan is left too long on the stove. A beeping sound warns the player. If not resolved, the sound crescendos, and eventually the dish bursts into flame. If not put out flames spread along countertops and stoves. Rather than use the fire extinguisher to put out fires, it's better to restart the level. The time needed to put out a fire is so debilitating that beginning again is a better choice. The exception would be if the level is nearly over. Therefore, fire extinguishers are useless, except in the final battle where the Boss drops flaming food on the kitchen.

The hectic atmosphere is enhanced by the obstacles. Almost every level has one. Overcooked includes earthquakes, mice, conveyor belts, cannons, pirate ships, lava, slippery ice, and moving platforms. In some levels the player is in control of the obstacle, such as buttons that open one door, but close another. Levels are designed with distinct layouts to force the player into different playstyles. Some levels allow (and necessitate) the production of many dishes, while others inhibit cooking speed. These are reflected in the scores needed for stars, but I preferred the kitchens where Overcooked required 400 points over those levels that need only 120 points to earn three stars. Some of the kitchens demand cooperation to produce meals, while others only require the players to avoid getting in each other's way.
The story is very minimal, but Overcooked still creates a sense of progression. Food items, obstacles, and techniques are introduced gradually. The player is allowed to learn them, and then a new twist increases the difficulty, forcing the player to master them. This is not true of the two expansions, The Last Morsel and The Festive Seasoning. The former only adds six levels, no new recipes, and no story. It isn't worth buying. The Festive Seasoning is better, but shares similar issues. It has no story. Even though the player is graded on stars, levels don't need a particular number for the player to advance. Both expansions can be beaten by earning just one star on each level. But the Festive Seasoning adds eight levels and two new recipes. Stews replace soups. A stew is still a three ingredient meal cooked in a pot, but is a combination of beef, carrots, potatoes, and onions. For example, a Stew might need three chopped steaks, or one steak, one carrot, and one onion. The second expansion also introduces turkey dinners. Instead of being cooked in a frying pan, pot, or oven, the player wields a flame thrower to roast the turkey (and chopped potatoes and/or carrots). These additions make The Festive Seasoning a worthy expansion if one is looking for a little more of the Overcooked experience.

One gripe with Overcooked is it can be difficult to see if the chef is close enough to pick up an object. Sometimes in the heat of the kitchen, and the pressure of demand, one might need to make two or three attempts to pick up a carrot, or put down a pot. This is especially true of food left on the floor. Why are there delicious ingredients on the unhygienic floor you ask? Because sometimes there isn't room on the countertops. Customers don't care where there food has been as long as it is served on time.
In conclusion,

Overcooked is one of those fabulous things, a multiplayer game that can be played on one screen. It's a bit short, and starts to reheat some of its dishes, but it's accessible for new gamers. It has enough diversity to keep the player engage to the final dish has been served at the challenging boss battle. While the visuals aren't amazing, they are appropriately utilitarian enabling the player to work briskly. Reviews of Overcooked 2 extol an even more hectic kitchen atmosphere with an improved formula. It's on already on my list to play next year.

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