Video games are usually thought of as competing with family meal times and healthy eating. However, there are many games that develop a good relationship with food and cooking. The games in this list have been selected because cooking is an element of the game play or because they are set in a context where meals and mealtime is important.Some of the games in this list, like Zelda Breath of the Wild require players to make up different recipes for a functional advantage. Other games, like Inbento, use food as a theme for a puzzle. Then there are games like Venba that use food as a cultural and story-telling element.The games have in common that food is important. They offer an unusual way to inspire how food is prepared, shared and enjoyed. This might be to come up with new ingredient combinations for flavour or (maybe) the chemistry of how different recipes work.
This list includes 18 games from the last 9 years, with 247 likes. They come from a range of different genres and play-styles and are all good games if you want to inspire young chefs.
We have other educational lists of games:
The Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
Rating: PEGI 12+, ESRB TEEN
Release Date: 03/03/2017
Platforms: Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Wii U
Genres: Action, Adventure, Fighting, Narrative, Open World and Simulation
Developer: @Nintendo
Players: This is a single player game
This game departs from the previous Zelda formula with the scale and depth of its world. You walk, fly, ride and climb your way through a landscape that varies in climate, terrain, inhabitants and vegetation. Weather and the passage of the sun and moon...
Toca Life: World
Rating: PEGI 3+, ESRB EVERYONE
Release Date: 01/01/2019
Price: Free-to-start
Platforms: Android and iOS
Genres: Action, Open World, Role-Playing and Simulation
Developer: @TocaBoca
The Toca Boca, Toca Life, series of games comprise what are essentially toys in electronic form. They build on the Sago Mini games for 6-10-year-old children. Recreating interactive everyday settings like shopping, hospital,...
Genshin Impact
Release Date: 27/09/2020
Price: Free
Platforms: Android, PC, PlayStation 4 and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Open World and Role-Playing
Developer: @GenshinImpact
Players: You can play this with 4 players online
Genshin Impact is a role-playing adventure set in a fantastical open world you explore by walking, climbing, swimming and gliding as necessary. Like the Zelda games, you can collect items, and craft new weapons. However, in this game to create a party...
Bugsnax
Rating: PEGI 7+, ESRB EVERYONE 10+
Release Date: 12/11/2020
Platforms: Mac, PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5
Genres: Creative, Puzzle and Simulation
Developer: @YoungHorses
Bugsnax is a whimsical adventure where you track, trick, catch and eat anthropomorphic food in all shapes and sizes. But as you do, you literally become what you eat. It's silly puzzling fun from the creators of [link to game/Octodad+Dadliest+Catch...
Haven
Rating: PEGI 12+, ESRB MATURE 17+
Release Date: 03/12/2020
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S
Genres: Action, Fighting, Narrative and Open World
Developer: @TheGameBakers
Players: You can play with 2 players in the same room
Haven is an adventure about companionship and exploration in space. As star-crossed lovers Yu and Kay, you escape to a forgotten planet to stay together and set up home against the odds. You explore the world around you, able to glide over the plains,...
Good Pizza, Great Pizza
Release Date: 05/06/2018, updated in 2020
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS
Genres: Creative and Simulation
Developer: @TapBlaze
Good Pizza, Great Pizza is a simulation game where you run your own Pizza shop, fulfilling orders from customers while making enough money to keep your shop open. You can upgrade your shop with new toppings and equipment to compete against your...
Potion Craft
Expected Rating: PEGI 3+, ESRB EVERYONE
Release Date: Coming soon
Platforms: Mac and PC
Genres: Adventure, Creative, Puzzle and Strategy
Developer: @TinyBuild
Potion Craft is a puzzle adventure game where you create potions in an ancient looking workshop. More than learning recipes, your potions need to strategically combine the qualities of each ingredient to explore the potion-map and create brews to help...
Spiritfarer
Release Date: 18/08/2020
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia and Xbox One
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Open World, Platform and Simulation
Developer: @ThunderLotus
Spiritfarer is a boat building exploration game. Unusually though, you play Stella, ferry master to the deceased and the boat you manage takes them to the next life.
Cook, Serve, Delicious 3
Release Date: 05/10/2012
Platforms: Android, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and iOS
Genres: Puzzle and Simulation
Developer: @Chubigans
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room
Cook, Serve, Delicious! is a series of three games where you run a restaurant. You have full control over how you improve your restaurant and what food or drink you want to sell. Each game plays in a similar way, adding new locations, challenges and modes.
Among Trees
Rating: Not rated by PEGI or ESRB
Release Date: 14/06/2020
Platforms: PC
Genres: Action, Adventure, Narrative, Open World and Simulation
Developer: @AmongTreesGame
Among Trees is a game you play in a forested wilderness full of creatures and fauna. It's handcrafted by a small team and creates a vibrant world to explore. This isn't a game you aim to win or dominate, but rather find your place in.
Overcooked
Release Date: 07/08/2018, updated in 2018
Platforms: Mac, Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S
Genres: Action and Puzzle
Developer: @Team17Ltd
Players: You can play with 4 players in the same room and up to 4 players online
Overcooked, Overcooked 2 and Overcooked! All You Can Eat are collaborative cooking games for up to 4 players. You must keep talking to other players to coordinate the various elements of the dishes. It starts simply enough but soon gets more complicated...
Venba
Release Date: 28/11/2021
Genres: Narrative and Puzzle
Developer: @TmoritaA
Venba is a narrative-cooking game about an Indian mother who immigrated to Canada in the 1980s. You cook various traditional Indian dishes and restore the lost recipes which were damaged in the move to Canada. As you talk to your mother's family you...
One Hour One Life
Release Date: 27/02/2018
Platforms: Android, Mac, PC and iOS
Genres: Action, Adventure, Creative, Fighting, Open World, Simulation and Strategy
Developer: @JasonRohrer
Players: This is a single player game. You can play with up to 100 players online
This is a civilisation survival game where each player lives a whole life in an hour of play and then passes away. Born as a baby into the care of anonymous other online players, you initially depend on them for food. Quickly growing, you can soon fend...
My Child Lebensborn
Release Date: 08/05/2018
Genres: Narrative, Puzzle and Role-Playing
Developer: @Sareptastudio
You nurture a Lebensborn child in Norway after World War II who faces a hostile community because they’ve been born to parents of both occupied and occupying forces. With meagre resources yourself, you must feed, clothe and bathe the child, but more...
Bear and Breakfast
Rating: PEGI 3+, ESRB EVERYONE 10+
Platforms: Nintendo Switch and PC
Genres: Creative and Strategy
Developer: @ArmorGameStudio
Bear and Breakfast is a strategy game where you build a bed and breakfast in the woods. You play as an aspiring bear host, renovating a dilapidated area in town into one fit for tourists. However there is an underlying darkness in the woods and you are...
Sizzle And Stew
Release Date: 22/02/2020
Genres: Action, Puzzle and Simulation
Sizzle & Stew is a cooking game where you don’t have to follow the rules. It’s a lot of fun and works well in the two-player split-screen mode. Experiment as you explore all the kitchen gadgets to make a meal, or just see what happens when you put a...
Brunch Club
Release Date: 29/08/2019
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
Developer: @FoggyBoxHQ
Brunch Club is a cooking game where you possess and move food around the kitchen to complete different recipes. This unusual way to cook creates a unique and silly challenge you take on with up to four people.
Inbento
Release Date: 12/03/2020
Platforms: Android, Nintendo Switch and iOS
Genres: Puzzle and Turn-Based
Developer: @AfterburnGames
Inbento is a food-themed puzzle game where you solve puzzles to prepare lunch boxes. As you complete each "bento" lunch box a story unfolds about the highs and lows of parenthood. There are over 100 fun puzzles, aesthetically served with traditional...
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