Overcooked

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Overcooked is a cooking simulation game developed by Ghost

Overcooked
Town Games and published by Team17. In a local cooperative
experience, players control a number of chefs in kitchens filled with
various obstacles and hazards to rapidly prepare meals to specific
orders under a time limit. The game was released for Microsoft
Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2016. A Nintendo Switch
version was released on July 27, 2017.

Overcooked received positive reviews upon release, and was

nominated for four awards at the 13th British Academy Games Developer(s) Ghost Town Games
Awards, eventually winning two for Best British Game and Best
Publisher(s) Team17
Family Game.[1]
Engine Unity
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows,
Contents PlayStation 4, Xbox One,
Nintendo Switch

1 Gameplay Release Windows, PlayStation 4,

2 Development Xbox One
WW: 3 August 2016
3 Reception
4 Accolades Nintendo Switch
5 References WW: 27 July 2017
6 External links Genre(s) Simulation
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer

Gameplay
Players in Overcooked take on the role of chefs in a kitchen, preparing meals via preparation of ingredients,
cooking, serving, and cleaning up all while under a time limit to complete as many dishes as possible. During a
round, the players are presented with an order which must be completed within a short time window. The chefs
work together to complete that meal in time. Most often, multiple orders of different types or varieties of meals
will be presented in a queue, thus requiring the chefs to work together to effectively complete the orders.
Completing each order correctly earns coins, with bonuses for speed, while orders that are improperly served
do not earn any points but only waste time. The goal is to collect as many coins as possible within the time
limit. The players are ranked on a 3-star system based on how many coins they got.

The cooking aspect is made difficult by the layouts of the kitchen, which change each level. Stations for
ingredients, preparation areas, stoves and ovens, serving windows, and dishes are generally all separated across
the kitchen, requiring time to move between them. There also may be other obstacles or challenges, such as a
kitchen separated by a pedestrian crosswalk, with the pedestrians potentially getting in the chef's way. Another
kitchen is set on the back of two trucks traveling at different paces down a road, making switching from one
half of the kitchen to the other not always possible. Yet another kitchen is set upon an iceberg, making the
terrain slippery and thus more difficult. There are about 28 different kitchens in the game's campaign along
with a final boss level.

Overcooked was designed as a local cooperative experience for up to four players. There is also a competitive
multiplayer option, requiring the chefs to score the most points in a limited time. The game also has a single
player mode where the player can control two chefs, switching between them at any time, or by selecting a
specific control scheme, can attempt to control them both at the same time. There are no present plans for
online multiplayer for the game.
Development
Overcooked was the first video game developed by the Cambridge based company Ghost Town Games.[2] The
company was founded by Phil Duncan and Oli De-Vine, who had previously worked at Frontier Developments
for around eight years, before leaving to start their own company.[3] From the beginning, the two knew they
wanted to make a cooperative game, and noted how most games only added cooperative elements as an
afterthought to the single-player experience. As such, they wanted to develop a game where the cooperative
nature was the focal point.[2]

The kitchen setting was based on Duncan's past experience as a chef. According to Duncan: "kitchens have
always struck me as a perfect analogy for a cooperative game: an occupation where teamwork, time
management, spatial awareness and shouting are all vitally important."[2] The initial level designs were created
to emphasise the need to work together. For example, creating a barrier in a kitchen that a player would have to
walk around, but transferring an ingredient across to another player would take much less time.[2] They found
playtesters quickly caught onto how to manage their characters efficiently in these kitchens, often falling into
rote but effective patterns, and then proceeded to add other elements based on this feedback. They included
kitchen actions that would take time to complete on their own as make players find other tasks to occupy their
chef's time to improve efficiency. A kitchen level would include more tasks than chefs available so that players
could not stay at a single station for an entire round.[2] A further addition was disruptions in the kitchen's
layout, which they found required players to be in close communications to remain effective, part of the design
goals they wanted for the game.[2] To keep the game simple, they eliminated a life-based system in favor of a
scoring-based one so that players did not feel pressured by making small mistakes, and a simple icon-based
system to show steps to be done or that have been completed to avoid having the complexities of recalling what
had already been done by another player to a minimum.[2] Final level designs were optimized to find an
appropriate balance between challenge and fun based on playtesting results.[2]

As only a two-man team developing a game with up to four players, Ghost Town spent much of their time
taking the game to gaming festivals and conventions for demonstration as to get feedback from players there,
often fixing bugs on the fly at these events. The feedback led to a major shift from focusing the game on the
various recipes to more interesting level designs, as they found players would be more vested in performing
well in complex and dynamic levels.[4]

Team17 announced that they would help publish the game in May 2016.[5] Team17 flew the pair to attend the
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 and show off the game; as they had been situated next to the Yooka-Laylee
booth, Overcooked gained a lot of attention at the event.[4]

Following release, plans were made to produce a retail package of the game, and Duncan and De-vine spend
much of their time through 2016 developing downloadable content that would be included in the retail
version.[4] The Nintendo Switch version includes the current expansions as well as support for the Switch's HD
rumble feature.[6]

Reception
Overcooked has received generally positive Reception
reviews on release[13] including appreciation for
the dynamics during co-operative play,
"Overcooked is terrific because of its
commitment to uproarious, hilarious and
challenging co-operation".[14]

Accolades
 Aggregate score

Aggregator Score

81/100 (PC)[7]
Metacritic 78/100 (PS4)[8]
78/100 (XONE)[9]

Review scores

Publication Score

EGM 8.5/10[11]

PC Gamer (US) 86/100[10]

US Gamer [12]

Year Award Category Result Ref

Best Creative Gameplay Nominated

TIGA Games Industry Awards Debut Game Won [15]

Best Game By A Small Studio Nominated

The Game Awards 2016 Best Multiplayer Game Nominated [16]

Giant Bomb's 2016 Game of the Year Awards Best Multiplayer Nominated [17]

2016 Seumas McNally Grand Prize Nominated

Independent Games Festival [18]
Excellence in Design Nominated

Debut Game Nominated

British Game Won

13th British Academy Games Awards [19][20]
Family Won

Multiplayer Nominated

References
1. "Uncharted 4 wins best game at Bafta awards" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-39516396). BBC
News. April 6, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
2. Duncan, Phil (26 August 2016). "Game Design Deep Dive: Building truly cooperative play in
Overcooked" (https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/279715/Game_Design_Deep_Dive_Building_trul
y_cooperative_play_in_Overcooked.php). Gamasutra. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
3. Kerr, Chris (10 February 2017). "Road to the IGF: Ghost Town Games' Overcooked" (https://www.gama
sutra.com/view/news/290885/Road_to_the_IGF_Ghost_Town_Games_Overcooked.php). Gamasutra.
Retrieved 14 September 2017.
4. Dring, Christopher (18 April 2017). "Development by expo: How Ghost Town built Overcooked" (http://
www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-04-18-development-by-expo-how-ghost-town-built-overcooked).
GamesIndustry.biz. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
5. Phillips, Tom (25 May 2016). "Team17 orders Overcooked for PC, PS4, Xbox One" (http://www.euroga
mer.net/articles/2016-05-25-team-17-orders-overcooked-for-pc-ps4-xbox-one). Eurogamer. Retrieved
4 August 2016.
6. Frank, Allegra (February 28, 2017). "Overcooked gets stuffed special edition on Switch" (http://www.pol
ygon.com/2017/2/28/14764610/overcooked-stuffed-special-edition-nintendo-switch). Polygon. Retrieved
February 28, 2017.
7. "Overcooked (PC)" (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/overcooked). Metacritic. Retrieved
7 September 2016.
 8. "Overcooked (PlayStation 4)" (http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/overcooked). Metacritic.
Retrieved 7 September 2016.
9. "Overcooked (XBox One)" (http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-one/overcooked). Metacritic.
Retrieved 7 September 2016.
10. Marks, Tom (1 August 2016). "Overcooked Review" (http://www.pcgamer.com/overcooked-review/). PC
Gamer. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
11. Buchholtz, Matt (3 August 2016). "Overcooked Review" (http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/over
cooked-review/). Electronic Gaming Monthly. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
12. Rignall, Jaz (2 August 2016). "Overcooked Review" (http://www.usgamer.net/articles/overcooked-ps4-re
view). US Gamer. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
13. Walton, Mark (4 August 2016). "Overcooked review: Meet the new couch co-op champion" (https://arste
chnica.com/gaming/2016/08/overcooked-review-co-op-cooking-game/). Ars Technica. Retrieved
4 August 2016.
14. "Overcooked is the best chaotic, co-operative culinary game you've ever played - review" (http://www.tel
egraph.co.uk/gaming/what-to-play/overcooked-is-the-best-chaotic-co-operative-culinary-game-youve/).
The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
15. TIGA (23 September 2016). "The 2016 TIGA Games Industry Awards Finalists Revealed" (https://tiga.or
g/news/the-2016-tiga-games-industry-awards-finalists-revealed). TIGA. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
16. Makuch, Eddie (16 November 2016). "All the 2016 Game Awards Nominees" (http://www.gamespot.co
m/articles/all-the-2016-game-awards-nominees/1100-6445481/). GameSpot. Retrieved 16 November
2016.
17. "Giant Bomb's 2016 Game of the Year Awards: Day Four - Giant Bomb" (http://www.giantbomb.com/art
icles/giant-bombs-2016-game-of-the-year-awards-day-four/1100-5524/).
18. Hall, Charlie (9 January 2017). "Hyper Light Drifter, Inside and Virginia among nominees for 2017 IGF
Awards" (http://www.polygon.com/2017/1/9/14214750/2017-igf-awards-nominees-inside-hyper-light-dri
fter-virginia-host-nina-freeman). Polygon. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
19. wbber, Jordan Erica (March 9, 2017). "Bafta games awards 2017: Inside and Uncharted 4 lead the way"
(https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/mar/09/bafta-games-awards-2017-inside-and-uncharted-
4-lead-the-way). The Guardian. Retrieved March 9, 2017.
20. "Games in 2017 - BAFTA Awards" (http://awards.bafta.org/award/2017/games). BAFTA. Retrieved
6 April 2017.

External links
Official website

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Overcooked&oldid=800614998"

This page was last edited on 14 September 2017, at 16:59.

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