Third day of the Lunar New Year, in a gaming hobby group chat.
"Anyone got good game recommendations?"
"Overcooked! It just dropped today! I've had my eye on it for a while. Buy one get one free on the Nebula Games platform. I'm looking for someone to play with—any takers? I'll buy the game, you show up!"
"Isn't that a couples' game though?"
"Who says couples' games have to be played by couples? Two grown men can't play it together?"
"True that."
"How much is it?"
"Only 7 dollar! And it's buy one get one free on Lucas's Nebula Games platform."
"Where's Zack? Let's play together!"
The group was full of game lovers chatting about what to play next.
That's when the guy known as Zack replied: "Hmm… I'd love to join you guys, but… sorry, I have a girlfriend."
Right after that, the group blew up with reaction emojis and all kinds of memes.
Ignoring the chaos in the chat, Zack got up from the couch to stretch a bit, then sat down in front of his computer.
As he watched the group chat talk about Overcooked, his curiosity grew.
Sitting at his computer, Zack muttered, "Let's see… this game actually looks pretty fun. Wait—wasn't this made by the same guy who did Outlast? That's quite the switch—from horror to wholesome!"
Looking at Overcooked's cute and colorful store page, Zack was surprised.
A huge poster showed the game's name Overcooked, spelled out using various food items.
Below it was a big food truck.
On top of the truck stood a bunch of cartoon characters wearing chef hats—
A baby crocodile, a squirrel, a dog, and cartoon versions of a boy and a girl.
Each character held a kitchen item—knives, rolling pins, frying pans—making them look extra adorable.
Zack couldn't help but admire the cover art for Overcooked.
With its cartoony art style, every character in the game looked super cute.
"What game is that? It's so cute!"
His girlfriend, Hannah, had just walked out of the room and noticed what he was looking at. She asked with interest.
She played games sometimes too, though not nearly as much as Zack or his gamer friends.
Still, the game's art style on the screen really caught her eye.
The adorable cartoon characters looked like something out of a fairytale. The whole thing just felt so warm and charming.
"Overcooked is the new game from the same designer who made Outlast. He even released it on Valentine's Day," Zack explained.
They had played Outlast together before.
But like most casual players, they never really paid much attention to who made the games.
It was only when he noticed Overcooked that Zack realized this Lucas guy had actually made a bunch of games—and he'd played most of them.
"This was made by the same guy who did Outlast?" Hannah was just as surprised as Zack had been earlier.
"Yeah, and he also made To the Moon and Undertale. Totally different vibes, right?" Zack chuckled.
"He made To the Moon and Undertale too?" Hannah was shocked.
"Why don't we buy it and try it out? The game actually looks pretty fun," Hannah said.
"Heh, that's exactly what I was thinking." Zack grinned, opened his browser, searched for the Nebula Games platform, downloaded it, and created two accounts. They added each other as friends, paid via QR code, and sent one copy of the game to the other account.
Unlike some players, he didn't really care which platform it was on.
As long as the game content isn't censored,
he'd just go with whichever platform had the cheaper price.
He'd also bought Outlast on the Nebula Games platform before.
Now that they were running a "buy one get one free" deal, he had no reason not to use it again.
Sure, this game could be played split-screen on one PC.
But since they lived together and both loved playing games, they had two PCs at home anyway.
After downloading and logging in, the game was pretty small, so they both installed it quickly.
Once they launched the game, the Nebula Games logo passed, and a line of text appeared on the black screen: "Based on real events. Only names, places, and vegetables have been changed..."
Then came a cutscene—thunder and lightning in the sky above a castle at night, with heavy rain pouring down.
[After a light snack break…]
"Finally! I've waited so long for this moment. We've overcome so many obstacles for that ultimate food prize!"
"Watch closely, Kevin! This is the legendary Necronomnomicon!"
As the Onion King talked to himself, he began his research into forbidden cooking magic.
Terrifying cooking spells brought a flood of zombie bread to life, and they started charging toward the castle!
To fight them off, players had to cook enough food to satisfy the monsters.
"Yep, the story clearly isn't the main point here," Zack commented.
"The Onion King is the perfect example of 'you asked for it'," Hannah added.
They both laughed after trading jokes.
After that short intro, the game moved into the tutorial level.
It was really simple—WASD to move, space to interact, and ctrl to chop.
Just the usual key setup found in most games, and even though neither Hannah nor Zack were hardcore gamers,
they'd played enough games to get the hang of it right away.
They quickly picked up the controls.
Basically, you cook—pick ingredients, chop them, sometimes cook them, plate the food, and serve it.
Some dishes needed a mix of different ingredients.
The win condition was simple too.
In campaign mode, the highest score rating was three stars.
For each dish served within the time limit, you'd earn tips. Once your earnings hit a certain target, you'd get your star rating.
The rules were very easy to understand.
Of course, if you beat all levels with a three-star rating, you could unlock a hidden four-star challenge—but that wasn't something most players could pull off.
"Got it! This is so easy!"
"It's actually really fun!"
"If only cooking in real life was this simple."
"Feels like it would be even more fun with more players. Let's clear the campaign first, then try some online matches!"
Zack and Hannah split the roles—one did the chopping, the other plated and served—and they breezed through the first tutorial level.
When they saw they got a perfect three-star score, they were both smiling with joy and satisfaction.
Before playing, because of Outlast and that creepy zombie bread storyline earlier, they expected this to be kind of dark and weird.
But after trying it out a bit, it was actually really fun!
Especially when the two of them were cooking together and delivering dishes.
It felt kind of like playing house as kids.
That childhood nostalgia added a warm and fun vibe to the whole game experience.
As the results screen came up, both Zack and Hannah were smiling happily.
(End of The Chapter)
---
Read +60 advanced chapters on my patre*n
patr eon.com/GustinaKamiya
Free Tier can read 3 advanced chapters
---