Casual game – WildTangent games

Before I started my diploma in Republic Polytechnic, I never had the opportunity to own a console or laptop. All I had were board games and my precious home PC. Basically I spent my time playing games on websites like postopia.com, Yahoo games and other indie game websites. In HP computers, at times they provide free games for a short period of time.

At that time, I decided to try out cooking academy game. At that time, I enjoyed playing it as it was straight forward and I was a fan of cooking. It wasn’t like a cooking game you will find in random game websites. It made me feel like as though I really walked through an interactive tutorial. Once I ran out of Wildtangent coins, I stopped playing it.

Recently, I bought “Cooking Academy Fire and Knives” from Steam because I used to play the game and I wondered whether would I still enjoy playing the game. “Cooking Academy Fire and Knives” consist of Cooking Academy (First game in the series), Cooking Academy 2: World Cuisine, Cooking Academy 3 Recipe for Success.

After playing for a while, I realised that I still enjoyed playing and didn’t find myself disliking it to any bits. (It could be partly because for my love food.) I believe it’s because the game is very suitable for casual gamer. There are few reasons why.

Firstly, the game is simple to play. The game is not complicated. It’s very straightforward and easy to play. All player is required to do is to choose a recipe they would like to cook and start cooking. Even if they are not familiar with the recipe, the gameplay progress you through step by step.

For an example, if you are supposed to dice onions, there will be arrows to guide you on how to slice the onions. These simple indications allow player to have a better understanding of the game, thus giving them a positive urge to continue playing the game.

That makes a game simple to play for a causal player as it is not too complicated. Thus, the game can be addictive for the player.

 Secondly, the game is realistic to a certain extend. It’s not like other cooking games where things get a little different. The recipes are very similar to the actual ones and you also get to learn different cooking methods. I discovered an interesting recipe when I played Cooking Academy 2. Out of curiosity, I went to search for it on Google. True enough, such recipe exist and the ingredients provided in the game were the same as the recipe.

Name of the dish and picture

Casual gamers, who have interest in cooking, would definitely like this game a lot. I recommended this game to a colleague (who is a student too). She loves cooking and she is also a causal gamer. When I told her about this, she decided to go and play. Within a week, she had progressed through the game more than I did.

Finally, there is a clear progression and sense of achievement in the game. The game has a very clear progression in the game. If it is the player’s first time playing the game, then only one section of the recipes are available for the player. Once player hits a minimum criteria and progresses well through the game (gets C- grade and above), he or she is able to unlock the next set of recipes. 

Exams are only available once you have completed most of the recipes 

This is a form of progression where a player’s effort and achievement allows to progress more through the game. Player then able to understand that they are doing well and feel motivated to play more.

Due to these reasons, it appeals to casual players like me.  Cooking academy is a solid and polished game with all the necessary elements of a 2D game. To me Cooking academy would definitely be an ideal casual game I would recommend to other fellow causal gamers out there.