The game I’ll be talking about for this assignment is Cooking Mama – it’s a game I remember fondly from my childhood and I think this would be a great way to revisit exactly what compelled young me to this game!
Cooking Mama is a cooking simulation game for the DS. The gameplay centers on executing “Mama’s” instructions in the cooking process through various mini-games that are meant to simulate real cooking tasks. In the end you end up with a yummy looking dish, which Mama rates Bronze, Silver, or Gold. The mini-games are tasks performed on the DS’s touch screen: for example, slicing with the stylus to replicate slicing an ingredient, or rotating the stylus at just the right speed to replicate mixing a mixture.
I think the mechanics that really work for this game are the actions encoded into each minigame. Each recipe needs to have a set of steps laid out for it, and fit into a type of minigame for each step. Additionally, each minigame needs to correspond to an action that is fun to reproduce on the DS. Many of the recipes share steps or minigames, so it’s essential that the minigames are quick and fun. This corresponds to a dynamic that emphasizes mastering these really quick movements for a great score. This feeds into the aesthetic of real cooking: it’s based off repetitive movements and fulfilling steps for which in order to reach the greatest quality you must ensure are done well. The minigames also showcase the progression of the food item you’re cooking, which I think is another dynamic for the user.
I think this game is an example of Fantasy, since users are roleplaying cooking. I could also see this being an example of Challenge, but for young me I remember it also being an example of Submission – I would use this game to pass the time and the minigames were a way for me to zone out.
