Cook For Love

Genre: Misc. / Simulation

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: The original version of this game was removed from the Nintendo Switch eShop for some reason, but there are multiple other versions. These versions are nearly identical, with the only differences being the included cosmetic DLC, which does not affect the gameplay. The above link goes to the Deluxe Edition, the least expensive version of the game.)

(Note: This game is included in Tell Me Your Story Games Collection, along with Amelia’s Garden and Tell Me Your Story.)

Cook For Love is a family-friendly Simulation-ish game released on PC and Nintendo Switch in 2024. This game puts players in the role of French chef Clement, who has found himself unexpectedly running a restaurant after the owner suddenly leaves on a trip. While this might lead you to believe this game has management elements, this is not the case, as it is focused instead of delivering a “cozy” experience focused on making various dishes and conversing with other people who walk into your shop.

The presentation here is delightful, with some really endearing hand-drawn 2D visuals with a sketchy look that really does a good job delivering on the “cozy” vibe the game is aiming for, with these visuals backed by some nice acoustic guitar music (and occasionally whistling). Overall, I feel like this presentation is excellent, doing exactly what this game needs, and setting it apart from numerous other cooking-themed games on the Nintendo Switch.

Unfortunately, the gameplay isn’t anywhere near as successful. At the beginning of each dish you’re preparing, players are given a step-by-step list of instructions to follow. These instructions are extremely simplified takes on what you’d actually need to do in real life – in one of your first recipes, you’re asked to make a strawberry banana smoothie, which just involves dropping strawberries and bananas into a blender. No water or milk, no ice, you needn’t even think about how long you’ll be blending the ingredients together. This lack of attention to detail is indicative of the experience you should expect throughout the entire game.

And this might be fine, if the actual act of prepping ingredients and mixing them together was interesting or provided a challenge, but the only challenge here is remembering each of the steps after you’ve put away the instructions… and even that is made more simple by the game often refusing to let you do things that aren’t in the instructions. What’s more, so much of the process is more or less automatic – either use the touchscreen or an on-screen cursor to move an ingredient to the cutting board, click on the knife block to get a knife, and then just repeatedly tap on the ingredient to cut it, no need to actually do anything to simulate chopping with the knife.

You can’t overcook things, there are no quantities to worry about (even though it often seems like you’re putting far too little in the serving dish/container), and even if the game does let you mess things up, you can always throw away your work and start over again without a penalty. In fact, the only way to actually fail a level is to deliberately choose to serve the wrong item.

You could argue that the conversation-focused story is the point of the game and the cooking is just to space things out, but as likeable as the characters are, the story is pretty light and disposable. I suppose you could argue that the cozy vibe itself is the point of the game, but there are plenty of cozy games that deliver that vibe without sacrificing actual gameplay.

Also, I have to criticize publisher RedDeer.Games for pulling their usual tiresome absurdity by chopping out negligible parts of the game to package as DLC, then using that as an excuse to sell multiple versions of the same game with different DLC included in the game. Also, for that matter, selling this game for an absurdly-overpriced $13-$15 (depending on the version), only to routinely mark it down to $2 to make people think they’re getting a good deal, when I think we can all see that $2 should have just been the standard price.

However, even at $2, it’s hard to justify anyone buying Cook For Love. Yes, it does a great job creating a relaxed atmosphere that is indeed wonderful, but the gameplay is nearly nonexistent, and overall this is an extremely disposable game that can’t even give players something interesting to do. Skip it.

tl;dr – Cook For Love is a family-friendly game that puts players in the role of a French chef preparing dishes in a restaurant, and while this game has a lovely presentation, the gameplay is so shallow and pointless that this game feels completely disposable. Skip it.

Grade: D

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