Games
We’re hungry for this particular port, so we asked the developers what’s on the menu.
Released last year, Ghost Town Games’ Overcooked has taken the gaming world by storm – or at the very least cooked up one. Its unique formula sees players take the role of chefs tasked with working together to cook up the right food within the right time scale and get it out to hungry customers. Typical activities include chopping lettuce, frying meat, washing dishes and, if things get out of hand, extinguishing kitchen fires.
You all play together in the same room, sharing controllers if you have to, the close proximity to your fellows cooks ramping up the charm and silliness of it all. It might be a game about cooking, but it’s anything but a chore to play.
BAFTA thought it tasty enough to award it nominations in four categories at the 2017 British Academy Games Awards; it walked away with recognition as the best British-made game of the year and the best game for families. The two-person Ghost Town Games, with their very first game, have catapulted themselves into a position of respect and admiration.
That success was gleamed by the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One edition of Overcooked. Later this year sees the launch of the Nintendo Switch variant, a console that Ghost Town Games co-founder Phil Duncan is excited to be working on.
“I think the main attraction is the design of the console, the fact that the hardware lends itself so readily to local multiplayer,” Duncan tells Red Bull Games. “I love the fact that everyone who owns a Nintendo Switch will have access to two Joy-Con controllers right out of the box. That’s so encouraging, especially given our love of local multiplayer games.
“I also love the fact that the console is bringing gaming out of the living room. I’m so excited whenever I see someone with their Switch on the train or in a café.”
Overcooked does seem to be the kind of game that would work perfectly on the move, particularly if you’re sat on a train or plane with a friend, partner or family member for company. If you’re feeling adventurous you might also try to get a complete stranger involved in multiplayer.
Each cooking session is limited to a few minutes in duration, the visuals are bold enough so as to be easily understood even if your view isn’t perfect and the simple control scheme means you’ll not be stuck for long explaining how to play if you’re partner is new to the game. In short, Overcooked’s design is perfect for easily consumed bites of play when out and about.
“My favourite aspect of the Switch is definitely being able to pack up my console and take it with me wherever I go,” continues Duncan. “I love being able to play Zelda on the train or Mario Kart at the airport and we’re really, really excited for people to do the same with Overcooked.”
Duncan explains that both himself and Ghost Town Games co-founder Oli De-Vine own a Nintendo Switch and, as such, understand the system from a player perspective as well as a development angle.
Whilst games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe are stunning achievements in their own right, they don’t provide an experience akin to that which Overcooked has dedicated itself to. Namely, the Switch doesn’t yet have a quality example of a game that tasks you with explicitly working with your multiplayer partner in person to achieve a shared goal.
Duncan believes that the Switch audience includes those people who want to play just that kind of game.
“From our limited experience so far, the Nintendo fans have been really encouraging and are extremely excited to play [Overcooked]. I think there’s a big audience of players who have yet to experience the game and those are the same players who are crying out for a new local multiplayer game on Switch. We include ourselves in that [demographic].”
Ghost Town Games have confirmed that the Switch release of Overcooked will come with all of the additional content currently available across the other platforms. This includes ‘The Lost Morsel’ DLC that brings six new campaign missions and a handful of new chefs to the base game, and the Christmas-themed ‘The Festive Seasoning’ batch of content featuring eight snowy levels and characters including snowmen and reindeer.
Duncan also describes that Overcooked on Nintendo Switch “takes advantage of the console’s rumble features to give the players a little more feedback as they play.”
Still, it’s the core nature of the hardware itself and the lack of any need to purchase additional equipment in order to enjoy the game that has Duncan most excited for Overcooked on Switch.
“The original release of Overcooked has a ‘split-controller’ mode which allows two players to play together using a single controller. What’s great about the Switch is that we are able to leverage that functionality by allowing players to divide the Joy-Con controllers between themselves. We’re extremely fortunate in that respect.”
Unlike other ports, then, Overcooked’s core design is not disrupted by the alteration of hardware. Indeed, the opposite is true: the design of the Switch and its included contents out of the box make it a system that actively encourages the kind of play that Ghost Town Games were aiming for with their original design.
Third-party games have a long history of mediocrity and even failure on Nintendo platforms, but such an occurrence seems unlikely in this instance. From both a playing and development perspective Nintendo’s new console feels like the perfect fit for this kind of game and one that the audience will have a strong appetite for.