How To Cook Everything

"How To Cook Everything - A game for terrible chefs."

How To Cook Everything is the single-player version of my Global Game Jam project, produced in collaboration with fellow game makers Pierce McBride and Ryan Sandvik! Play it now.

I love everything about game jams: the people, the ideas, the lack of sleep. And that goes double for Global Game Jam, the biggest and baddest jam of all. This year, I teamed up with Pierce McBride of Disney Consumer Products, and Ryan Sandvik from Luma Pictures to make a multiplayer cooking game.

Huh?

Let's rewind a bit. 

As far as design sensibilities go, this was a pretty avant-garde team. Both Ryan and I have messed with experiemental games, site specific installations, and other unusual games. Pierce has all sorts of strange, unorthodox games under his belt -- at least of which involved dipping your fist in a jar of pudding.

When the three of us decided to collaborate, we knew we were going to do something unusual. When the dust had settled, we'd made a cooking, spread across four computers (one computer was the cutting board, another a skillet, etc.). The computers were set up in physical space like a kitchen. Audience members would make orders (through a fifth computer), and the cook's job was to prepare the meal. Playing the game involved a lot of running around and shouting. It was a jolly good time.

After the dust had settled (and we'd slept) it only seemed natural to make a single player version of the experience. Sadly, it loses the zany charm of physically running around, but it's still fun to cook a rat-and-gun burger. So, that's the story of How To Cook Everything. We hope you enjoy playing it as much as we did making it!

Bon Appétit!