Playing with food
It is the year 2006, I come home from a day of ahem.. hard work in elementary school. I start up my PC and log in to Runescape. An online game where you wander through an open world and try to explore and get your character to the highest level. I had a quest where I had to help two brothers out. At the age of 6 I hardly spoke any English, so it was quite challenging and often I wouldn't follow any quests at all. Although I was determined to complete this one for reasons unknown.
Gowers Quest
These brothers had a problem, their cabbages refuse to grow so the most logical solution to the problem is to talk to the cabbages. You had to collect several items like a brussel sprout, cruciferous mounting and a broccoli root to make an amulet to speak to the cabbages. I wasn't that interested in the abolishment of the cabbage state but more interested in the odd text that appeared when you ate one of the cabbages
Back then I didn't really know what a cabbage was, or why it would say yuck. But this is my first memorable encounter with food in video games.
Later I learned why cabbage was yuck and my mother forced me to sit at the dining table until all the cabbage was finished. I wished I could speak to the cabbage and tell him that he was fairly inedible and that I would rather let him live so I could escape from dinner.
Cherries & Mushrooms
Food in video games have always played a prominent role. With a standout role for the 1980 release of Pac-man where the player had to eat several dots that resembled cherries in an abstract way. Pac-man's game of cat and mouse was a game of eat or be eaten, with it's illustrious ghosts haunting pac-man
Only 3 years later the gaming world gets the known an Italian plumber that likes mushrooms that make him grow strong and throw fireballs.
The role of food in video games
Food plays a signalling role in video games. In Mario's case it makes him more durable, powerful and bigger. It can also downplay on the character's health like in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas.
In the world of San Andreas you, the player, can decide what your character (CJ) eats. Either you sent him to the salad bar or the Cluckin' Bell, GTA's version of Taco Bell. If you eat a dozen too many burgers at Cluckin’ Bell, your character starts to puke voraciously. Not only that CJ; gets fat, loses stamina and loses strength
Inspire
The second role of video games is to inspire. Some games just want you to get up and recreate what's on the screen like in Final Fantasy XV. On your journey you collect various recipes which you can cook with Ignis, the team's chef. Dishes like onigiri, ramen, stews and some good old french fries with ketchup all make their appearance at the hands of Ignis.
There’s even a Reddit thread specifically devoted to cooking with Ignis, where Redditors attempt to recreate the video game dishes in real life.
Ingenuity
The third role of food in video games is to explore and use creativity. There are games that have amazing looking food like Zelda: Breath of the Wild (BOTW) one of my all time favourite games. The way cooking works in BOTW is intriguing. You find a pot under an open fire, or make an open fire yourself. All around the world of BOTW you can find various ingredients to cook with. Some ingredients are obvious cooking material like meat or fish, some are less obvious such as frogs or butterflies.
The way of obtaining these ingredients is through exploring the world. In forest areas you will find things like mushrooms, on highlands you will find rice
Now combine the rice and the mushrooms add a knob of goat butter, season with rock salt and you have created a nourishing creamy mushroom soup
Resistance
In BOTW you can decide your journey but you have to be prepared for the challenges that you will face. Different climates play different roles. If you find yourself in the middle of an icy landscape, you have to take drastic measures or you will freeze to death. You can either do this by putting on warm clothes or eating some spicy peppers that give you resistance to cold.
Here is where the ingenuity of BOTW comes in to play. You can find these spicy peppers in hot areas and vice versa you will find heat resistance in cold areas.
Logically this heat resistant food is called a Chillshroom
The home chef trend
The last 5 years we have seen a rise in the trend of cooking. With youtube channels specifically dedicated to cooking, restaurants or travelling for food. Tiktok builds on the foundation that Youtube has laid. Gaming is heavily dictated by trends and it too has been influenced by the food trend. With standout the thrilling game of "Overcooked". A game where you have to run a restaurant's kitchen with other players. You have to take care of orders and deliver them on time. It has some interesting challenges to it such as; disappearing floors, cooking on a hot air balloon that blows you away, moving kitchen blocks.
One of those games that take immense communication skills and timing. My preferred form of communicating is rolling over the couch from laughter. Shoutout to my brother for introducing me to this masterpiece.
What could be next for the cooking video game genre? Perhaps competitions or maybe digital Michelin stars. Only time will tell..