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Food is one of the many joys of life, and for many, cooking is part of the fun. And as with all everyday activities, cooking has made its way into many a video game.
Whether it’s the central mechanic or a big part of character customisation and building, cooking has become a staple not just in the kitchen, but in many Switch titles. Cooking Mama is one of the first big titles to put cooking at the centre of gameplay, but it’s also handy for when you need a quick bit of healing while out in the open world of Hyrule.
With the release of the fabulous (and tear-jerking) Venba earlier this week, we want to celebrate the Michelin stars of the cooking video game world. This list is ultimately a bit of fun — not every single game is solely about cooking, and we may have thrown in a few cheeky games where cooking isn’t the main draw — but everything here is absolutely worth a look.
Get the frying pan out and the water boiling — it’s time to look at the best cooking games (and cooking-adjacent games) on the Switch.
Pokémon Café ReMix (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: The Pokémon Company
Release Date: 23rd Jun 2020 (USA) / 24th Jun 2020 (UK/EU)
Initially brewing in 2020, Pokémon Café ReMix got a new name and new features in 2021, and it continues to be supported to this day. The free-to-play puzzler has you making lovely brews and delightful bites with adorable-looking Pokémon. Order an Eevee Latte or chow down on a Dugtrio Sandwich Trio, and created for you by the Pokémon staff at the café. It’s cosy, cutesy fun that you can download for free on your Switch right now.
Waku Waku Sweets (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Sonic Powered / Developer: Sonic Powered
Release Date: 22nd Nov 2018 (USA) / 22nd Nov 2018 (UK/EU)
Waku Waku Sweets is a dessert-based cooking game where Lime, an apprentice baker, begins her trade in the Fil Rouge patisserie. You can go about this the more traditional way by earning coins by completing baking jobs, or take the advice of Lime’s talking rabbit companion, Paffi and cook to increase the happiness of the townsfolk, which will give Paffi enough power to grant her wish of being the very best. Much like a chef’s speciality dessert, Waku Waku Sweets be devoured by fans of its distinctive happy-go-lucky visual style and those who enjoy the cooking sim
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Overcooked 2 (Switch)
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Publisher: Team 17 / Developer: Ghost Town Games
Release Date: 7th Aug 2018 (USA) / 7th Aug 2018 (UK/EU)
Overcooked 2 is a fantastic sequel to a co-op classic, building on the gameplay ideas from before in meaningful new ways while polishing up what was already there. There is a lingering sense that this is more of the same, but it’s such a blast to play that you’ll hardly be focused on the lack of any major innovations; overall, this feels like a stronger execution of the original vision. Overcooked 2 is a game that’s full of personality and heart, and we’d recommend this one to anyone looking for a fantastic party game with a large helping of DLC content to keep you in the kitchen for a long ol’ time. Making tasty food has never been so fun, or chaotic.
Disney Dreamlight Valley (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Gameloft / Developer: Gameloft
Release Date: 6th Sep 2022 (USA) / 6th Sep 2022 (UK/EU)
Cooking with Disney characters, you say? In Disney Dreamlight Valley, you (alongside Remy) can whip up dishes to replenish energy or sell to make quick cash. The recipe list is huge, as you’d expect — there are sodas, soups, sides, and platters aplenty, which adds to the frictionless, relaxing spin on life sims in heartwarming and charming ways. You can also share meals with other Disney characters to make friends with them, making it an essential and fun activity for any Disney fan.
Battle Chef Brigade (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Adult Swim Games / Developer: Trinket Studios
Release Date: 20th Nov 2017 (USA) / 20th Nov 2017 (UK/EU)
Like the best potluck you’ve ever been to, Battle Chef Brigade combines multiple different flavours to create something mouthwatering and addictive. Part puzzler, part action RPG, part narrative game. You spend time collecting ingredients to create dishes for a cooking tournament. You make your food by solving small tile-matching puzzles. Set apart by its beautiful visuals and production values, Battle Chef Brigade is a twist on the cooking game that tastes so good, you’ll want to keep playing.
Good Pizza, Great Pizza (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: PM Studios / Developer: TapBlaze
Release Date: 3rd Sep 2020 (USA) / 3rd Sep 2020 (UK/EU)
Pizza is an easy way to our hearts, but in Good Pizza, Great Pizza, you not only get to create your own delicious dishes, but you get to manage your own pizza restaurant. The lead game designer worked in a pizza kitchen for four years prior to creating this game, and you can tell from the literal thousands of pizza combinations you can make. Tie it all up with a customisable, expanding restaurant and some heartwarming stories and characters, and this is — in our opinion — a fantastic pizza.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 20th Mar 2020 (USA) / 20th Mar 2020 (UK/EU)
Cooking was added to Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the game’s huge 2.0 update back in November 2021. Not only can you create some delicious-looking bread, smoothies, and pasta dishes, but you can also cultivate and harvest the ingredients yourself. Pumpkin patches and sugar beets can adorn your island, making for some easy ways to make your island look rustic. And the process of cooking is very easy — and every single dish looks to-die for. It’s a new layer to the crafting system that feels right at home, and another feature that squeezes into the jam-packed life sim on Switch. If you’re one of the few people who don’t have New Horizons… what are you waiting for?
Lemon Cake (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Soedesco / Developer: Cozy Bee Games
Release Date: 30th Sep 2022 (USA) / 30th Sep 2022 (UK/EU)
Lemon Cake is the appropriate name for a cosy game about managing a bakery and cooking confections. We say cosy, but as anyone knows, when you’re making cakes and serving customers, things can get pretty hectic. But it’s the loop of making tasty treats and keeping customers happy. And like many other simulation games, you grow and raise all of your own ingredients to create the best possible cakes, cookies, and sweet treats. Lemon Cake is the star baker on the Switch.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Switch)
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Publisher: Bethesda Softworks / Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Release Date: 17th Nov 2017 (USA) / 17th Nov 2017 (UK/EU)
While potions might heal more in Skyrim, cooking adds another layer of depth to the huge action RPG. The Dragonborn can whip up dishes that restore health, magicka, and even stamina, and they’re pretty light to carry around too. Cooking at a spit also just feels pretty wonderful and warms you right up in the chilly lands of Skyrim. Even without the cooking, Skyrim delivers a palpable sense of space that few games before or since have managed. May its dancing northern lights never dim.
inbento (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: 7Levels / Developer: Afterburn
Release Date: 12th Mar 2020 (USA) / 12th Mar 2020 (UK/EU)
inbento is a bit less “cooking” and a bit more “presentation”. Bento boxes are some of the most appealing ways to serve lunch, and that’s exactly what you’re doing in this chill puzzle game — building bento boxes. Moving sushi rice, fruit, fish, vegetables, and more to put them into the best spot. With plenty of cats to go around and a bit of a steep difficulty curve, you’ll be wishing you had your own bento box at home to make aesthetically pleasing dishes, whenever you’re not playing inbento, that is.
Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Vertigo Gaming / Developer: Vertigo Games
Release Date: 14th Oct 2020 (USA) / 14th Oct 2020 (UK/EU)
If you’re looking for a relaxing cooking experience, then Cook, Serve, Delicious! 3?! is probably not the game for you. Chaotic cooking in the year 2042 is the dish of the day here, you’re travelling the length and breadth of the USA in your food truck, delivering the best food to hungry customers. Luckily there is a more chill mode available to play, but fast food is on the menu here as you seek to restore your reputation and build up your travelling restaurant after it’s been destroyed. Come for the food, stay for the chaos.
Stardew Valley (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: ConcernedApe / Developer: ConcernedApe
Release Date: 5th Oct 2017 (USA) / 5th Oct 2017 (UK/EU)
Like Animal Crossing and Disney before it, Stardew Valley isn’t about the cooking. Though it’s used as a way of healing energy and health, or making friends with the residents of Pelican Town, it’s also an extremely in-depth system which requires you to collect recipes and learn how to make tons of dishes. Future updates have added more food, too. So if you really wanted, you could turn your farm into the culinary capital.
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido (Switch)
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 8th Jun 2018 (USA) / 8th Jun 2018 (UK/EU)
We’ve got lots of games here about cooking — but isn’t eating also pretty magical? Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido might be breaking the rules more than most on this list, but when you’re consuming one of the most simple and beautiful foods out there (sushi), we’re letting that slide. The world is embroiled in the Sushi Struggle, and you need to match plates of sushi to win each encounter. Musashi wants the world to experience sushi, and if that isn’t a noble cause in itself, then we don’t know what to say. The game is stupidly fun and addictive, and with a bright aesthetic, you’ll be thinking about this when you next grab some sushi.
Venba (Switch eShop)
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Publisher: Visai Games / Developer: Team Visai
Release Date: 31st Jul 2023 (USA) / 31st Jul 2023 (UK/EU)
In Venba’s short play time, the narrative-led cooking game conveys so much of this family’s experience. The stirring story is presented in snackable chapters, each with an emotional tale tied to a dish. The puzzles aren’t too challenging, making for a comforting, cosy playthrough as you prepare each meal. Be warned though: this game will make you hungry. And it may also make you cry.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: 12th May 2023 (USA) / 12th May 2023 (UK/EU)
Okay, so Tears of the Kingdom clearly isn’t a game about cooking — but you could easily make it one. Because of how open Tears of the Kingdom is, you can do pretty much anything. And with over 200 recipes for Link to concoct, with multiple variants and bonuses gained from eating all of the different food, there’s no reason not to engage with every cooking pot you come across.
If the Zonai created the portable pot, that means they loved cooking. And Link (and you) should love cooking too. Fortunately, the rest of the game is also rather good.
Hungry for more of these games? We’ll be updating this with the best new Switch Cooking Games as they come. For now, let us know in the comments which ones you’ve played.
This article is one of our Switch Essentials guides which cover a wide variety of genres, including the Best Switch FPS Games, the Best Switch RPGs, the Best Switch Games For Kids, the Best Switch Couch Co-Op Games and the Best Switch Fitness and Exercise Games. We can also help out hunting down the Best Switch Horror Games, the Best Switch Racing Games, the Best Switch Action-RPGs, the Best Nintendo Switch Roguelikes, Roguelites and Run-Based Games, the Best Free Switch Games, the Best Remakes And Remasters, the Best Switch Music And Rhythm Games, Best Feel-Good Switch Games, Best Switch Open-World Games, Best Switch Soulslike Games, Best LGBTQ+ Switch Games, and even Games to Play After You’ve Finished Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Whatever your favourite genre, we’ve got you covered: Strategy Games, Metroidvanias, Puzzle Games, Party Games, Online Multiplayer Games, Local Wireless Multiplayer Games, Shmups, Twin-Stick Shooters, Visual Novels, Kart Racers, Fighting Games, Football Games, Funny Games, Golf Games, ‘Walking Sims’ And Narrative Games, Switch Games For Lovers And Lonely Hearts, Detective Games, Hidden Gems, 2D Platformers, 3D Platformers, Puzzle Platformers, Tabletop Mode Games, Run and Gun Games, LEGO Games, Sports Games, Survival Games, Beat ‘Em Ups, Camera Games, Chill Games, Family Games, Retro-Inspired Games, Short Games, Card Games and Deck-Builders, and Life Sims And Farming Games.
Still hungry for more? Elsewhere we look at Wholesome Games, TATE Mode Games, Flight Sim and Space Combat, Point and Click Adventure Games, and the Best Switch Exclusives, as well as Every Arcade Archives Game, Every ACA Neo Geo Game, Every SEGA AGES Game On Switch, plus the Best Switch Ports, Best Wii U-To-Switch Ports, Best Switch Collections And Compilations, Best Cheap Switch Games, Best Switch Demos, Games That Are Better On Switch OLED, Switch Games Under $10, $20, $50, and Switch games with the Best Soundtracks and the Best Graphics. Phew!
If you’re looking for the best Switch games regardless of genre, our reader-voted selection of the Best Nintendo Switch Games should help you out, and you can also find the Best Nintendo Switch Games of 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. And finally, if you’re interested in other Nintendo consoles and retro games, check out the Best Game Boy Games, Best GBC Games, Best GBA Games, Best Nintendo DS Games, Best Nintendo 3DS Games, Best NES Games, Best SNES Games, Best N64 Games, Best GameCube Games, and Best Wii Games, and Best Wii U Games, as well as Every Available Nintendo Switch Online Retro Game, and ranked lists of Every Nintendo Switch Online NES, SNES, N64 and Sega Genesis / Mega Drive Game.
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