Cooking Simulator

Cooking Simulator puts you at the stove of a restaurant kitchen. You chop vegetables, season meat, heat pans and plate dishes, while ingredients and kitchen appliances move around through a physics simulation. Mistakes can lead to burnt food or a messy workspace.

Cooking Simulator was released for PC on June 6, 2019. The Nintendo Switch version followed on May 14, 2020, the Xbox One version on August 14, 2020, and the European PS4 version on May 19, 2021.

The base game was released natively for PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. The Xbox One version can also be played on Xbox Series X|S, and the PS4 version can be played on PS5 via backward compatibility. This does not make either game a standalone version for the newer console generation. For Switch, Forever Entertainment developed and published a separate version.

A dish is made up of individual steps: take ingredients, chop, weigh, heat, season and serve. Cooking time, temperature and the exact amount all play a role. You can use pots, knives, blenders and other kitchen appliances directly. Physics means objects can also fall down or get in the way.

Several PC expansions focus on their own kitchens and dishes. Cakes and Cookies opens a bakery, Pizza focuses on pizza dough and oven work. Shelter moves cooking into a post-apocalyptic shelter. There is also Cooking with Food Network with competitions, as well as Sushi and BBQ with their own cooking techniques. Not every expansion is available for every console version.

On PC, Cooking Simulator on Steam requires at least 6 GB RAM, an Intel Core i5-3550 or AMD FX-8350, and a GTX 660 Ti or Radeon R9 270X. 16 GB RAM and a GTX 1060 or Radeon RX 480 are recommended. Installation requires 6 GB of storage space.

In career mode, you start with simple recipes and a growing number of orders. With experience, you unlock additional dishes as well as skills and perks. It is not just about knowing a recipe: the pace and condition of the kitchen also decide how successfully you serve your guests.

In sandbox mode, ingredients and tools are available without the career mode restrictions. You can try new combinations, rearrange the kitchen or deliberately play with the physics. Recipes and orders do not limit experimenting here.

Cooking Simulator is designed as a single-player simulation. It focuses on your own work at the appliances and on precise timing for individual recipes. For shared kitchen operations, the separately released Cooking Simulator 2: Better Together is available.

The original Cooking Simulator was developed by Big Cheese Studio. The Nintendo Switch version was developed and published by Forever Entertainment. On PlayStation and Xbox, Big Cheese Studio acts as publisher. Cooking Simulator VR is a standalone version for virtual reality.