Overcooked inspired this game prototype. The objective of the game is to prepare meals for customers. I made a similar mechanic, but only for drinks. I also added a way for you to kick customers out if the order is too complicated—though there is a penalty if you do that. My game also differs as I added customer types—regular and impatient.

Handholding

In a video game, handholding refers to a game forcing or suggesting you to do an action. It is most commonly seen in a tutorial, where the player must follow concrete instructions to proceed. This handholding mechanic could be non-existent in other games, and the player must discover everything themselves. I implemented a tutorial for this game where I forced the player to create a food item. The game also has tooltips explaining what everything does when you hover over an object.

Quality of Life

Visual feedback is crucial since you want to let the user know when an action occurred. A basic example is a button where a shadow appears when you click on it so you see an action took place. In my game, I added various animations after performing such actions so you know the action succeeded. Some examples are smoking appearing when using a coffee machine and the sound of clinking mugs when you pick up a cup. In addition, the character has to be near an appliance to interact with it, and I implemented an outer highlight around the appliance to let the user know that an action can be performed now.

Lessons Learned

The game felt very little to the imagination and quickly became repetitive after playtesting. Overall, this game was feature-packed in a tiny package - though probably veering on the side of over-engineering.