When Polish developer Big Cheese Studio released Cooking Simulator in 2019, it offered fans of both the culinary arts and chaotic physics-based games such as Surgeon Simulator something to sink their teeth into. The game opens itself up to the same kind of wacky hijinks as the aforementioned Surgeon Simulator, but with enough realism that fans can genuinely try to cook a variety of recipes. Its DLC thus far has focused on expanding the brand with a bakery, a pizzeria, and a crossover with the televised shows of Food Network, but now Cooking Simulator is dipping into new territory with the post-apocalyptic "Shelter" DLC.
Game ZXC spoke with Big Cheese Studio game designer Szymon Junde and marketing specialist Tomasz Mysko about Cooking Simulator's Shelter DLC and what fans can expect from its unique twist on the formula. Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What has been your favorite part of the development of Cooking Simulator?
Junde: Being a huge cooking enthusiast myself, working on Cooking Simulator has been a great adventure for me. I love mastering new recipes, learning new types of cuisine from all over the world, and then translating my experiences into the game. Sharing my real-life passion with so many players is the best part of this project.
Q: What are some of your favorite recipes to make in Cooking Simulator and its DLC?
Junde: If I had to choose only one, I think I’d go for the pizzas from our previous expansion. We’ve been receiving messages from people who were able to bake some amazing homemade pizzas using our recipes for doughs and sauces. One of our biggest challenges is finding the right balance between realism while still keeping the game fun, so reading those messages was really satisfying!
Q: Why did you decide to depart from the traditional kitchen styles for Shelter?
Junde: We just wanted to experiment with a completely new setting. Two previous expansions were focused on including completely new mechanics and gameplay ideas, but their setting was still pretty regular. A pizzeria and a confectionery seem like obvious choices for expanding a cooking game. In Shelter, we wanted to go back to the classic cooking mechanics and focus on creating an interesting world and immersive plot.
Q: In what ways did you have more freedom in developing mutated ingredients for the upcoming DLC?
Junde: The Post-apocalyptic setting provided a great opportunity for introducing uncanny mutated food products, prepared using unconventional culinary solutions. When we think about mutated foods I believe we often see them as unhealthy and gross. We really wanted to look at the post-apocalyptic setting as a chance to introduce nutritious and tasty looking food products with interesting shapes, glowing elements and vibrant colours.
As for the recipes, we couldn’t rely too much on the real-world prepper kitchen. It’s just too simple and focused mainly on high-carbohydrate foods. That’s why we started to look for inspirations elsewhere. It turned out that Turkish cuisine often utilizing grills and skewer-based dishes was a great fit for this setting. You can check that out in the latest trailer for the game.
Q: Did Bethesda’s Fallout series have any impact on Shelter’s development? If so, how?
Junde: Yes, definitely. Most of us here at Big Cheese Studio are fans of this franchise. I think it’s hard to imagine a video game set in a post-apocalyptic world that hasn’t been influenced by the Fallout series at least a tiny bit. However, there are a lot more sources of inspiration for Shelter. For example, the vast desert wastelands of Mad Max had the biggest influence on the new environment. The teal-and-orange color palette of scorched soil and blue skies above were the look we started to aim for with the surface world.
Q: How will Cooking Simulator:Shelter improve upon what you accomplished in previous DLCs?
Junde: Shelter is a great opportunity for us to expand the game in ways we haven’t considered before. This will be the first time we’ll be including an actual plot, and we hope to tell an engaging story with this expansion. Mechanics such as hunting and growing food are something people don’t expect when they think about Cooking Simulator, but I believe those gameplay elements will turn out to be a great addition. Other than that, the new environment with various detailed models and interesting food products are something we’re really proud of!
Q: What is the player’s goal in this nuclear wasteland narrative?
Junde: We don’t want to spoil too much of the story, but if you’ve seen the teaser you’ll know that our main goal [as the player] will be finding our lost family. After a long journey we stumble upon a well-preserved shelter and an abandoned communications center nearby. The radio towers could be used to contact our family, however early on it turns out the radio towers are heavily damaged and we'll need some help from the locals to restore them. We’ll need to gain their trust and gratitude first - that’s where our cooking skills come in.
Q: Why did you decide to let players leave the kitchen to hunt for supplies in Shelter?
Junde: ​​​​​​​Shelter’s plot is all about surviving in the wastelands, staying resourceful and making the most out of difficult situations. It wouldn’t really make sense to keep the system known from the base game where food is just laying around and the player needs to click on it to purchase.
Mysko: I think it is worth clarifying that Shelter will not be an open world game. Gathering food will take place in a limited space. We can grow plants in the underground farm and harvest meat from the shed above which serves as a hunting range for mutants. There are other products available as well but those will have to be delivered to our shelter by the caravan.
Q: How many kinds of creatures will players be able to hunt in the wild?
Junde: ​​​​​​​There will be three types of mutants: Rats, which run around quickly and can populate the area pretty fast. Armadillos, which are a bit tougher and harder to hunt. Finally, in the later part of the game, there will also be an opportunity to hunt vultures.
Q: What will be the most challenging part for players in Shelter?
Junde: We didn’t aim to make Shelter more difficult than the base game. We just wanted to bring what people loved the most about Cooking Simulator into a new setting. I’m sure that some people might be surprised with the new mechanics such as shooting and growing food, but if you’ve enjoyed Cooking Simulator, you’re going to like Shelter as well.​​​​​​​
Q: Are there any plans for Cooking Simulator beyond the Shelter DLC?
Mysko: Cooking Simulator is a very successful title and we strongly believe that there are many more ways we can still expand this awesome franchise. We have tons of plans that I’m sure will make a lot of people excited!
Q: Anything else you'd like to add that we haven't touched on?
Mysko: The funny thing is that we announced Shelter on April 1, 2021 to tease people and allow them to speculate. In the last few months we’ve had a chance to stream the game on Twitch, write a few devlogs, release a new trailer, and share countless screenshots and memes on social media. So to all the people who are still doubting: Shelter is coming! Sooner than you think.
[END]
Cooking Simulator is available now on Mobile, PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One. Its Shelter DLC is currently in development.
