Open-world games offer a lot to modern gamers – unending exploration, special collectibles, and a thriving NPC community to interact with. These games have risen to high prominence in recent years thanks to some big titles across all platforms. Their biggest draw is, of course, the freedom to follow the story at whatever pace players choose.
Open-world games also offer a variety of in-game activities that players can choose to fill their days. Fishing, mining, crafting, and resource gathering are all common pastimes. But some games allow players to put their resources to good use, or food use, with cooking. So, here are the top open-world games with the best cooking mechanics.
10 Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Set during the time of the Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a medieval story-driven open-world RPG available on Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The primary aim of the game is to help the protagonist, Henry, avenge his parents’ deaths and defend the land against invading forces. Like any good adventurer, Henry must stay well-fed to be of any use in his fight.
Though scavenging food is reasonably easy in Kingdom Come: Deliverance, cooking food provides more nourishment and helps to eliminate the risk of food poisoning. Given that the typical medieval diet isn’t all that varied, dishes are mostly limited to cooked meats, fruits, vegetables, and mushrooms. However, the method of cooking varies between boiling, smoking, and drying the food.
9 Terraria
As a sandbox-style game, Terraria offers even more flexibility in gameplay than many other open-world titles. Players will find themselves in a procedurally generated world with several distinct layers made up of tiles. Though the main aim is to simply survive, Terraria players can choose to craft, mine, explore, and fight enemies however they please.
To get certain buffs, such as Well Fed or Exquisitely Stuffed, players can cook themselves a wide range of food and drink. From Bunny Soup to Peach Sangria, there are plenty of strange and fulfilling recipes to follow.
8 Wild Hearts
Wild Hearts is a monster-hunting game with a fairly unique combat system thanks to its Karikuri technology. The game draws its inspiration from feudal Japan and drops players in the magical world of Azuma, which has been taken over by nature-infused monsters. Using the Karikuri to their advantage, players must hunt down these monsters and defeat them in combat.
Wild Hearts contains a somewhat complex food system that grants players buffs depending on what they eat. In addition to the five main food types, there are four different ways to process food as well. Experimenting with this cooking system with grant players boosts to their health, attack, defense, and stamina.
7 Minecraft
Another block-based sandbox open world can be found in Minecraft. Popularizing the genre way back in 2011, Minecraft paved the way for many of these sorts of games today. With a seemingly endless world full of different biomes and resources, players are free to create or destroy as they wish.
Though many cooked foods never really see the inside of an oven, Minecraft allows its players to craft food items to restore more of their hunger level. Cakes, cookies, bread, and pies can all be baked at a crafting table. Just try not to think too hard about the physics involved.
6 Red Dead Redemption 2
Taking its players to the last few years of the great American Wild West, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a veritable playground of morally gray activities. Players can hijack trains, rob NPCs, attend public executions, and partake in a classic Western duel. However, these acts aren’t without consequences, as a player’s reputation will follow them wherever they go.
The cooking mechanic in Red Dead Redemption 2 is constrained by the diet of the era, though the variety of meats and three seasonings will still get players far. Both stamina and health can be increased by consuming cooked foods and a grill will be available to players from the second chapter on.
5 Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Open world doesn’t always have to mean vast, and the world of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is about as small as they get. But what it lacks in size it makes up for, and then some, in its content-rich replayability. The game’s main goal is for players to build their very own thriving island community of cute animals.
As the first Animal Crossing game to introduce a cooking mechanic, New Horizons had a lot riding on the system. Thankfully, fans were thrilled with its addition in a huge game update alongside the new ability to farm ingredients. Players can cook all sorts of delicious-looking dishes from the comfort of their very own home or, if they wanted to, in the kitchens of their neighbors.
4 Genshin Impact
Available on Windows, PlayStation, iOS, and Android, Genshin Impact takes heavy inspiration from anime aesthetics. It’s free-to-play, makes use of gacha mechanics, and has a team-based battle system. Players can freely explore the fantasy world of Teyvat to fight bosses, complete quests, and unlock more playable characters.
Genshin Impact also features a fairly comprehensive cooking system for players to master. Cooked dishes not only replenish health but also grant players a ton of useful buffs for combat. Ingredients can be bought, foraged, hunted, or processed and cooking is done either at a campfire or stove. Perfect timing is crucial if players want to get the best quality meal, as there’s a meter-based mini-game that decides the meal’s outcome.
3 Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has been a front-runner of the open-world genre since its 2017 release on the Nintendo Switch and Wii U. The game is considered a landmark in modern gaming for its detailed world design and open-ended gameplay. Players control Link, the Hero of Time, as he journeys to restore balance to Hyrule and defeat Calamity Ganon.
On their many long journeys around the kingdom, players will have the opportunity to collect ingredients and cook meals at any of the pots scattered across the map. With no recipe guide, a good memory and a bit of trial and error are required. Like many other games, cooked meals in Breath of the Wild will restore Link’s health and grant him various buffs to aid in combat.
2 Stardew Valley
As a farming sim, Stardew Valley is one of the best in the genre. This indie game is available on Windows, macOS, Linux, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android. The game’s premise involves players inheriting a rundown farm from their grandfather which they must rebuild with the help of the local community.
As farming and cooking tend to go hand-in-hand, Stardew Valley has a thorough cooking system ingrained in its gameplay. Recipes can be unlocked depending on friendship levels with villagers or by watching the TV at certain times. Unsurprisingly, cooking is done in the kitchen of players’ farmhouses once they have access to a fridge and a stove.
1 Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild and takes its best aspects and improves on them. Available on Nintendo Switch, players are once again put in control of the Hero of Hyrule as he works to defeat Ganon yet again. With the new fusing mechanic, creativity really is king in Tears of the Kingdom.
Though the cooking and resource-gathering mechanics remain much the same as its predecessor game, Tears of the Kingdom makes a welcome update in terms of recipes. Players will have access to a compendium of recipes they’ve made before, or ones that they’ve learned from NPCs and recipe posters. With fourteen different buffs available, cooking is absolutely essential to Link’s success.