Look, I get it. Overcooked is both fun chaos, frustration and yelling. It’s the strangely addictive adrenaline of getting the right order in other the wire, all while the kitchen is in flames and your friend screams at you to pass the rice. It’s fun. It’s frantic. But here’s the thing: real life is stressful enough.
So put down the fire extinguisher. Step away from the screaming. Here are 10 cozy cooking games that’ll only bring joy to your kitchen dreams, not nightmares. Well, maybe a little.
Ale & Tale Tavern
By Scienart Games
Ever wanted to run a fantasy tavern with friends? Ale & Tale lets you do exactly that—but it’s also a hunting game, a fishing game, an exploration game, a quest-driven RPG, and occasionally a combat game. It’s a lot.
You and up to five friends inherit an abandoned tavern in a cozy fantasy world and work together to restore its former glory. That means cooking dishes and brewing drinks to serve visitors, but it also means hunting for meat, fishing for ingredients, growing plants, breeding animals, and fighting off dangers that lurk outside your door.
The cooking is just one piece of a much bigger puzzle. You’ll explore an open world, complete quests for quirky characters, decorate your tavern, and unlock new recipes as you go. It’s ambitious, a little chaotic, and surprisingly flexible—a true co-op sandbox where you and your crew decide what kind of adventure you’re having.
Platforms: PC
Touhou Mystia’s Izakaya
By 二色幽紫蝶, Re零同人社
You play as Mystia, a proud owl youkai running a mobile izakaya in Gensokyo. The loop is simple but satisfying: collect ingredients during the day, serve customers by night, and gradually build your reputation as the best izakaya owner in the land.
Customers have preferences you’ll need to remember. Familiar Touhou characters occasionally show up as rare guests, but they won’t order directly—they give hints, and it’s up to you to figure out what they actually want. Satisfy them, and you’ll earn special reward spell cards that stack into powerful combos, letting you rake in serious yen.
Learn recipes, buy beverages, and perfect your menu to keep everyone happy. It’s a cozy, customer-focused sim with surprising depth and a whole lot of Gensokyo personality.
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac
Pao Pao
By ArtDock
You’re a fluffy chef with a kitchen knife, and the world is your oyster—or rather, your restaurant. Pao Pao drops you into a cozy open world where you and up to three friends explore islands, grow crops, fish for ingredients, and manage a restaurant that’s constantly growing.
The daytime is a rush of orders—hustle to cook and serve before hungry customers scatter. But at night, the city comes alive with mini-games, quirky NPCs, and opportunities to prep for the next day. It’s part life sim, part restaurant management, and part open-world adventure—all wrapped in a cute, furry package.
Read more about Pao Pao in our full write-up here.
Release Date: Q3 2026
Platforms: PC
DAVE THE DIVER
By It’s happening
By day, dive into the mysterious Blue Hole, harpooning fish and exploring its ever-changing depths. By night, run a sushi restaurant, serving up the exotic catches you hauled in earlier. It’s a loop so satisfying it’s practically addictive.
The diving is tense but manageable—manage your oxygen, watch for dangers, and try to bring back the best haul you can. The restaurant side is all about timing, upgrades, and keeping customers happy. Along the way, you’ll meet a cast of quirky characters, uncover the secrets of the Blue Hole, and slowly build your sushi empire. It’s charming, surprisingly deep, and somehow makes both fishing and restaurant management feel equally compelling.
Dave The Diver’s latest DLC In The Jungle unlocks a brand new area with new ingredients, restaurant and menu items! Check out our full write-up below.
Platforms: PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, PC
Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2
By Mermaid MenZ Games Limited
This one’s for the chaos lovers. Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2 is a 1–8 player co-op tavern simulator where you and your dwarven friends travel across fantasy regions, master unfamiliar cuisines, and serve some of the most unhinged customers you’ll ever meet. Think Overcooked energy but with dwarves, goblins, and a whole lot of fantasy flavour.
Check out our full demo review of Bronzebeard’s Tavern 2 here.
Release Date: TBA
Platforms: PC
The Witch’s Bakery
By Sunny Lab
You’re Lunne, a joyful witch who’s just arrived in modern Paris to open a bakery. Your special power? You can see into people’s hearts and heal their emotions through magic-infused pastries. It’s a delightful premise, and the game delivers on it with a rhythm that’s part life sim, part emotional healing, and part bakery management.
Each day is split into three phases: daytime is for running the bakery and serving customers with your team of friends; evening is for exploring Paris, building relationships, and venturing inside troubled hearts to help heal them; and night is for resting, improving your magic, decorating your bakery, and spending time in your cozy atelier. As you progress through the days, you’ll earn experience, money, and fame, meet new friends, and uncover the city’s secrets—all while baking croissants that actually change lives.
Read more about The Witch’s Bakery in our full write-up here.
Release Date: 15 October 2026
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC
KuloNiku: Bowl Up!
By Gambir Studio
You’ve just inherited your grandma’s once-famous meatball restaurant in the cozy town of KuloNiku, and it’s up to you to bring it back to glory. But there’s fierce competition from Souper Starz, a flashy rival run by a rockstar chef named Stella. So yes, you’ll serve quirky townsfolk, upgrade your shop, and restore your family’s legacy—but you’ll also battle for the title of top eatery in high-stakes cooking duels called Meatball Brawls.
The cooking itself is tactile and satisfying: chop, boil, fry, torch, pour, sizzle, slice, and skewer with controls that make every action feel deliberate. Want extra garlic? Sprinkle it in. Customers have preferences, and how you prepare their dish affects your tips and reputation.
Platforms: PC
High Times
By Yangyang Mobile
In a world where you can literally eat your feelings, you work at The Hotbox—a donut shop where every pastry is infused with mood enhancers. Want courage? There’s a donut for that. Need to lift your spirits? There’s a donut for that too. But here’s the catch: people don’t always know what they actually need. So it’s up to you to listen to their stories, figure out what’s really going on, and serve them the right donut to help them through it.
Part cooking sim, part dating sim, part emotional support hotline.
Read more about High Times in our full write-up here.
Platforms: PlayStation, PC
Farm to Table
By indieGiant
You know the dream: grow your own food, cook it fresh, and serve it to happy customers. Farm to Table lets you live that fantasy without the actual back-breaking labour. You build a restaurant from scratch, grow crops and raise animals right in the backyard, then turn that fresh produce into delicious meals for your hungry guests.
Explore a colourful island to discover new ingredients, fish, gather, and use machines to produce better goods. As your reputation grows, you’ll hire staff, expand your menu, and work your way toward a 5-star restaurant. There’s also a farmers’ market where you can sell your goods directly, and pet companions to adopt along the way. It’s a grounded, wholesome sim that makes every step of the process feel connected—from seed to plate.
Platforms: PC
Nivalis Nights
By ION Lands
Welcome to Nivalis, a cyberpunk city where neon dreams meet harsh reality. You start with nothing but a humble noodle stand—and ambition. From there, you’ll climb your way up to owning the city’s top restaurants and premier nightclubs, managing every aspect of your culinary empire in a city that doesn’t play fair.
But this isn’t just a business sim. Every day is a choice: grow your operation, forge bonds with the city’s strange inhabitants, or sabotage your rivals under the cover of curfew. It’s a slice-of-life simulation with noir edges—where your decisions shape not just your business, but your story.
Read more about Nivalis Nights in our full write-up here.
Release Date: 29 September 2026
Platforms: PC
