6 Games That Make You Hungry When You Play Them

Even when playing videogames, we cannot escape our need for or love of food. In many games, the consumption of food heals us, gives us strength, grants us helpful buffs, or — in the case of Mario — has the rather alarming impact of making our entire body a different size or shape. Some games present food in a simple manner, or without texture; others, however, go all-out and present players with delectable masterpieces that make you want to reach into the screen Willy Wonka style and take it.

In this piece, I’ll be discussing six games that will make you want to do just that, inspiring your stomach to rumble with their presentations of food. This is your advance warning: you may wish to prepare some snacks, as to stave off the hunger pangs that may inevitably ensue.

1. Overcooked: All You Can Eat

Starting with a somewhat obvious choice, the Overcooked franchise involves the intense and haphazard preparation of food. Whether playing alone or with co-op partners, you’re tasked with serving up the dishes specified in a tight time limit in order to satisfy your hungry customers. Although not quite as powerful as Monopoly in ruining friendships, Overcooked comes close if embracing your inner Gordon Ramsay too much.

While some meals look simplistic or underwhelming, others — like the pizzas, burritos and burgers — are likely to set your stomach off rumbling, and you’ll find yourself thinking about the real-world equivalent you’re desperate to eat at that moment. All I’m saying is, my wallet has been the victim of Overcooked-inspired hunger many times.

2. Pokémon Sword / Shield

Since the very first Pokémon games, we’ve been asked by the various professors to help with documenting every available Pokémon in the regional and national Pokédexes. However, we had never invested quite as much time in preparing food as we did upon the release of Pokémon Sword / Shield, where the Curry Dex was introduced as an additional task for completionists to pore over.

Rustling up a curry for your Pokémon can offer various benefits, provided that your ingredients are well-selected and your cooking skills are up to scratch. These wondrous foods have the power to restore HP, restore the PP of moves, increase your Pokémon’s happiness, raise their XP, or even heal their status conditions if the taste is strong enough. Plus, they look so darn delicious that you can’t help but want one for yourself.

3. Final Fantasy XV

As stated previously, many games use the consumption of food to regenerate health or provide buffs to characters. Few games, however, offer the mechanic in as much depth and detail as Final Fantasy XV. Here, it is possible to cook food from foraged ingredients, purchase meals from restaurants, or have Ignis Scientia cook up a meal based on the recipes he knows (and the available ingredients) when camping in a safe haven.

These meals, when consumed, can grant a variety of buffs that will benefit your team the next day, such as increased attack or defence, higher HP, improved magic or increased vitality. Each party member has their own meal preferences, so to reap the best rewards, it is best to home-cook a dish that they’re interested in eating. Meals prepared by Ignis not only look spectacular, but offer higher boosts than those purchased from restaurants, so don’t be put off by the process. It’s worth both the effort and the wait to invest in developing his culinary abilities, despite the unfortunate side effect of making you hungry as well.

4. Cooking Simulator

Have you ever wanted to cook up a complex meal, but didn’t have the confidence to get the ingredients together and attempt it? Or perhaps you once fancied a career as a chef, but didn’t think you could pull it off, so opted for something safer? Well, good news! You can give both a try in Cooking Simulator in virtual reality, and make yourself feel rather hungry while doing it due to how realistic the meals you’ll prepare will look.

In this title, you take control of a highly polished and realistic kitchen equipped with all of the culinary utensils and equipment you could possibly need. You have free reign over the available ingredients and tools, and can create masterful meals of your own choosing. Real-life physics play a part in this game, however, so do be careful to not set your kitchen on fire while putting something together. Tasty food doesn’t look quite so edible when burnt to a crisp, after all.

5. PHOGS!

PHOGS! is a charming puzzle adventure title where you play as a double-ended dog with two heads: Red and Blue. You have to bounce, bark and bite your way through three different worlds in order to save the day and rescue your friends, each themed after one of a dog’s favourite activities: sleeping, playing and eating.

It’s this latter Food world that will give you the munchies, as the whole environment is designed after various delicious food items. You’ll find yourself surrounded by cake, sweets, fruit and vegetables, as well as other hunger-inspiring snacks like popcorn and marshmallows. The challenging gameplay and platforming elements will see you hanging around in the world for quite some time, so be sure to stock up on some snacks of your own, as sadly, the ones in-game aren’t edible.

6. Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm

Anyone who has read the Naruto manga or seen much of the various anime adaptations will be no stranger to Naruto’s love of ramen, or Chōji’s love of food of all types (but in particular crisps). In Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm, you have a whole questline dedicated to Naruto’s favourite outlet Ichiraku Ramen, involving bringing various ingredients to Teuchi in order for him to serve up a new type of ramen each time. Eating these Ramen dishes has the benefit of raising Naruto’s maximum chakra, so they’re well worth pursuing for that reason alone.

The only possible downside to completing these missions is that you have to look at so many delicious dishes as you progress through them. The final type of ramen — aptly named Legendary Ramen — is the most tantalising of them all, requiring legendary char sui, legendary garlic, legendary noodles, legendary pork bone and legendary soy sauce to make. Mouth-watering stuff.

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There we have our first list of six games that will make you hungry when you play them. Are there any other games that you can think of that have a similar effect? Or do you disagree with one or more of the listed games? Be sure to let us know, and add your own thoughts on this topic in the article comments and on social media. Part two of this series will be coming soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Disclaimer: GameGrin accepts no responsibility for the hunger you may now be feeling after reading this article.