Overcooked (PS4)

I love finding a good couch co-op game to play with friends and family. Over this winter break, I've enjoyed many hours of Overcooked with my dad and younger sister. In Overcooked, 1-4 players are chefs in a kitchen working together to prepare meals.

The objective of each level in Overcooked is to serve up as many orders as you can. Each order requires different steps to prepare like chopping up vegetables or cooking meat and then all the ingredients need to be brought together and served. Each level has 3 stars to earn which is determined by your output. The more chefs in the kitchen, the higher the output that is expected of you. This means that cooperation is a must.

One of my favorite things about the game is how easy it is to pick up and play. My dad and younger sister were effective in the kitchen nearly immediately. The difficulty comes from learning the kitchen. Each level has a unique setup and some of them are even dynamic as parts of the kitchen break apart and move. The game's fun and addictive nature comes from learning how your team can be arranged for the greatest output. It's an enjoyable gameplay loop assessing your last performance, formulating a plan, and then executing in hopes of attaining the next star.

Along with the co-op campaign, there's also a fun competitive mode. A cool feature that makes the game co-op friendly is how two players can play with the same controller so up to 4 players can play with 2 controllers. I highly recommend Overcooked to anyone interested in a simple couch co-op game that demands strategy and coordination.