Meal Masters II is a task based game. The objective of the game is to prepare a complete meal including starters, main course and dessert. The game gives you step by step instruction to cook a complete meal. The game controls are fairly simple. You play the game by simply clicking away using the mouse.
The game has no audio and is a little buggy too. The game also does not indicate when you make a wrong move.
However there is something interesting and fascinating about the game which might be relevant to any learning activity.
Let me quickly list the interesting elements in this game:
Orientation
Before you begin with the tasks, you get a chance to explore the kitchen and see where things are located. The arrows located at the sides of the screen allow you to move to different sections. I appreciate the fact that the game does not begin instantly and there is some kind of orientation that happens before you get started.
Attention to Detail
When you are cooking you need utensils, food stuff, vegetables and spices. I have played other cooking games too that capture cooking processes well.
However this game is slightly different from the rest of the cooking games I have played. Not only is the cooking process end to end in this game but also every little detail of cooking has been captured so well.
For example, apart from the usual vessels, there are measuring cups, grater and many more stuff that you might use while cooking in daily life.
The knives, spoons and related stuff are arranged in drawers.
When you hover over any utensil, the utensil name appears in the yellow banner at the bottom of the screen.
Every item in the fridge and cupboards are also labelled.
There is everything that you need for cooking – cutting board, the cooking plate, mixer and oven.This indicates attention to detail.
I also like this idea of labelling objects. The player is never lost or never groping for the right object.
Precise Instructions and Visual Representation
As mentioned earlier, this game has no voice over. There are instructions that appear in a static callout.
There is also visual representation of the utensil or food item that you have to look for. This is certainly a very creative idea. This saves your time from guessing and hunting for the objects.
The game does not lack voice over because the instructions are so precise and clear.
No Redundancy
If steps for a task are being repeated, you get to perform the steps the first time with instructions and the second time, you do it by yourself. So the instructions are never redundant.
When you play the game there is lot of silence. Yet you are engaged and engrossed in the game. If a game succeeeds in engaging you, then nothing else matters.
What do you think about this game?
the game was fun.