Mystery Cookbook Review

Mystery Cookbook Review

Review by Dylan

Mystery Cookbook is not the most sanitary of cooking games as you help the main character, Mousy the mouse, become a top chef, getting advice from other animals like cats, birds, and fish.

Mousy, the protagonist mouse in this hidden object game, wants to be the greatest chef in the world. Through helping him find the lost chapters of a cookbook, Mousy learns the art of cooking and becomes the best. This hidden object game will keep you busy with it's mini-games and alterations on the typical hide and seek game.

Quest For the Greatest Cookbook

Starting the game you learn of the most prized cookbook in the history of the world. It was compiled by the greatest chef to date and was divided by chapter upon his death. Now the chapters are scattered throughout the world and the book is rendered nearly useless. Through traveling from restaurant to restaurant you help Mousy uncover the lost chapters, eventually piecing the book back together, using it to become the best.

This is a hidden object game so each level and restaurant you enter will have you looking throughout the kitchen for buried items and other prized possessions. As far as these types of games are concerned, Mystery Cookbook incorporates a great theme and has well-hidden objects.

Various Hidden Object Objectives

The gameplay of this game is divided into several formats. The storyline is carried through the hidden object games, while variations and other mini-games are also incorporated. Each level of finding poses one of three options. You will be asked to find all the items on a list. The list might include cherries, apricots, onions, and other food related objects. The second option is a silhouette list. Rather than list the individual items, this option lists white silhouetted pictures of the objects. You might see the outline of a cup or fork in this mode.

The third option, which tends to be the least frequent, is to find all of a certain object. You might be asked to find all the spoiled pastries or you might have to organize the kitchen by finding all the flatware. Whatever the task may be, the third option has you finding all of the objects in a certain category. So you don't get confused or wonder how many objects you have remaining to find, a counter is located at the top left corner of the screen.

6 Mini-Games Add a Bit of Variety

There are also six mini-games for you to play. These come up at varying intervals and can be anything from rearranging 25 pictures on a 5x5 grid to finding the differences between two pictures. The mini-games are a great way to break up the monotony hidden object games are sure to bring.

Drawbacks

One of the major drawbacks of the game can be seen in the sometimes confusing item descriptions. For example, if you are playing the list option you might be asked to find a can or pot. The can is actually a jar and the pot is a clay pot, not one of the three cooking pots on the stove. These vague descriptions are really confusing and make the game frustrating, as clicking on the incorrect items can lead to a 20 second penalty.

Another drawback, which was briefly mentioned earlier, is tediousness. This game can easily get tedious because there is little to no variation in gameplay. Yes, the mini-games help, but they don't do enough to break up the inevitable monotony associated with the hidden object genre.

Conclusion - Not Bad If You Are Interested In The Story or Theme

Overall, Mystery Cookbook is a fun game for casual hidden object players. The find and seek elements of the game are interesting and the storyline is engaging, making you want to find the recipes for Mousy. Though there are some shortcomings with the descriptions and monotony, fans of the genre should not find this to be too big of a problem and will certainly enjoy this title.