Survival Games With The Best Cooking Systems, Ranked

Many gamers seeking a more immersive and challenging experience are often drawn to the survival genre. The difficulty of these games goes far beyond combat encounters; players must thrive in hostile environments while managing basic human needs such as shelter, rest, and hunger.

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Some titles have gone beyond a simple 'hunger bar', with cooking and eating becoming core mechanics. Players must search the landscape for ingredients, unlocking new recipes as they progress and explore. Food goes from necessary calorie intake to the heart of the experience, where the best recipes enhance player stats and abilities.

5 Sons Of The Forest

A Rich System That Builds On The Forest

Sons of the Forest builds on its predecessor in many ways, including its rich cooking system. Like before, it involves foraging, hunting, farming, and fishing, while avoiding the more hostile inhabitants such as cannibals and mutated creatures (who can go on the menu if things get desperate enough).

The game has many recipes to learn, with varying benefits for each aspect of gameplay, such as an increased leveling-up speed, enhanced strength, and more. Complex recipes often provide the best buffs, but grilling meat on the campfire is enough to survive for those uninterested in a deep cooking system.

4 Valheim

One Can Not Enter Valhalla On An Empty Stomach

Valheim is about defeating a series of increasingly difficult bosses to gain entry to the Norse afterlife. Each step in this quest requires more powerful weapons, tougher armor, and more enriching food, and the cooking system is deeply tied to the game's overall progression.

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Unlike most survival games, the player won't drop dead if they don't eat, but they'll be stuck with very limited pools of health and stamina. At first, the player can only forage for berries and roast certain items over a campfire, but as more advanced materials become available, so do more advanced cooking methods. The first example is tin metal, which can be used for cauldrons and fermenting barrels.

3 The Long Dark

Uncompromising Realism And Immersion

The Long Dark throws players into a harsh frozen landscape, leaving the rest up to them. They must survive deathly cold nights, harsh terrain, and wolves just as hungry as them. It's important to manage nutrition carefully and make every calorie last to live another day.

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There are over 30 recipes, from grilled meats to hearty stews. The player gradually increases their cooking skills, learning new recipes, and making ingredients stretch further to increase survival chances. Campfires are a viable option, but the best recipes are cooked on stove tops, which are also useful for melting and boiling snow into drinkable water. The deep cooking and food system rewards a balanced diet and punishes nutrient deficiencies harshly.

2 Project Zomboid

Incredibly Varied And Rich System

Project Zomboid is a rare game that coherently combines countless deep gameplay systems. Players have levels in various skills, including (but not limited to) metalworking, fixing cars, carpentry, fishing, and, of course, cooking. The game takes an immersive approach to progression, and cooking is no exception.

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There are over 100 recipes to learn, which can be cooked in various ways. Food can be prepared in ovens, microwaves, campfires, and more. Cooking ranges from simple grilled meats to complex baked goods with multiple steps. There's also a realistic decaying system, so players need to think of ways to keep food and ingredients fresh.

1 Don't Starve

It's In The Name

Don't Starve (and Don't Starve Together) place cooking at the center of their gameplay loops with the Crock Pot system. This simple and fun system sees the player combine up to 4 ingredients. Food cooked allows the player to survive while improving their Sanity to varying degrees. The game also includes cooking by fire or drying when the Crock Pot isn't available.

Recipes have different benefits, including keeping warm in cold temperatures, seeing better in the dark, and more. The player can eventually upgrade from the stationary Crock Pot to a portable version, encouraging exploration. It's not the most complicated cooking system, but it's incredibly refined and well-executed, integrating with the other systems and enhancing overall gameplay.

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