Idle Cooking Emperor

About

Idle Cooking Emperor is a single player casual strategy game. It was developed by Shugasu GmbH and was released on April 28, 2019. It received neutral reviews from players.

Train and defeat other cooks in battles to become the best cook in the world.

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Play Modes

Single-Player

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54%

Audience ScoreBased on 111 reviews

optimization2 positive mentions

grinding7 negative mentions

The game offers a unique idle cooking and restaurant management experience with creative recipe crafting mechanics and strategic battles.
Visually appealing with cute, anime-style graphics and a charming, relaxing gameplay loop that motivates regular check-ins, including offline progress.
Provides cross-game rewards such as the coveted Golden Dragon pet for Idling to Rule the Gods, which is a significant incentive for fans of the developer's other titles.

The game suffers from slow and repetitive progression with confusing, shallow mechanics that lack meaningful player impact and user-driven choices.
Technical issues such as bugs, glitches, and poor click recognition during cooking battles hinder the gameplay experience and cause frustration.
Heavy reliance on microtransactions and a predatory monetization model detract from enjoyment and create a pay-to-win environment, coupled with a controversial EULA limiting consumer rights.

gameplay
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
54%
23%
Gameplay features some creative and enjoyable mechanics like recipe creation, cooking battles, and area management, offering moderate depth and customization. However, many mechanics lack meaningful player impact, resulting in shallow, repetitive progression that can feel more like a chore than engaging gameplay. Overall, while certain elements are fun, the gameplay is considered lackluster and fails to sustain long-term interest.
- “Really, the most important mechanics are the creation of recipes, cooking battles, and researches.”
- “Cooking battles are your path to progression, unlocking more avenues of revenue and new mechanics.”
- “I enjoy the recipe mechanics and have had a lot of fun with trying out new combinations and building better and better recipes.”
- “Some of the mechanics in this game are very creative and somewhat enjoyable, but overall it's just very lackluster.”
- “Other than that, no mechanic in the game has very much room for user-driven input that determines the outcome or path of progression, making it feel less like a game and more like a job.”
- “The permanent buff mechanics (lasting through resets and such) are so weak that they're laughable at best, game-crushing at worst.”
grinding
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Grinding in the game is generally viewed as tedious and time-consuming, with repetitive battles and frequent backtracking. However, some elements like fire and robot fairies help smooth the experience, and the grind is manageable with casual play. The interface design can exacerbate the grind by making it frustrating to navigate and control.
- “A mediocre, grindy game with minimal fun.”
- “It's too much time waiting and grinding to constantly go back up to where you were before.”
- “Was a bit tedious but I idled fairly casually and got it sub 300 hours so not too bad.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40%
60%
The story is generally well-written and engaging but is often left unfinished, which frustrates players. Additionally, game mechanics related to stats feel meaningless, detracting from the overall narrative experience. Fans hope for a future update that completes and expands the story beyond its current point.
- “I enjoyed the story and hope it gets updated again past the farming district.”
- “It would be nice if they came back to this game and overhauled it, also finishing the text story that goes along with it. They write a pretty good story, but it's always half finished.”
- “It would be nice if they came back to this game and overhauled it, also finishing the text story that goes along with it (a habit this developer seems to have. They write a pretty good story but it's always half finished). The most glaring flaw is the fact that they have all sorts of stats in the game but have no real meaning to them because the game itself says 'just level it all up evenly.'”
- “Like setting all recipes to a 'switch to next' setting of 40 and the dish you need for the next story restaurant at 0/0 (infinite).”
- “If the point of this game was to make me spend money for pet token in itrtg, mission accomplished.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
75%
The graphics receive mixed feedback, with some users criticizing them as low-quality and unappealing, likening them to cheap slot machine designs, while others appreciate the anime-style artwork, depending on their preference for that art form.
- “The artwork and theme have a distinctive Asian anime style.”
- “Anime-style graphics appeal to those who appreciate the art form.”
- “Anime-style graphics for those who do not appreciate the art form.”
- “The graphics and the mechanics are bottom-tier... imagine the gaudy, cheap plastic casing on the slot machines at the casino.”
- “The artwork and theme is more Asian anime-like.”
- “Anime-style graphics for those who do not appreciate the art-form.”
monetization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization of "Idle Cooking Emperor" is heavily criticized for relying on aggressive and hidden microtransactions typical of mobile apps, detracting from the game's value and creating a toxic experience focused mainly on extracting money.
- “"Idle Cooking Emperor" is just one of thousands of non-free mobile apps polluting the "free" category on Steam, and it carries hidden, toxic monetization.”
- “That's what this is, a cheap flashy veneer on a shallow non-game with one single purpose... to get your money through nasty mobile app microtransactions.”
optimization
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is well-optimized for low-performance PCs, making it accessible to a wider audience. Enthusiasts can also find various areas to further improve optimization.
- “Good pastime if you have a low-performance PC.”
- “There are plenty of areas to look into for optimization for folks who enjoy this, like myself.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is upbeat but tends to be repetitive and loud, making the option to start with the music turned off a welcome feature.
- “The music is peppy but repetitive and loud, so the fact that the game starts with the music turned off is a blessing.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is rooted in the game's intentionally unrealistic and exaggerated recipe construction, which players find amusing, though some note it can be easily exploited.
character development
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users appreciate the character development for its cool and appealing character designs.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Idle Cooking Emperor is a casual strategy game.

Idle Cooking Emperor is available on PC, Mac OS, Phone, Windows and others.

Idle Cooking Emperor was released on April 28, 2019.

Idle Cooking Emperor was developed by Shugasu GmbH.

Idle Cooking Emperor has received neutral reviews from players. Most players liked Idle Cooking Emperor for its optimization but disliked it for its gameplay.

Idle Cooking Emperor is a single player game.

Similar games include Eatventure, Idle Eleven - Soccer tycoon, Idle Miner Tycoon: Gold Games, AdVenture Capitalist, Monster Chef and others.

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