Cooking Diary: A Six-Year Recipe for Success
MYTONIA, the developer behind the wildly popular time-management game Cooking Diary, reveals the recipe for its six-year reign. Whether you're a fellow developer seeking inspiration or a player curious about the game's creation, this detailed breakdown offers valuable insights.
Key Ingredients:
- 431 captivating story episodes
- 38 unique hero characters
- 8,969 diverse in-game elements
- 905,481 active guilds
- A wealth of engaging events and contests
- A dash of humor
- Grandpa Grey's secret ingredient (revealed later!)
The Cooking Process:
Step 1: Crafting the Narrative:
Begin by developing a compelling storyline rich in humor and unexpected twists. Populate the world with a vibrant cast of characters. The narrative unfolds across various restaurants and districts, starting with your grandfather Leonard's Burger Joint and expanding to locations like Colafornia, Schnitzeldorf, and Sushijima. Cooking Diary boasts 160 unique establishments spread across 27 districts, ensuring a diverse and engaging player experience.
Step 2: Customization Extravaganza:
Enhance the game world with an extensive array of customization options. Incorporate over 8,000 items, including 1,776 outfits, 88 facial feature sets, 440 hairstyles, and over 6,500 decorative items for homes and restaurants. Players can even customize their pets with 200 clothing items.
Step 3: Dynamic In-Game Events:
Introduce a steady stream of engaging tasks and events. Leverage powerful analytics to ensure a balance between creative design and data-driven optimization. The key is to create diverse, yet complementary events, each enjoyable on its own and in combination with others. August, for instance, featured nine concurrent events, showcasing this layered approach.
Step 4: The Power of Guilds:
With over 905,000 guilds, Cooking Diary fosters a strong sense of community. Introduce guild events and tasks strategically, ensuring they complement existing gameplay and avoid overlaps. Careful timing is crucial to maximize player engagement.
Step 5: Learning from Setbacks:
Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. The Cooking Diary team learned valuable lessons from their initial pet implementation in 2019. By adjusting the pet acquisition system, they achieved a 42% revenue increase.
Step 6: Strategic Marketing and Presentation:
Cooking Diary's success extends beyond the game itself. A robust social media presence across Instagram, Facebook, and X, coupled with strategic collaborations (e.g., Stranger Things, YouTube), has been instrumental in its widespread appeal.
Step 7: Continuous Innovation:
Maintaining top-tier status requires constant evolution. Cooking Diary's longevity stems from its commitment to introducing new content, refining gameplay mechanics, and adapting to evolving trends.
Step 8: The Secret Ingredient – Passion:
Grandpa Grey's secret ingredient is passion. A genuine love for the craft is the foundation of a truly great game.
Download Cooking Diary on the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Microsoft Store, and AppGallery.
