\Overcooked is the game that simultaneously strengthens and ruins relationships. The saying “too many cooks in the kitchen” feels like it was literally created to describe this game — with its joyfully chaotic teamwork that has players filling increasingly demanding orders for whipping up meals. The three-person developer, Ghost Town Games, has revealed a big surprise befitting of its name, a new co-op experience called Stage Fright. Overcooked, and its sequel, became one of the biggest viral co-op hits of the decade, and Stage Fright looks to bring that unique brand of chaotic cooperation to a brand new genre.
In Overcooked, up to four players work together to fill a variety of restaurant orders, with levels becoming increasingly demanding and complex. You need to chop vegetables, cook meat, bake pizzas, and more, all while avoiding traps, jumping over rivers using ice blocks, or passing ingredients using conveyor belts. The brilliance of those games lies in not just how you have to cooperate with your partners, but how every level feels like a little puzzle box.
In collaboration with Team 17, both Overcooked games were made by a small three-person team: Phi Duncan, Oli De-Vine, and Gemma Langford.
That same idea seems to be central to Stage Fright, but it’s bringing a drastically different style of game to the formula. Stage Fright is first and foremost built on co-op, and the developers describe it as Overcooked meets Luigi’s Mansion. Instead of cooking, the core experience here focuses on Escape Room mechanics, with players having to work together to escape the level they’re trapped in — with a pinch of Overcooked-style chaos thrown into the mix. Interestingly, though, Ghost Town Games has partnered with Hello Games, the studio behind No Man’s Sky, to develop Stage Fright.
“Phil and Oli came to visit us for advice with the very earliest demo of Overcooked about ten years ago. We have such fond memories of the four founders of Hello playing that Overcooked demo, screaming at each other about onions — it was instantly obvious this was something special,” says Tim Woodley, head of publishing at Hello Games, “When we played an early version of StageFright we got the same buzz as we had with Overcooked all those years ago, it’s just something we wanted to be involved in.”
The codename for this game was Project Attic — hilariously because the creators spent five years in the attic at the top of their house working on it. Like Overcooked, Stage Fright is designed to appeal to all players of all skills types and ages, creating another synergistic experience that can help you bond with your friends, or get the urge to scream at them. Woodley notes, “We've playtested with people who've never held a controller, as well as the most hardcore gamers.”
It also seems like Stage Fright is different a bit in tone from Overcooked, despite sporting a similar gameplay experience. While the latter had a humorous tongue-in-cheek style, Woodley notes this is game is “more touching, with a real heart.”
On a personal note, I can’t overstate how much it feels like Overcooked has become one of the defining co-op games of the last decade — a game that truly captures that infectious fun of all the couch co-op titles I played with my brother as a kid. I don’t seem to be the only person who feels that way, as a press release notes that Overcooked has been played by an astounding 50 million people.
For me, it really helped my partner and I bond, figuring out the best way we work together and communicate. There’s never been another game in my life that has felt like it genuinely deepened my relationship, on top of just being a real good time.
If there’s anyone in your life you enjoy playing games with, either seriously or casually, Stage Fright should be at the top of your radar.
