Cooking Mama Let's Cook! vs Meeple Station
Cooking Mama Let's Cook!
Cooking Mama Let's Cook! is a true cooking simulation where you actually learn how to prepare the dishes yourself rather than simply clicking on the stove and waiting for the foodstuff to be cooked on its own. You can hone, in a casual sort of way, various actual cooking skills like chopping, baking, stewing, etc as you play the game. Not to mention, the dishes you've prepared can then be served to the customers in your virtual restaurant as well. The cash you earn can then be reinvested into your shop in the form of more kitchen appliances, better tools, more tables or nicer decor.Cooking Mama Let's Cook! sets the precedence for a whole new kind of cooking-themed games where players actually get to cook the stuff they want to serve. It may feel a bit arcade-y, due to all the cartoons and effects, but it does pave way to one of the most realistic cooking simulator I've seen on virtual reality, CyberCook Taster.
Meeple Station
Meeple Station is a space-themed, sandbox simulation game that focuses a lot on exploration, trading and team management. In this game, you’ll need to build your starter space station and then venture out into the galaxy to find a place to set up shop, so to speak. Mine nearby resources and refine them into valuable bars and other alloys, and trade the resources you have with passing spaceships for resources that you don’t. Don’t forget to assign your meeples with tasks that suit their respective personalities, and give them everything they need to be content despite being cooped up in a tightly-packed space station.The game doesn't have a multiplayer mode (yet), but I can see the potential of having the game mode added in the future where players will be able to trade with each other and even raid other player’s stations to plunder resources. It’ll probably be somewhat similar to Minecraft’s multiplayer mode.
Overall, Meeple Station is definitely an early access game with plenty of potential. Despite the bugs and game issues, it is a rather fun sandbox game to play where you can build your own space station, explore the galaxy, mine and trade for resources, and manage your team of adorable meeples. If you’re interested, Meeple Station is currently available for purchase on Steam. Check it out!