Iconic Video Game Food Ideas For 4th of July Feasts


Video game food

Photo from Pexel

The Fourth of July and great video game food just go together. Whether you are grilling, playing video games, or watching fireworks with friends, weekend celebrations are even better if we eat the foods we love to make. This Fourth of July, level up your cooking and cook up a dish from one of your favorite video games!

Cuisine and Consoles: Iconic Video Game Food Ideas

So what is the connection with foods, fireworks, and video games? When playing games, some of my fondest memories are memories of playing fun food games. Food in video games has grown to become more than just playing a game like “Cooking Mama” or “Diner Dash”. So many great games use food as an actual centerpiece, theme, or in puzzles throughout the games. Creating dishes from some of my favorite video games has been a great way to test new recipes and level up my cooking game.

 

 

video game food - cooking mama

Cooking Mama (2006); Photo by WikiWand

Picky to Prudent: Realizing the Role of Good Food in Life

One of my most distinct childhood memories is the sheer excitement I felt when I walked through my front door, rushed to my room, grabbed my NintendoDS, and immediately opened the game Cooking Mama. And yes, I did eventually get my homework done too. Cooking Mama is a vibrant, time-sensitive, and engaging cooking game that my closest friend and I were unhealthily obsessed with at the time. Another food video game that I looked forward to playing on my computer was Diner Dash, which I actually recognize today as the sole reason why I aspired to be a great multitasker at a young age (and “video games aren’t educational”, they say).

Food: Their Fantastic Features in Films and Games

Food is perhaps the most interesting concept that connects and that transcends every culture, nation, language, people, and so on. We all have to eat on a daily basis, so inevitably, food is a common thread that runs through every walk of life. Another childhood memory I have of food was being mesmerized by how beautifully animated the food in Studio Ghibli films was, such as the food in Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Spirited Away. Specifically, I remember how the vivid food from Spirited Away held symbolic importance in the film. The attention to detail with these movies and how they convey food is unmatched, truly. Like so many high-quality, animated films, universal things like food, that we have emotional attachments to, are emphasized for us to relate to the content.

 

video game food Studio Gibli

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away; Photo by SoraNews24

 

minecraft video game food

Minecraft-themed cake; Photo by AllRecipes

In films and video games both, food is so often involved – whether that be food being in the games we play, or food being a part of the playing experience itself. Thrillist – a food, travel, and entertainment outlet writes about how food and video games are becoming increasingly intertwined. I’m not even kidding when I say that Minecraft-themed cakes have been constantly popping up all over my social media feeds, which goes to show how influential our favorite games are.

And, look how cute!

I couldn’t even begin to count how many times I’ve sat on my living room couch with a bowl of popcorn or a homemade treat while playing my favorite video game. We need brain fuel for our video games, right? In our favorite games that use food for fuel, food is what keeps the character(s) alive, and I’d say that staying alive is pretty important in the game.

As my palate has matured from Happy Meals and Lunchables to homemade, authentic meals, and as I’ve been blessed enough to travel the world and eat from a myriad of cultures, I’ve come to celebrate how important food is. I believe that food should not be viewed as a checklist item, it should be celebrated and recognized for its significance. Food nourishes our body, it changes our mood, it can even inspire us to travel to other parts of the planet. Some of the most meaningful and memorable conversations I’ve had have taken place at the dining room table, at my favorite Los Angeles restaurants, or around the campfire while roasting marshmallows. With many of us having more time to play video games, it is exciting to see how so many gamers are cooking up great meals with related video game foods.

 

Video Game Food Cookbooks: From our Screens to Our Kitchens

Overwatch: The Official Cookbook; Photo from Amazon

Some of the most iconic video game foods that heavily incorporate cooking include hits such as Final Fantasy XV, Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls, and so on. Not only is cooking an actual activity that players can partake in when playing these games, but there are published cookbooks that pertain to each of these game series! 

The recipes are inspired by the essence of these fantastic games, their characters, and the large universes they exist in. For example, this popular Overwatch cookbook includes a myriad of different recipes, some of which include recipes inspired by the characters’ homelands and personalities within Overwatch. Many will be happy to know that Dungeons and Dragons has its own cookbook, including elvish, orcish, and human-inspired recipes for you and the gamers in your life to make together!

This list from The Guardian lists video games where food and drink is a unique aspect of the games.

Ready to cook up a mystery? Cooking delicious dishes and creating inspired treats from the games is a unique playing feature in most of the Nancy Drew Games, such as Midnight in Salem, Danger by Design, Warnings at Waverly Academy, The White Wolf of Icicle Creek, and The Secret of Shadow Ranch. Of course, Nancy can’t just be ultra-talented at solving mysteries and saving the day, she also has some major talent in the kitchen! The Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking incorporates Nancy’s most famous book mysteries into a book of delicious breakfast, lunch, and dinner recipes for super sleuths. I can’t think of anything better than solving mysteries while creating and eating a delicious meal, what a win-win!

Do you have a favorite meal from The Nancy Drew Cookbook or one of the Nancy Drew games? If so, what is it?

Nancy Drew Cookbook

Nancy Drew Cookbook: Clues to Good Cooking; Photo from Amazon

Summertime and the holiday season both bring some of my favorite seasonal dishes. Specifically, 4th of July may just be my favorite holiday when it comes to food. So many Fourth of July nights in my childhood and young adult life with my family included fighting over the best (and last) pieces of fresh watermelon. Kitchens usually represent a room where we can share loving conversations over fulfilling meals, but my kitchen became The Hunger Games arena when there wasn’t enough watermelon left to share.

This Fourth of July Cook Up a Mystery With A Homemade Meal from a Nancy Drew Game! 

Start cooking up a great Fourth of July with video game foods!

The Fourth of July weekend offers time to cook, eat, and play your favorite games. Before heading out for fireworks, plan a cook-off with some of your family and friends while solving a mystery. In celebration of 4th of July, HeR Interactive has curated a special collection of The Top 9 Nancy Drew Cooking Games just in time for a summer celebration!

Eat, play, and cook up a mystery with treats inspired by the Nancy Drew Games. Make your own secret recipes from the games.

 

Need some inspiration for cooking up your mystery treats? Play one of our Top 9 Games with Cooking Fun. These games can give you ideas to make your super-sleuth meals or snacks for your Independence Day dishes. I’d say, between Nancy’s cooking knowledge and her detective skills, she is teaching us all essential survival skills for solving mysteries on a case or in the kitchen!

With my love of video game food and my knowledge of recipes from video game cookbooks, creating foods from some of my favorite games has curated a whole new level of fun in the kitchen. On a personal note, I have recently taken up an interest in cooking and the art of making beautiful, filling dishes from scratch. This past year has allowed so many of us to take up hobbies that we didn’t have the time for in previous years, and I’m so glad that cooking is one I’ve invested my time in!

Honing your cooking and baking skills really has no downside that I can think of. Knowing the temperature requirements for testing cooked meat could potentially save your life, and learning how to make a satisfying solution out of various, individual ingredients really is a work of art. Well, cleaning the mountain of dishes is a downside to cooking, but it’s worth the effort when you have nourishing foods in your system to get you through it.

What is your favorite dish or baked good to make? What’s a dish you remember making from a Nancy Drew game? Answer below to share! 

~SB


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