Cooking Diary's Culinary Journey: 6 Years of Tastiness Unveiled
Cooking Diary: The Recipe for a Six-Year Success Story
MYTONIA, the developer behind the wildly popular time-management game Cooking Diary, reveals the secrets to its six-year reign. Whether you're a fellow developer seeking inspiration or a dedicated player curious about the game's creation, this deep dive into the "recipe" is for you.
Key Ingredients:
- 431 captivating story episodes
- 38 unique hero characters
- 8,969 diverse in-game elements
- 905,481 thriving guilds
- A vibrant array of events and contests
- A dash of humor
- Grandpa Grey's secret ingredient (revealed later!)
The Cooking Process:
Step 1: Crafting the Narrative:
Begin with a compelling storyline, rich in humor and unexpected twists. Populate your world with a diverse cast of memorable characters. The story 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 eateries spread across 27 districts, ensuring a constant stream of engaging gameplay.
Step 2: Customization Extravaganza:
Enhance your game world with an extensive collection of customizable items. Over 8,000 items are available, including 1,776 outfits, 88 facial feature sets, 440 hairstyles, and over 6,500 decorative items for homes and restaurants. Players can even personalize their pets with 200 clothing options.
Step 3: Dynamic In-Game Events:
Introduce a series of engaging tasks and events, leveraging precise analytics to complement creative game design. The key is to create diverse yet complementary events, each enjoyable individually and synergistically. August, for example, featured nine simultaneous events, showcasing this layered approach.
Step 4: The Power of Guilds:
Cooking Diary boasts over 905,000 guilds, fostering a strong sense of community. Introduce guild events and tasks gradually, ensuring they complement each other and avoid scheduling conflicts. Well-timed events maximize player engagement.
Step 5: Embracing Failure as a Learning Opportunity:
Mastering game development involves learning from mistakes. The Cooking Diary team's experience with the initial pet introduction in 2019 exemplifies this. By adapting their approach and making pets unlockable through the Path to Glory event, they achieved a 42% revenue increase.
Step 6: Strategic Presentation and Collaboration:
The casual games market is highly competitive. Effective social media engagement, creative marketing, contests, and staying abreast of trends are crucial. Cooking Diary's success on Instagram, Facebook, and X showcases a strong social media presence. Strategic collaborations, such as the partnership with Netflix's Stranger Things and YouTube's Path to Glory event, further amplify reach and engagement.
Step 7: Continuous Innovation:
Maintaining top rankings requires constant innovation. Cooking Diary's enduring success stems from its commitment to adding new content, experimenting with presentation, and refining gameplay mechanics.
Step 8: The Secret Ingredient – Passion!
Grandpa Grey's secret ingredient is passion. A successful game is built on genuine love for the craft.
Download Cooking Diary on the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Microsoft Store, and AppGallery.







