6 Years of Cooking Diary: A Recipe for Success

Cooking Diary, the beloved time-management game from developer MYTONIA, is celebrating its sixth anniversary. If you're a game developer, you'll find valuable insights into the success of this hit game. For players, it's a chance to peek behind the curtain and see what makes Cooking Diary so special. Let's dive into the recipe that has kept players engaged for years.

Ingredients

• 431 story episodes
• 38 hero characters
• 8,969 elements
• 905,481 guilds
• A generous portion of events and contests
• A dash of humor
• Grandpa Grey’s secret ingredient

Cooking Instructions

First Step: Make the Lore

Start by crafting an engaging plot filled with humor and unexpected twists. Introduce a diverse cast of characters to bring the story to life. Divide the narrative into various restaurants and districts, beginning with the Burger Joint owned by your grandfather, Leonard. Gradually expand to districts like Colafornia, Schnitzeldorf, and Sushijima. With 160 different restaurants, diners, and bakeries spread across 27 districts, there's plenty of room for guests to explore.

Step 2: Customize

Enhance your game with up to 8,000 customizable items, including 1,776 outfits, 88 sets of facial features, and 440 hairstyles. Add over 6,500 decorative items for players' homes and restaurants. For those who love pets, include them with 200 clothing options to personalize their furry friends.

Step 3: In-game Events

Strengthen your game with a variety of tasks and events. Use top-notch analytics to ensure your events are both creative and data-driven. The key to successful events is to layer them thoughtfully, ensuring each event is enjoyable on its own and in combination with others. For instance, in August, Cooking Diary offered nine different events, from Culinary Experiments to Sugar Rush, each adding unique flavor to the game.

Step 4: Guilds

With over 905,000 guilds, Cooking Diary fosters a vibrant community. Introduce guild events and tasks gradually to keep players engaged without overwhelming them. Timing is crucial; poorly scheduled events can deter participation, while well-timed ones can boost engagement.

Step 5: Learn from Your Mistakes

Embrace mistakes as learning opportunities. The Cooking Diary team, for example, initially struggled with the introduction of pets in 2019. After realizing that free normal pets and Ruby-costing rare ones didn't generate interest, they pivoted to unlock pets through the Path to Glory event, resulting in a 42% revenue increase and happier players.

Step 6: Presentation

In the crowded casual games market, available on the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Microsoft Store, and AppGallery, standing out is essential. Utilize social media effectively, engage in creative marketing, and stay attuned to trends. Cooking Diary's social media presence on Instagram, Facebook, and X showcases a dynamic strategy. Collaborations, like those with Netflix's Stranger Things and YouTube's Path to Glory event, elevate the game's profile and keep it relevant.

Step 7: Keep Innovating

Maintaining success requires constant innovation. Cooking Diary's ongoing updates, from event calendar adjustments to gameplay balancing, ensure the game remains fresh and exciting. Despite these changes, the core essence, or secret ingredient, remains consistent.

Step 8: Use Grandpa Grey’s Secret Ingredient

The secret ingredient? It's soul. Passion for the game is what truly makes it great. Without genuine love for what you do, the recipe falls flat.

Discover the magic of Cooking Diary for yourself on the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Appstore, Microsoft Store, and AppGallery.