Hi, it’s me, Fredrik (Game Designer), back again with more information about how we created the achievements in Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale. As I mentioned in my first blog post, we created many varied types of achievements for players to unlock to help them advance in the game and promote certain types of behavior such as team play or making friends. Here’s an inside look into even more reasons why we created the achievements you can find in the game today.

Achievements to promote playful behavior

Being able to interact with the environment is important to ensure that players feel immersed in a virtual reality game. One of our goals was to reward players for being creative or having fun.

With all these delicious ingredients in front of you it's nice to be able to grab them and have a bite! Did you know that achievements and avatar customizations are unlockable by eating the correct ingredient, sometimes as a specific avatar?

Spraying ketchup everywhere or throwing cheese in your friend's face is a lot of fun...

… and the best part is: food fights in VR require no boring cleanup!

Add replay value to keep players playing

Some achievements require players to be in a specific game mode like single player, endless mode or creative mode. The idea is that there is an extra incentive for players to try every aspect of the game. Lets say a user never tried creative mode before, but decided to do so because of the new achievement challenges. Hopefully players get interested in serving all costumes and are hooked on finding more recipes.

Creative mode specific:

Single player specific:

Multiplayer specific:

Endless mode specific:

It’s important to create a desire for players to keep playing or to try again and again to get an achievement to receive that desirable reward. You can even let players feel extra special with a rare hat, cleaver or avatar skin that is hard to get. If you're one of few with a golden cleaver or the black sheep skin, others might recognize you as an experienced Cook-Out player.

Our hope is that the achievements and avatar customization options create a desire to want to keep playing and enjoy all parts of the game.

Previously potions were the only thing that in-game coins could be spent on.

Since the addition of the Cook-Out avatar customization menu, and the possibility to purchase new outfits and avatar skin content, the free coins (earned by playing) have a lot more value. Players can browse the customizations menu and see what they want to save up and buy.

Challenges faced and our solutions

Since Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale launched without achievements, experienced players already had progress in some of the challenges that we later turned into achievements. Because of this we did a lot of testing to ensure that these players were able unlock the achievement and receive the avatar customization reward.

During one of our playtests our goal was to confirm that the Endless Perfection achievement could be unlocked. The goal to get 100 perfect served customers in a row requires a lot of teamwork. We got so close on our first try, but failed after 99/100 customers had been served!

It was a really fun moment. We were all laughing because the achievement was so close to being unlocked. We got a chance to start over and the second time we served well over 100 perfect sandwiches in a row together!

Hidden achievements

Having some achievements hidden improves the overall experience for others in the same multiplayer kitchen.

There is a big difference between “borrowing” (stealing) 10/10 ingredients from other players, without knowing about the achievement, compared to taking out 10 ingredients one after another from a player’s fridge in the middle of an active game. Hidden achievements prevent grieving or disruptive behavior in multiplayer. The surprise factor gives players a more impactful moment, when players get the notification for Kleptomania and other hidden achievements.

Unlocking and buying avatar customization

Our avatars and customization also add more gameplay value. Hopefully players are excited about the Cook-Out avatars, want to look in the mirror with a new hat and in turn get interested in achievements and recipes. Achievements, avatar customization, recipes, etc. all come together to create replay value and bring the community together.

I truly hope you enjoy all of the achievements we’ve added to Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale. Which one is your favorite? Let us know on Discord or Twitter.

And, if you’re interested in working for Resolution Games, my advice is to just apply! I have worked for a lot of different game companies, both full time and freelance, and it has always been a good experience, but Resolution Games is by far the best place I have ever worked. Going to work will be fun and you will feel welcome!

Creating In-game Achievements to Enhance Player Experience (Part 2)