For the chef looking for a fun way to fill a little free time, the cooking game is the most enjoyable way to do it. Whether you have a few minutes or a few hours, a chef can learn a few different techniques and tips and race the clock, or other competitors! Whether it is word games, puzzles, or video games, the chef has endless options to wile away a few hours.



Nintendo has a game called Cooking Mama in which the contender races the clock trying to prepare quality food. What's great about this game is it also offers tips and tricks on the screen that you can use in your real kitchen. The player must chop vegetables, fry, grate, peel, mash and all the other things a cook does in their real kitchen. This game has amazing interactive capabilities where a touch screen is used to put together an omelet, and you must blow into a mike to cool off the food.

The virtual chef stars with 15 recipes in their arsenal and as their skills increase, so does their recipe stash, up to 60 are available! And if 60 aren't enough, the player can even experiment to create their own new recipes. There are more than three hundred different ingredients available from more than ten countries, such as Spain, Japan, India and France.

The challenge in this game is the judges. There are bronze, silver, and gold medals available for the winners. If the judging is too stressful, gamers can also play without the option of judging to experiment with new foods and recipes. There is also a multi-player option for the chef who wants to challenge his friends to a cook-off.

If this doesn't sound like the game you're looking for, there are still more options. Many websites offer cooking themed games for the chef to try their hand at; hangman, word searches, and jigsaw puzzles are all available offering a challenge. One game available online is the Better Barbeque Challenge in which individuals flip burgers to earn points. If the burger is taken off too soon, the meat is raw and no points are earned, if it's too late, the burgers are burned.

More ingredients are also added to turn up the heat, and the thermometer must always be watched to make sure food is properly prepared. Regardless of which game is right for you, there is sure to be one out there that fits the cooking bill.