Say Hello To Mousy
From the get go, it's apparent that Mystery Cookbook borrows heavily from the CGI film Ratatouille, which is definitely a good thing. You play a mouse, or a "mousy" as he calls himself (or herself), that goes nameless, which makes it easier for you to put yourself in that role. You live in France, which becomes immediately apparent from the beautiful French music that plays in the background.
Your mousy wants to learn how to cook but he's having trouble finding a teacher. Your first stop is a restaurant called the Aristocrat, where you meet a Cat who claims to be a Master Chef that knows everything about French Cuisine. After helping him clean up the kitchen that was recently destroyed by a rat, he bestows upon you an incredible secret - a secret that could hold the key to you becoming a Master Chef yourself!
The Cat's master had a husband named Jules who was a renowned chef before he passed away. Before his death, he passed his cookbook on to his students. However, due to them being selfish and jealous of each other, he divided the book up into chapters and gave one to each of them.
If you can find all of the chapters and restore the book, you'll have the knowledge of one of the greatest chefs who ever lived! From then on, it's only a matter of time before you fill his shoes.
Hidden Objects
Seeing as how the plot of the game revolves around searching for a missing cookbook, it only makes sense that this is a hidden objects game. Sometimes you'll be searching for food, sometimes you'll be searching for whatever crazy thing you need to find to help someone in your search for the chapters.
While the first level had you cleaning up a kitchen by finding missing items and picking up plates and cups, the second level has you setting a table to help out a butler who works in a mansion that contains one of the chapters! You see, upon arriving at the manion, the butler's dog informs you that him and his master will be fired soon by the mean baroness. That is why you must help him keep his job in any way that you can, whether it's doing his duties or finding his glasses!
At one point in the second level, my written list took the form of object outlines. Little things like this add quite a bit of variety and make the game a lot more fun overall.
A Mystery Worth Solving
While I hate to use this term, Mystery Cookbook is a fantastic "old school" hidden objects game. It doesn't try to do anything fancy, it just presents you with beautiful levels with cleverly hidden objects. Sometimes you'll be searching for items, sometimes you'll be spotting differences; the variety is where this product really shines. If a wonderful French theme sounds intriguing, this might just be the experience that you're looking for.
