Someone should make a game about: Soufflés Eurogamer.net If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy. Someone should make a game about: Soufflés Rise and shine. Feature by Christian Donlan Features Editor Published on 29 Jan 2020 12 comments Hello, and welcome to our new series which picks out interesting things that we'd love someone to make a game about. This isn't a chance for us to pretend we're game designers, more an opportunity to celebrate the range of subjects games can tackle and the sorts of things that seem filled with glorious gamey promise. Check out our 'Someone should make a game about' archive for all our pieces so far. I've had exactly one soufflé in my life, and it was fine. I remember it purely because there was a sense of expectation. Ooh, a soufflé! This is going to be special. And then? Fine. Not bad. Not life-changing. Absolutely okay. Here is a theory that I haven't in any way tested: not many of us eat soufflés anymore. They are a pain to make - all that whisking or whatever it is! - and then they can sort of taste like biting into a gas cloud. A lot of warm air in there, but not much to get really excited about. So I don't think soufflés are on the menu for many of us anymore. Where they live, instead, is on the TV, specifically in cookery shows, and more specifically in cookery shows that hinge on a bit of a competition. This is what made me think about soufflés in the context of video games - okay, this and a recent anxiety dream in which I had to make soufflés all night. Souffles are brilliant mechanics for this sort of show. This guy is the star of Masterchef if you ask me. Chef Aarón! I would do anything for you! Masterchef USA. Not the best Masterchef - that's Canada - but it's up there. And Masterchef USA never met a soufflé it didn't want to turn into a tie-breaker. And this is because soufflés are difficult to make, sure, but they're also charismatic. Like Elvis and JFK, they work on television. You prepare the soufflé - the clock is ticking, someone's going to get eliminated! - and it's just this puddle in a ramekin. A rarified puddle but still: not much to look at. Then you whack it in the oven and it starts to cook. Nothing you can do now! Nothing to do but wait. The judges start to whisper. And this is where the soufflé earns its superstar money. Because it starts to rise. It starts to creep upwards over the edge of the ramekin. Or it doesn't! It doesn't because you messed it all up! Either way, soufflés have something not many other dishes have: they are their own progress bar. As such, the soufflé works perfectly with the ticking clock. It's Mission Impossible cooking. Which is why chefs are still making them on TV, and why in turn people still get excited on the vanishingly rare occasion when someone says: Oh, I'm thinking of making a soufflé. Anybody want one? They don't taste that good, but they have a sort of mechanical charm. Fire up the physics engine - these things have bounce! These things have character! Become a Eurogamer subscriber and get your first month for £1 Get your first month for £1 (normally £3.99) when you buy a Standard Eurogamer subscription. Enjoy ad-free browsing, merch discounts, our monthly letter from the editor, and show your support with a supporter-exclusive comment flair! Support us View supporter archive More Features Digital Foundry Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090: a new level in graphics performance The Digital Foundry video review - and how the new GPU champion delivers for 4K 120fps gaming. 12 Feature Evercore Heroes wants to wind people up the right way "There's less rage at them, because they didn't end your fun." Feature What games get wrong about horses And what they could do about it. 34 Feature Shout out to all the Overwatch supports - where would we be without you? Merci. 55 Latest Articles Preview Football Manager's new Console edition is the best you'll get without a PC Getting Touch-right. Splatoon 3 Amiibos will be out next month Ink-coming! 3 Fans think Phil Spencer's shelf is teasing the Xbox Game Pass streaming box UPDATE: Xbox confirms old Keystone prototype. 59 Modder dives into Demon's Souls files following PS5 jailbreak, discovers fabled Ring of the Chieftain Who knows what's nexus? 4 Supporters Only Premium only Off Topic: Take a minute to appreciate Cookin' with Coolio's incredible scallops recipe. What a great book. Premium only Off Topic: Reading City of Glass in comic form "Where exactly am I going?" Premium only Off Topic: Il Buco is a transporting film about a really big hole Underlands. Off-Topic Netflix handled Sandman brilliantly It was Dreamy. 9 Buy things with globes on them And other lovely Eurogamer merch in our official store! Explore our store