Quick cook: a game at the stove, and the Chef’s touch

Dinner at home now has a cooking game. When you cook tomato rice at your stove in Malta Living, you pick how: Just cook makes the meal as it always did, and Quick cook lets you cook it yourself in a short game at the hob. It is the same meal either way, with the same ingredients and the same benefits. Quick cook simply makes it more fun, and once a day it adds a little extra.

How Quick cook plays

The order card at the top shows the dish and its steps as pictures: oil, then rice, then tomatoes, then the egg. Below it sits the pan, inside a golden heat ring that slowly fills. Tap the big round ingredient buttons in the order the card shows, before the ring fills.

Six buttons wait for each dish, and two of them aren't in it. Tap one that isn't next and it shakes, the line under the buttons says what comes first, and you lose a second. The next step glows so you never get stuck. When the ring fills before you finish, the dish burns, a little smoke rises, and the next dish starts.

A round is three dishes in 45 seconds. The first is the one you're cooking. The other two come from everyday home food: Sunday pasta, a cheese omelette, chicken and peppers, penne arrabbiata or a quick tomato rice bowl. Each dish is a little faster than the last. At the end you see how many were Served and how many Burnt.

Prefer a calmer pace? Switch on Gentle before you start, and every dish gets twice the time. If your phone asks for less motion, Gentle starts on.

Your meal is cooked either way

Burning a dish only spoils the game, never the food. Your rice, tomatoes and egg are used once, and the meal finishes with its usual Hunger, whatever the score. Close the game halfway and the meal still cooks. Just cook is always there for the evenings you only want dinner.

The Chef’s touch, once a day

Cook it yourself in your own kitchen and serve at least two of the three dishes, and the first good round of the Malta day earns the Chef’s touch. You get a little Fun, and one more portion of the dish you cooked goes in your fridge as a leftover. Leftover tomato rice keeps for two days, and you eat it from the fridge like leftover timpana: a quick meal for a busy morning.

No room in the fridge? You still get the Fun, and the game tells you there was no room for the extra portion. Stock up or eat something first if you want the leftover tomorrow.

The Bonus today chip on the Quick cook tile tells you the Chef’s touch is still there to win. After you've had it, play as often as you like, just for fun: Play again uses no food or gas. The Chef’s touch never gives money.

Fair for everyone

The server runs every real round. It deals the dishes and the buttons, and it judges each tap on its own clock, with a little allowance for a slow connection, so a phone that's a moment late never burns a dish you tapped in time. One round counts for each meal you cook, so the bonus can't be farmed by starting and stopping.

Cooking at a friend's place with their kitchen permission? You can play Quick cook there for fun with their food, but the Chef’s touch is for your own kitchen.

Where to find it

Tap your tabletop cooker or electric hob, or open Essentials → Kitchen, and choose tomato rice. Then pick Quick cook and tap the blue button. The full story of the recipe, the stove and its tiles is in cooking tomato rice, and your cooker and fridge come from Buy and furnishing. Keep the kitchen stocked through Essentials, and have friends over with house parties and visits.

Maltese home cooking is a big part of everyday island life; VisitMalta’s guide to food and drink is a good start on the real thing. In the game, the dishes are simple everyday food rather than real recipes.

Questions people ask

Do I have to play the cooking game?

No. Just cook makes the same meal with the same ingredients and benefits. Quick cook is there when you feel like it.

What happens if a dish burns?

Only the game's score changes. Your meal is cooked and eaten as usual. Serve two of three and you can still earn the Chef’s touch.

How often can I get the Chef’s touch?

Once a Malta day, for the first round in your own kitchen with at least two of three dishes served. You can play again as often as you like, just for fun.

How long do leftovers keep?

Two days in your fridge. Eat them from the fridge's tiles before they go off.

Play Malta Living free, or read the Malta life simulator guide for the rest of your island life.