Sous Chef - A identity of food culture
VR Systems & Interaction Design
Designed a VR cooking system exploring how cultural, political, and environmental constraints reshape food and player decision-making.
Sous Chef is a VR cooking game where players adapt recipes in a world where ingredients and flavours are gradually banned due to political, cultural, and environmental pressures.
Set in a Goan restaurant, the game explores the tension between preserving culinary identity and adapting to changing constraints.
My Contribution
• Led end-to-end design (research → ideation → implementation) over 10 weeks
• Designed core gameplay systems and interaction mechanics in VR
• Built ingredient, substitution, and restriction systems
• Implemented cooking interactions and player feedback loops in Unity
Problem: Designing Meaningful Choice Under Constraints
How do you create a cooking system where limitations (banned ingredients) drive creativity rather than frustration?
Challenges:
• Avoiding linear “correct recipe” solutions
• Maintaining player agency despite restrictions
• Translating abstract themes (identity, loss, adaptation) into gameplay systems
Core System: Constraint-Driven Cooking
Players must adapt recipes based on dynamic restrictions:
• Ingredient Bans - Certain ingredients become unavailable due to external factors (political, cultural, environmental).
• Substitution System - Players experiment with alternative ingredients to recreate missing flavours.
• Recipe Adaptation - Success is not binary , outcomes vary based on how closely players approximate original intent.
• Consequence Layer - Choices impact dish quality, authenticity, and player progression.
VR Interaction Design
• Designed hands-on cooking interactions (cutting, mixing, pouring)
• Focused on intuitive object manipulation and physical feedback
• Ensured clarity in multi-step cooking processes within VR constraints
• Balanced realism with usability to avoid friction in repeated actions
System Design
• Dynamic Restriction System - Simulates real-world bans and scarcity, forcing players to adapt continuously.
• Identity vs Adaptation Loop - Players choose between preserving authenticity or innovating under constraints.
• Ingredient Knowledge Layer - Encourages experimentation and learning through trial and error.
• Progression Through Mastery - Players improve by understanding systems, not by unlocking stronger stats.
Design Intent
The game translates real-world issues such as cultural erasure, regulation, and food politics into interactive systems, allowing players to experience these tensions through gameplay rather than narrative alone
Outcome
• Created a system-driven VR experience centered on constraint-based decision making
• Encouraged player creativity through non-linear problem solving
• Demonstrated how abstract themes (identity, loss) can be expressed through mechanics
• Built a complete vertical slice within a 10-week timeline
