Introduction
Cooked is a free-for-all first-person shooter that runs in a browser tab. You don't install anything or create an account, and private games start when everyone types the same room word. It turned up on Hacker News, where it was presented as a parent's alternative to Roblox for a 12-year-old. The site credits the game to House Games. Weapon models come from Quaternius under a CC0 licence.
This review sits in our productivity category because that is where it was filed. Cooked is a game, though. It doesn't fit any work-tool category, and our criteria scores show that. What follows covers what the homepage and pricing page show, what they leave out, and who should open it.
Key Features
Browser play with no install
The homepage calls it a "free-for-all FPS in your browser". It lists 14 primary weapons, 100 HP per player, and movement tricks such as bunny-hopping and slide-jumping. You can start against bots right away, so you can learn the game before you meet real players.
Private rooms joined by a shared word
To set up a private game, you pick a room word and your friends type the same word. The page also offers a link option. For a parent setting up a match for a child and two school friends, a spoken word is easier than pasting a URL into a group chat. Duels and public matches are also listed.
Test range
The test range has 10 standing dummies and every weapon open to use. It is a practice area for trying guns without being shot at, and it also lets you see what is in the game before you sign in.
Loadouts, skins and sounds
You get a four-slot weapon loadout. Skins come with custom colours, and you can pick custom fire and reload sounds. The shop sells skins, weapons and hairstyles for coins.
Voice chat, face photos and mobile aim help
Voice chat is opt-in for private games and duels. Per the site, it uses voice-activity detection, so it only transmits while you speak, and it never turns on by default in public games. The game also has a face-photo avatar feature. The page says the photo stays on the device and is only sent to other players, never to a server. On mobile, you can switch on auto-aim and auto-shoot.
Graphics toggle
You can turn graphics effects off to keep the game light. That matters on school Chromebooks and older laptops.
Leaderboard and Heat
Signing in with Google saves your profile across devices and puts you on the leaderboard. Ranking uses a points system called Heat: +10 per kill, +50 per win and +5 per match, and the page says Heat "only goes up". The pricing page also says "Climb the leaderboard (coming soon)", so parts of the ranked system may not be finished. The only gameplay figure the vendor shows is a top leaderboard score of 16,848 Heat.
Pricing Breakdown
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Browser play with bots, private games joined by room word, test range with every weapon open to use, optional sign-in to save your profile and join the leaderboard |
On paper the price is simple: everything listed is free. The open question is the shop. It shows a coin counter and sells skins, weapons and hairstyles, but neither the homepage nor the pricing page gives a coin price, a real-money cost for coins, or says whether coins can only be earned in play. If you're a parent, find this out before handing the game to a child. A shop that sells weapons for coins could, in principle, affect balance as well as looks. The site doesn't say which way it goes.
We left pricing value unscored for this reason. There was no evidence to score it against.
Scores
| Criterion | Score (out of 10) | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of use | 9 | Plays in the browser with no install, sign-in is optional, and private games join by a shared word. |
| Problem fit | 5 | The vendor describes a browser FPS with a private weapon range and daily challenges. Nobody has independently confirmed how the free-for-all play holds up. |
| Output quality | 4 | The only evidence is the vendor's own leaderboard. There are no independent reviews, ratings or benchmarks of gameplay quality. |
| API and integrations | 1 | We checked and searched the homepage, pricing page and docs. We found no API, SDK or integrations. |
| Pricing value | Not scored | No evidence found. |
| Overall | 4.8 | Average of the four scored criteria. |
The overall score is low mainly because of how a work-tool rubric handles a game. Integrations and output quality drag it down. The 9 for ease of use shows what Cooked does well.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- No install. It plays in the browser.
- Sign-in is optional. You only need a Google account if you want a saved profile or a leaderboard spot.
- Per the page, face photos stay on the device and are only sent to other players, never to a server.
- Voice chat is opt-in per match and the site says it never switches on automatically in public games.
- Graphics effects can be turned off for weaker hardware.
- The test range and bot games let a new player practise before facing real people.
Cons
- The homepage is mostly the game itself, with little description and no pricing detail beyond "free".
- The shop sells items for coins, and the site doesn't list prices or explain how you get coins.
- There is little public documentation, so claims about player counts, moderation or reporting tools can't be checked.
- Parts of the leaderboard are marked "coming soon".
- Cooked is a game and fits poorly in any work-tool category. There is no API and no integrations.
Who Is It For
The best fit is a parent who wants a quick shooter their child can play with known friends, with no install and no account. A room word plus bots covers that case well, and the privacy notes on face photos and voice chat suggest the developer thought about kids using it.
It also suits a small group of friends who want ten minutes of FPS in a browser tab at lunch, and players on low-end machines who can turn the graphics down.
It doesn't suit anyone after a productivity tool or anything with an API. It's also a poor pick for parents who need written moderation policies, chat filtering or a parental dashboard before letting a child into public matches, because the site doesn't document any of that.
Verdict
Cooked does the basic job of a browser FPS: you open a tab and you are playing. Private rooms that join by a shared word are its best design choice, and the opt-in voice chat and on-device face photos are sensible defaults for younger players. It scores 4.8 overall, held down by a rubric built for work tools and by the lack of any independent evidence of gameplay quality.
Our recommendation: use it for private games with people you know. It costs nothing and asks for no account, so the downside of trying it is small. Keep children in private rooms until House Games publishes shop prices and how coins are earned, plus some moderation detail. Public lobbies and an unpriced coin shop are where the open questions are.
