Unlocking the Kevin levels is an exercise in frustration

[Hornwitser]

I'm not sure how anyone could think this was a good idea. I like mysteries, finding clues and solving puzzles. I played The Witness and solving pretty much every mystery and puzzle in that game was a delight, so the idea of there being something hidden that needed some solving and clue finding in Overcooked was something I thought would be great. There is only one problem.

Unlocking the Kevin levels is not a puzzle.

Apart from some vague location proximity I don't know which levels unlock them, I haven't found anything resembling a hint in the game for how to get them and I haven't got the slightest clue what the requirements to unlocks them are. And as far as I can tell this is deliberate and the intended way to unlock them is to play a tedious guessing game of grinding random nearby levels until they unlock on the map.

Grinding levels in the hope that I guessed right isn't fun. The complete lack of feedback turns it in frustration. And even when I succeed at unlocking the next level the game still doesn't tell what I succeeded at. Which just serves as a slap in the face reminder that there's 4 or so equally frustrating fumble in the dark grinds to go!

There's no fun in this. There's no you were so close at making it moments. There's no intermediate clues telling you you're going the right way. There's no target to aim to or test yourself against. There's no satisfaction in achieving the goal. It's just frustration.

[ThePeeje]

Agreed. But there is a guide on destructoid with a full guide on how to get them. Annoying but there you go.

[Rhysandie]

We tried playing the levels near the supposed Kevin levels three times (since it appears that's how it unlocked the first time). When that didn't work, we just looked up a guide.

[ThePeeje]

Originally posted by Rhysandie:

We tried playing the levels near the supposed Kevin levels three times (since it appears that's how it unlocked the first time). When that didn't work, we just looked up a guide.

yup. and fyi its mostly from doing combos (doing all meals in the right order) or a high score. so playing well and not skipping over any meals will unlock most of them.

[EHLOVader]

Even knowing how and which levels unlock it hasn't helped. I've completed the objectives but without visual feedback I don't know what else to do to unlock the levels.

They should have chef and Kevin discuss the outcome. And criticize the player to hint the goals.

[Draktok]

Originally posted by EHLOVader:

Even knowing how and which levels unlock it hasn't helped. I've completed the objectives but without visual feedback I don't know what else to do to unlock the levels.

They should have chef and Kevin discuss the outcome. And criticize the player to hint the goals.

Technically the visual feedback is the white bulb on top of the flag instead of black, iirc, but there's no way to naturally notice that.

[EHLOVader]

Originally posted by Girl please:

Originally posted by EHLOVader:

Even knowing how and which levels unlock it hasn't helped. I've completed the objectives but without visual feedback I don't know what else to do to unlock the levels.

They should have chef and Kevin discuss the outcome. And criticize the player to hint the goals.

Technically the visual feedback is the white bulb on top of the flag instead of black, iirc, but there's no way to naturally notice that.

Wait really?

I'd doubled back to check for blinking bulbs or differences in the flag. The only tell I could find was the unlocked emblem near the levels but even that wasn't always true. A few I'd been able to unlock appeared where no emblem was before.

I'll have to check but that still leaves no feedback on progress or nearness to the goal in the level itself. What must be achieved and how close you are to achieving it.

Like I've said I'd achieved the stated goal for Kevin 2 in world 2 level 2 multiple times but still haven't unlocked it somehow. I'm at a loss and feel a bit frustrated by it all.

[Draktok]

Originally posted by EHLOVader:

Originally posted by Girl please:

Technically the visual feedback is the white bulb on top of the flag instead of black, iirc, but there's no way to naturally notice that.

Wait really?

I'd doubled back to check for blinking bulbs or differences in the flag. The only tell I could find was the unlocked emblem near the levels but even that wasn't always true. A few I'd been able to unlock appeared where no emblem was before.

I'll have to check but that still leaves no feedback on progress or nearness to the goal in the level itself. What must be achieved and how close you are to achieving it.

Like I've said I'd achieved the stated goal for Kevin 2 in world 2 level 2 multiple times but still haven't unlocked it somehow. I'm at a loss and feel a bit frustrated by it all.

Oh, it was something i remember reading. Let me find a screen shot to show you.

[EHLOVader]

Ok so it turns out that it isn't clear when you completed a level unlock or when you still needed to.

We had already unlocked Kevin's level 2.

Finished all the unlocked levels and am realizing they aren't close to the unlocking level at all.

There is no indication either and the icon should be a k-1 k-8 symbol.

It sucks having to open a level just to see what it will be.

[Sombrero]

Can't agree more with OP. This is the biggest flaw of the game to me (and overall also how those levels are designed, why are they all steam based, why don't tehy re-use ideas of the levels of the same world making them harder instead ?)

[Rhysandie]

I replayed the game and can confirm that levels that are supposed to unlock Kevin levels have flags with a bulb on top that alternates between white/black. You should know when a Kevin level unlocks because 1) there's an animation for the unlocked level and 2) the white/black bulb stays black for the rest of the game.

I disagree with making Kevin levels more accessible. It's a SECRET level, not a special level or puzzle level or whatever else you want to call it. If you suspect there's a bug that prevents you from unlocking the level, it's best to contact the dev team for support.

[SPEEDRUNNER041]

for me i tihnk was better to add more content, like recipe, maps, level etcll instead to make cartoon truck drive to reach all level poitns, is pointless

[EHLOVader]

Originally posted by speedrunner041:

for me i tihnk was better to add more content, like recipe, maps, level etcll instead to make cartoon truck drive to reach all level poitns, is pointless

I wondered about the switch for raising ramps complication. That seemed unnecessary. Only once was it actually tough to get to, and it didn't really make sense.

[Sombrero]

Originally posted by speedrunner041:

for me i tihnk was better to add more content, like recipe, maps, level etcll instead to make cartoon truck drive to reach all level poitns, is pointless

It's not like it took them any significant dev time to make the world map. It's just a glorified menu, let's be real for a second.