Gestures
Every action has its own gesture, taught by a small card the moment you need it: pour, crack, chop, drizzle, stir, flip, and a thumbs up to confirm.
Cutscene
Starting the game plays a short cutscene of the pancake flipping through the kitchen. I generated 7 versions and kept the fourth: it was not the most physically correct, but it was the one whose sizzle and whoosh landed with the picture. I retimed the effects to the video itself and sped the cut to 2.6× so it feels like an opening beat, not a wait.
Controls
People did not initially understand that their voice was the input. A generic prompt did not make them believe the game was talking to them, so I pointed at one real thing instead. The first callout sits over the flour and says to say flour; once it pours in, the hint moves to the next ingredient, then disappears.
Ingredient states
Each ingredient has a counter state and a pour state. Saying its name makes it glow; doing the gesture sends it into the bowl.
Visual language
The look is a lazy Saturday morning: hand painted watercolor, butter and charcoal with coral accents, and rounded lowercase type. Borders wobble, corners are asymmetric, and every card is tilted just enough to feel hand placed. In the pouring scene, the stove, pan, and perspective stay fixed, so the batter is the only thing that changes.
On mobile
The game needs a real camera and room to move your hands, so on a phone I do not pretend it works. The mobile screen keeps the kitchen visible and points people to a laptop instead.
