The Story Behind Cook It!: An Interview with Ovi Nedelcu

Every board game has to start somewhere. For first time designer and illustrator Ovi Nedelcu, it wasn't a childhood dream of publishing games or years spent filling notebooks with prototypes. In fact, before last year, creating a board game wasn't even on his radar. "I thought to myself, 'Huh, that seems easy enough,'" Ovi laughs, recalling a game design talk he stumbled upon. "And was I ever wrong about that"

Looking back, Ovi admits that if he had known how much work goes into bringing a game from an idea to the table, he probably never would have started. Ignorance was bliss. Fortunately for us, once the idea took hold, he couldn't let it go. What started as an idea turned into Cook It!, a party game where players draft ingredients, build dishes, mess with each other's recipes, and vote on whose creation deserves the win

There is one optional twist that makes Cook It! stand out. The winner [maybe] cooks their winning hand in real life. Anyone who has ever spent 20 minutes debating where to eat or what to make for dinner knows how quickly meal planning can turn into a group challenge. Cook It! takes that familiar frustration and turns it into the entire point of the game. Players have to pitch and defend their bizarre or delicious creations to the table to secure winning votes

From Food Network Fan to Game Designer

This real world twist wasn't something added at the end to make Cook It! stand out from other party games. It was the core concept that everything else was built around. Growing up, Ovi spent countless hours watching cooking competitions like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Emeril Live

Combined with his love of cooking and his background as a character illustrator, those influences collided into one simple question: What if the winning recipe in a board game actually had to be made? Rather than creating mechanics first and adding a theme later, Ovi built Cook It! around that concept. Players create dishes, defend their choices, mess with each other's plans, and try to convince the table that their creation deserves the win

"I wanted the game to be player versus player, not player versus game," Ovi explains. "The game is just a vehicle for human connection and bonding. My goal was maximum engagement between the people at the table"

Designing for the Table

That focus on the people around the table influenced more than the gameplay; it also shaped the artwork. Because Ovi illustrated every card himself, his original vision was much more detailed. Each food character was designed with historically inspired chef uniforms from different eras. The artwork looked great, but playtesting revealed a problem. Players were spending too much time looking at the costumes instead of quickly identifying the ingredient on the card

To fix that, Ovi made the difficult decision to simplify the designs. The historical themes were replaced with a cleaner, unified look that made the game easier to understand at a glance. The original designs aren't gone forever, though. Ovi hinted that those historical chefs could easily return in a future expansion. When asked about his favorite character, the answer came immediately. "The Tomato," Ovi says. "It was the first character I designed, and it’s safely earned its spot as the mascot for the game"

Bringing a Game to Life

Understanding the process of creating a game is one thing. Executing every single part of it yourself is another. While Ovi's background in book publishing helped him navigate timelines and production, bringing Cook It! to Kickstarter meant acting as a cross-functional army of one. He single-handedly designed the game, illustrated every card, built the website, managed the marketing outreach, and engineered the entire Kickstarter campaign infrastructure

"I'm proudest of actually finishing the game and getting it published," he reflects. "That in itself is a massive accomplishment when you're a one-man show. I completely lost count of the times I wished I had a dedicated team helping me shoulder the load"

Advice for Future Designers

When asked what advice he would offer someone hoping to publish their first game, Ovi's immediate response was "don't!" He pauses, smiling. "Just kidding. But you better really love your game concept, because it is going to take an immense amount of work to get it across the finish line"

That passion comes through clearly when talking with Ovi. Every decision, from streamlining the visual assets to refining the competitive loop, came back to the exact same goal: creating memorable moments around the table. For a first-time designer, that's an impressive place to start

Support the Launch

Cook It! officially launches on Kickstarter on July 14 at 6:00 AM PST. If you are looking for a party game where creativity, negotiation, and a little kitchen chaos continue even after the cards are put away, keep an eye on the campaign

• Kickstarter: Cook It! Campaign

• Instagram: @cookitcardgame

• Ovi's Artwork: @ovi_nedelcu