How Overcooked Reconnected my Brother and I by Elana Veloso
- Feb 16
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 18
“Oh my gosh! Was that the last order?” I said over some frantic button smashing. “Omg, I think we just four-starred. Omg, we beat it. It’s over. We beat the game!” My brother was yelling over the ending credit music of the game Overcooked. The game we grinded over for weeks, countless hours sitting on the living room couch. Day and night, we were coming up with strategies, stressing over eggs, dirty dishes, and uncooked pasta. And now, we finally beat it... But how? How could I be having this much fun with my brother? The same brother who I was always jealous of, who bullied me all throughout middle school, and who's my mom’s obvious favorite. All that, yet here we are, jumping, hugging, laughing, screaming even, over a game. My mom looked at us like we were crazy, but we didn’t care. This was a moment to be cherished. A moment between a brother and a sister. A moment that made me realize, we weren’t just playing some game- we were rebuilding something we lost. Now, how did my brother, a person who I thought I’d never get along with, become my teammate, and my biggest ally? This personal experience highlights the growing phenomenon that games have the ability to bridge emotional divides, repair broken relationships, and even create new ones. They offer a space for cooperation, connection, and healing.
In the beginning, my brother and I weren't always distant; it was only that we grew apart as the years went by. When we were younger, we were actually pretty close. Looking back at VHS tapes and old photos, we were always together. But as we grew older, our dynamic changed. So how did we become so distant, what caused our fallout?
Well, I would consider our age gap as one. My brother is five years older than me, so when I was in elementary school, he went through middle school. And while he was out playing basketball with friends, studying pre-algebra, or out with a girl, I was at home playing with stuffed animals, spending time with my little sister, and learning how to divide. Another thing I’d consider is that he's a boy, and I’m a girl. I wasn’t allowed to go out with friends and was always expected to clean up dishes. I would protest how unfair that was, but my cries were diminished to being “dramatic”. This made me feel left out, because I wasn’t getting the same treatment as my brother. I also felt like the difference in our academic standings added to this unfair treatment. My brother was considered a prodigy growing up; he was my parent’s golden child. When my achievements were compared to his, mine were never nearly as great. I was constantly reminded of his accomplishments, even by my teachers, and I felt like I was always falling short, no matter how hard I tried. Eventually, my jealousy started to fester, and the close connection I once had with my brother was lost. A divide was created between us, and I was never sure if we could bridge it.
Despite this growing divide, and the fact that my brother and I don’t usually play co-op games, it was the game Overcooked that reconnected us. The moment we started playing, I started to see my brother in a completely new light. It was like the tension between us disappeared, and we were suddenly a team. According to Therapeutic Gaming, co-op games encourage patience, acceptance, and problem-solving, all of which I saw between my brother and I when we were playing the game Overcooked. Anytime we failed a level, my brother never lost his cool or put the blame on me. Instead, he was really forgiving and supportive, saying things like, “That’s okay, we’ll get it on the next run,” or when I was struggling, he would take the time to understand and help me. His actions caught me off guard, but in the best way possible. He showed me that he didn’t see me as just some “Player-2” that was helping him beat a game; he saw me as his little sister. My brother accepted that I wasn’t the best, and he offered me his patience. Anytime I would point out something I messed up, he would say it was completely okay. Sometimes he’d even point out his own slip-ups to let it be known that we were in it together. And whenever he was stuck or having a hard time finding a flow, I was proud to offer him my support as well. We would take breaks, come up with new plans, and accept that we weren’t beating difficult levels in one go. Seeing this new side to him made me realize that winning wasn’t the ultimate goal but getting to hang out with my awesome and super supportive brother was.
Along the way, we also came up with inside jokes. Dishes would be called ‘dans’ and rice became ‘rickeys,’ all in reference to Jemsbley’s YouTube video. A former world record speedrun by two teenage kids. We would often go back to this YouTube video to come up with ways to traverse the levels. And after watching their playthrough so many times, we picked up their weird slang and rolled with it, because between us it was hilarious. According to Jones et al., humor play a key role in friendships, showing enjoyment of each other’s company, helping people feel accepted, and ultimately strengthening bonds. Inside jokes can be seen as tokens of love, acceptance, and fulfillment. The inside jokes between my brother and I were small reminders of how we enjoyed each other’s company, and how we were both on the same page. I still laugh thinking back at our comments, “It’s so funny that we’re literally analyzing a playthrough from two random kids, all because we can’t beat this level.” These memories of my brother talking about our experience playing Overcooked never fail to make me smile. Our willingness to conquer these levels, and the amount of effort we were both putting in– it was all so ridiculous, but perfect. Looking back at the times we panicked over slipping off an edge with a complete dish in hand, or burning a patty and scrambling for the fire extinguisher before the fire spread, makes me smile over how silly it all was. All of these moments are things I like to look back on, because they remind me of how special it felt to be playing Overcooked with him.
Looking back, it’s funny how something as simple as sitting together and playing a video game can reconnect two people. My experience with my brother is proof that video games heal emotional divides, repair connections that were lost in the past, and create even stronger ones. Video games, like Overcooked, offer a space for cooperation, understanding, and support for each other. It also leaves us with some of the most hilarious memories to look back on. And in the end, it won’t even be about beating the game, it’ll be about all the moments that lead up to it. What I learned through this experience was that beyond victories, what will matter the most are the memories created, the laughs shared, and the realization that something so complex can be solved with something as simple as a video game.
Works Cited
Therapeutic Gaming. “Strengthening Sibling Relationships and Fostering Tolerance” LinkedIn, 14 Aug. 2024,
Jemsbley. “Overcooked 2 100% speedrun 3:23:33 (Former WR) world record (2 player)” YouTube, 4
Jones, Siân, et al. “Laughing together: The relationships between humor and friendship in childhood through
to adulthood.” Personality and Cultural Influences on Friendship Relations, edited by T. Altmann, pp. 1-
About Elana Veloso
Elana is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in the Applied Statistics & Data Science program. In her free time, she enjoys reading in the mornings before class, especially science fiction novels.
After going through the publication process with InQuiry, she describes the experience as closing an important chapter in her life and that it has given her a remarkable feeling of accomplishment. She was encouraged to submit her research paper by her ENGL 1301 professor, Ms. Bazaldua. After exploring the InQuiry website, she decided to take the opportunity and submit her work.
The inspiration for her research topic came quickly. While thinking about video games during class, she reflected on how playing video games helped her grow closer to her brother. She shares that the most challenging part of writing her paper was finding strong, credible sources to support her arguments. However, through her paper she was able to explore how and why that connection developed between her and her brother.
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