Cooking Mama age rating: what parents of kids 4–7 should know

• –Official rating above age 7
  ESRB: E; App Store 4+
• –Contact with other players or strangers
  No chat listed (App Store, ESRB)
• ✓Purchases with real money
  App Store: Let's Cook! recipe packs $0.99–$15.99
• –Paid random items
  No random items listed (App Store)
• –Violence or scary content in rating descriptors
  ESRB: Comic Mischief only (not violence)
• –Government lawsuits, fines, or safety warnings
  None found; Cookstar dispute was private

Each flag is a yes-or-no fact from the sources on this page. The number is a count of flags, not a safety score. How we count.

Checked October 2026. Ratings and settings change; check the official source before you decide. What do these ratings mean?

Facts for parents, not medical or legal advice. If you're worried about your child, talk to your pediatrician.

What is Cooking Mama?

Short answer: A series of cooking games made of short minigames, in which you chop, grate, fry, and bake while "Mama" gives instructions.

The series began on the Nintendo DS and continued on the Wii and 3DS. Office Create ported the original to phones as Cooking Mama: Let's Cook!. Cooking Mama: Cuisine! came to Apple Arcade in June 2022, and a free preview, Cooking Mama Intro, arrived in July 2026.

Cooking Mama age rating: what's in it

Short answer: E from the ESRB and 4+ on the App Store.

• ESRB (Cookstar): E, Comic Mischief. The ESRB says that in a rice-pounding task, a badly timed strike makes the helper's hand swell up and turn red.
• ESRB (Sweet Shop, 3DS): E, Alcohol Reference, because wine and rum are ingredients in some recipes.
• App Store: 4+ for Let's Cook!, Cuisine!, and Intro, with no descriptors.

We couldn't find a Common Sense Media review of these games.

Is there Cooking Mama on Switch?

Short answer: Not as of October 2026, as far as we could find.

Cooking Mama: Cookstar came out for Switch and PS4 from Planet Entertainment. Office Create said it was released without its approval, and in 2022 it announced that an international arbitration court had sided with it; the game was removed from sale, according to Wikipedia and Nintendo Wire. That was a dispute between companies, not a government action. We found no newer Cooking Mama game on the Nintendo US store.

Ads and purchases

Let's Cook! is free, shows ads, and sells a $1.99 Welcome Pack, $3.99 recipe packs, a $15.99 recipe bundle, and holiday dishes for $0.99. Cuisine! has no ads or purchases listed but needs an Apple Arcade subscription. We found no chat or random items listed.

Try tonight: the lumpy pancake

Make something simple together, like a sandwich or a pancake, and let your child do one step alone. If it comes out lumpy, say: "Not yet. Next time I'll try it slower." In our program, this is the lesson "Not Yet": the trying matters.

What age is Cooking Mama for?

The ESRB rates Cooking Mama: Cookstar E (everyone), and the App Store rates the phone and Apple Arcade games 4+.

Why was Cooking Mama: Cookstar removed?

Office Create said Planet Entertainment released it without approval, and an arbitration court sided with Office Create in 2022, according to Nintendo Wire. The game was taken off sale.

Does Cooking Mama: Let's Cook! have in-app purchases?

Yes. The App Store lists recipe packs and bundles from $0.99 to $15.99, and the game shows ads.

Is Cooking Mama: Cuisine! free?

It's part of Apple Arcade, which needs a subscription. Cooking Mama Intro is a free preview, and progress carries over.

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