Tasty tips for your culinary cooperation

Very little about Overcooked 2 will leave you confused. Frustrated, sure. Overcooked's approach to cooperative play -- both players responsible for individual tasks in pursuit of a common goal -- can get so overwhelming for all but the most well-oiled team machines. But there aren't many times where you're unsure of what to do next. Get food out of the kitchen and into the customers' mouths. Quickly, always.

However, Overcooked 2 does have one new feature that will probably have everyone a little puzzled at times. There are eight secret levels, all named after Kevin the lovable sidekick pup whose eyebrows are somehow a more distinguishing feature than the fact that he's a dog. These hidden Kevin levels are home to some of the very toughest challenges in Overcooked 2.

Unlocking the Kevin levels will be a source of constant intrigue. You'll probably unlock one (the first one in all likelihood), and then you'll spend the rest of Overcooked 2 wondering what you did right. Maybe you'll occasionally unlock a few more Kevin levels which only fuels the bewilderment. What mystery criteria could you have fulfilled that time? "Well, I only got two of the three stars but I did fall off the platform twice and set the kitchen on fire once. Maybe I have to deliver three wrong meals while my partner spends the whole time riding the conveyor belt..."

As it turns out, it's far less obtuse than that. All the secret level criteria are tied to positive performance, but it's not always contingent on scoring high. Developer Ghost Town Games sent us an exhaustive list of the exact requirements for unlocking all the Kevin levels. They're all detailed below.

Before we start, a few housekeeping notes. There are usually different requirements for solo players and cooperative groups. Only one of these criteria needs to be hit to open up the secret level, not both. Also, "cooperative" refers to groups of two, three, or four players. Lastly, a combo means serving up dishes in the order they're presented on-screen without failing any meals in the meantime; combos are new to Overcooked 2 and it's the system that the tips scoring is based upon. So, without further ado:

Kevin 1:

Unlocked in World 1, Level 3

Solo players must achieve a combo of 2

Cooperative teams must achieve a combo of 2

Kevin 2:

Unlocked in World 2, Level 2

Solo players must achieve a combo of 3

Cooperative teams must achieve a combo of 5

Kevin 3:

Unlocked in World 2, Level 4

Solo players must achieve a score of 600

Cooperative teams must achieve a score of 1,000

Kevin 4:

Unlocked in World 3, Level 1

Solo players must achieve a score of 450

Cooperative teams must achieve a score of 1,100

Kevin 5:

Unlocked in World 4, Level 3

Solo players must achieve a combo of 4

Cooperative teams must achieve a combo of 5

Kevin 6:

Unlocked in World 4, Level 5

Solo players must achieve a score of 400

Cooperative teams must achieve a score of 500

Kevin 7:

Unlocked in World 5, Level 5

Solo players must achieve a combo of 5

Cooperative teams must achieve a combo of 8

Kevin 8:

Unlocked in World 6, Level 4

Solo players must achieve a combo of 5.

Cooperative teams must achieve a combo of 7

Surf n Turf DLC:

Kevin 1:

Unlocked in World 2, Level 2

Players (solo or cooperative) must hand in one recipe in the first 120 seconds while also obtaining at least one star in the level

Campfire Cook Off DLC:

Kevin 1:

Unlocked in World 1, Level 3

Players (solo or cooperative) must achieve a combo of 4

Kevin 2:

Unlocked in World 2, Level 3

Players (solo or cooperative) must achieve a combo of 5

Kevin 3: