There’s a lot of praise for how cute and great the game is—and it truly is! But I’d like to add some constructive criticism. Please don’t hate me for taking on the devil’s advocate role here; my intent is to help, not harm. As someone who often works with indie developers during hackathons, I’ve developed a habit of spotting areas for improvement (call it a professional transformation, haha).
1. The World Feels Empty and Static
While I understand that the world isn’t the main focus of gameplay, its lack of interactivity stands out. Most objects, except for portals and a few puzzle-dungeon elements, are completely static. This makes the environment feel unnatural and artificial, which can break the role-playing experience. Even games like Hearthstone include small interactive elements that provide tactile audio-visual feedback, which enhances immersion.
2. Lack of Discovery
The Critter habitat feels completely empty—there’s nothing to find except static scenery. While I understand the concept of developing the area yourself, there’s no sense of surprise or reason to explore. A great example is Zelda: Breath of the Wild, where every step offers discovery, mystery, or reward. Players spent days exploring caves and forests because they knew there was always something hidden waiting to be found. Or Slime Rancher, even own fields contain mysteries. Adding similar elements would encourage exploration. Even small surprises, like “101 Koroks” hidden under stones or bushes, would make the world far more engaging.
3. NPCs Feel Like Background Props
NPCs are static and non-interactive. Why don’t they talk to the player or offer quests? The storyline says, “everyone’s talking about your café,” but when you approach them, all you hear is an “oh-oh” sound. NPCs could be used to reflect player progress. In cozy games, the buzz and interest from villagers—not just UI numbers—should represent your café’s success. As your café grows, villagers should talk more, visit often, and show excitement. Leveraging simple AI mechanics could add depth here, similar to what Arena Breakout does, where characters respond dynamically, creating the illusion of real personalities. This could save time when scripting each NPC.
4. Critters Aren’t Part of the Gameplay Loop
Critters, while adorable, don’t feel integrated into the core gameplay loop. Aside from the cutscenes, they mostly wander around and occasionally block your path. I know about the buffs, but why not make them more involved? For example, if a timer is about to expire, a critter could rush in to entertain a customer, stalling the timer for 10 seconds with stunts. Some critters could even attract specific visitors who come to interact with them and end up buying a cup of coffee.
5. Creativity vs. Quick-Time Event Mechanics
Currently, creativity and quick-time mechanics clash. The more developed and cozy your café becomes, the less efficient it is. Players quickly realize that decorations and furniture aren’t necessary and even hinder movement. The meta becomes squeezing as many chairs into a straight line near the kitchen as possible to optimize order completion.
Instead, you could introduce a system that rewards creativity. For example:
Decorations as Augmentations: Decorations could provide small experience bonuses within a certain radius (e.g., a lamp adds +12 XP in a 2-cell radius, a cat house adds +5 XP in a 10-cell radius).
Furniture Sets with Global Ratings: Combining furniture into sets—like a table, two chairs, a standing lamp, and a painting—could provide a +150 XP bonus and increase the café’s overall rating. This rating could then amplify XP earned for completed orders.
Such a system would incentivize players to design fully furnished cafés, even in distant corners, because the cumulative bonuses would outweigh the efficiency of minimal setups. A player would gain more XP from a beautifully furnished café fulfilling two orders than from a bare-bones café cramming in eight.
If you’re interested, I can develop a design document for this rating system. I’d need more information on available assets, how you store data about objects on a map etc.
