The game
Autumn
The first game jam I entered was the Cozy Fall Jam - a thematically strong and focused jam making a cozy game which was … well, autumnal.
Though I grew up in a country that didn’t have a strong cultural attachment to the season like the US, I was familiar with the morning frost, warm drinks and the colours of falling leaves. Despite eucalyptus being evergreen… (thank God for invasive deciduous species?)
So despite a lack of pumpkins and Halloween (though it has crept in thanks to the cultural soft-power of the USA), the hot drink phenomenom at cafe chains has taken hold in just about every country with a cafe chain. In Australia it was either Starbucks or Gloria Jean’s with their derivative pumpkin spice latte. Here in Finland it’s Espresso House and the “tonttulatte” (elf latte).
I decided to design a game around the idea of ordering a hot drink, and being a naturally anxious person I thought I’d focus on a time element around ordering. I sometimes have trouble making a decision like this, and though it’s not really the case, I feel in the back of my mind that there is a time pressure.
Quick side note
Since moving to a country where I don’t speak the language, I always feel awkward entering any store and having an interaction with someone as I inevitably need to ask awkwardly “is English ok” or just switch to English and hope the person has understood I am not from around these parts. Naturally their English skills are fantastic and there’s rarely an issue.
But still.
Awkward.
Ticking time and anxiety
There are many ways to make a player feel anxious in a game (visuals, sound design, the general paranoia of a horror game), but what better way than to have a timer count down and to convey this anxiety procedurally.
In “Cafe Day in Autumn” (urgh, what a clunky title in hindsight) I opted for a primary loop where you walk up to the counter (easy enough), interact with the cashier (press E), and then quickly make a choice on what drink you want based on your immediate needs. You need something that gives you enough energy and flavour to satisfy you.
This involved hitting the corresponding key to the drink within the time limit.
The player continues this loop of ordering a drink every hour until the afternoon, when they get a summary of how well they did. I’m not sure why they go and get a drink every hour, perhaps there is a broader narrative there? They are a bored office worker perhaps, looking to pass the time with a tasty beverage (and frayed nerves).
Development
This was the first Unity project I’d done in a little while so getting to grips with how things hang together was a bit of a time sink at first. A lot of the enjoyment came from creating all the sprites, especially the animation of the barista flicking her hair.
It’s a satisfying animation that I personally think adds a lot of heart and character. So even if the game isn’t super fun, you get some V I B E S.
Learnings
Well, I learnt based on the feedback that web builds are kinda finicky about screen sizes, and this is something I completely ignored when creating builds and uploading them to itch. It’s something I will definitely pay more attention to next time, as the UI placement, resolution and scaling etc. can make or break an experience. In fact, as I type this on my 13" laptop I’m finding I have to zoom itch.io out in Chrome just to get a decent screenshot.
The gameplay itself was rather shallow with no variation or challenge, and so I think this is something I will take forward in my designs - finding a way to spice up the primary loop of a game. Players like to be pleasantly surprised and I at least find that very important in crafting an experience. Perhaps it would also make the player feel more nervous if I had a queue forming behind them.
And well, that was it. Stay tuned for more game jam tales!