Good Coffee, Great Coffee review – “Slow paced coffee brew”

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  • Cosy game with great vibes
  • Silly characters to interact with
  • Ability to create fun drinks as a barista

Over the moon for Good Pizza, Great Pizza, I was thrilled when I learned the studio was developing another game, this time with a fresh theme. Upon its release, I immediately downloaded it and started playing on the day itself. However, unlike my familiarity with pizza, my knowledge about coffee is quite limited.

In essence, “Good Coffee, Great Coffee” revolves around managing a coffee shop, which unexpectedly finds itself part of a local competition to outlast other coffee shops that have sprung up in the same location. The narrative is engaging, offering you tasks and teaching you the ins and outs of being a barista. You’ll encounter numerous charming characters, all vying to be the town’s favorite coffee shop.

In simpler terms, each day’s gameplay involves running your shop where customers visit, expressing their needs in various ways. Sometimes they clearly state what they want, but other times they use cryptic phrases like “Moo!” or “I am hot and steamy, what am I?” which requires you to guess the drink they desire. You can ask them questions for clarification, but their patience is often short, leading to frustration if you don’t understand quickly enough.

Once an order comes through, you head into the kitchen area where you prepare coffee by grinding it, brewing espresso, frothing milk, adding ice, flavorings, and garnishes – essentially everything required to make these beverages. For lattes, you also get a chance to showcase your creativity by designing patterns on top of them. The goal is to deliver drinks that not only meet but exceed expectations, thereby earning a gratuity.

Initially being unfamiliar with coffee preparations, I found myself frequently consulting the recipe book in Good Coffee, Great Coffee. Then, I acquired an upgrade that modernized my glasses, enabling me to observe precisely how much of each ingredient was added to each cup. This feature proved incredibly useful! There are numerous other upgrades available too, such as novel ingredients for your beverages, enhancements to your grinder and espresso machine, and decorative elements for the facade of your coffee shop.

In this game, there are two forms of virtual currency:

1. Earned daily income, which is the money you receive at the end of each day. You must pay for the items you use and discard, as well as claim any refunds. Additionally, you can acquire gems by leveling up or watching videos.

2. Coffee, which allows you to play a limited number of levels on the game’s main screen. After reaching a certain threshold, you have to wait for a timer to refill your coffee or pay to continue playing more levels. I rarely played long enough in one sitting to use up all my coffee mugs, so I didn’t encounter this as an issue.

After you complete your shopping, you can embark on a fresh day, which often begins with a News Network broadcast. Although there aren’t many unique news stories, I find myself wishing for more that have a direct impact on the game itself. I share this sentiment with the NPCs who order; sometimes they predict things like “In the morning, I get a…” when it’s actually 5 PM. Sometimes they refer to water as “the most beautiful drink.” It seems a bit off-kilter at times.

This out-of-touch aspect did continue when I purchased upgrades. You see, levelling up does feel like a slow gain – I hit 30 days before I got to level 5, for example. In that time, I did purchase new toppings for drinks, on the 5th day, but none of my customers ordered these until after I hit level 5, and it’s quite rare when they do. It feels almost like it’s not worth purchasing topping upgrades.

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2025-03-13 17:49