You play as Nova, a nonbinary protagonist, who has just moved into a new town and opened up their cafe with their brother, Nate.
In the move, you discovered your parent's old spellbook. Using the spells contained inside, you discover a pocket dimension of infinite and constantly shifting cave tunnels, filled with magical ingredients and creatures.
The game is a cafe management simulator, with roguelite and horror elements. Dive into the caves to gather ingredients, and then go back to the cafe to increase relationships with your customers.
As you explore further into the caves, you come across different biomes. Most of the names are self-explanatory.
Green Grotto (Mossy and full of life)
Dried Delves (Sandy, Desolate)
Ravined Rivers (Full of water and marine life)
Frostbite Fissures (Ice and snow everywhere)
Magma Mineshafts (Lava, Magma, etc.)
Crystal Chasms (...Yeah this is the most self-explanatory.)
Toxic Tunnels (Rivers, flora, and fauna; all of which can kill you with poison or venom.)
Vexing Void (Breaking the laws of physics and reality, nothing here is logical. Fish swim in the air. Deal with it.)
The Inbetween (We'll get back to this later...)
Each biome contains new ingredients! There are a few different kinds (Fish, Fruit, Fungi, Grain, Misc. Plants, Sweeteners, Seasoning, Vegetables, Meat, & "Standard" Ingredients). Meat is obtained from killing different monsters, and Standard Ingredients are from the surface, not the caves. But every other kind has a unique ingredient for each biome (or several ingredients per biome!) There is not a single repeat ingredient. But a stupid thing that we started, which has caught on, is that every single ingredient name alliterates. (Ex. Sizzling Salmon, Aerial Anchovies, Restless Rhubarb, Overgrown Octopi). There is NO repeat ingredients, and NO repeat description words.
The player has to get creative with how they prep the ingredients, leading to wild and zany dishes; but they also have to be careful of the customer's personal tastes and allergies. This is a fantasy world, and some species are harmed by different ingredients. What may be poisonous to a human might not be for a dwarf. There will be hundreds of customers, each with their own unique personality and story you can explore through dialogue at the cafe. Each one will have a taste profile, with favorite/least favorite ingredients.
As you progress further into the caves, you start to notice... are those eyes? But the moment you look at them, they disappear. Must've been your imagination... or so you think. A creature known as the Stoneheart lurks in the deep layers of the caves, biding its time to try and escape. You can find ruins and scrolls throughout the caves that tell you the story of why the pocket dimension was created; and what the Stoneheart really is. Just be careful to not let it break out... (Foreshadowing? Maybe. Why am I writing like this, I feel so cringy)
This is most of what we have thus far! We have some more details on story, design, and potential other projects, but I'll be slowly talking about those here as they become more solid. If you're interested in supporting the development of this project, share this post; or if you have money to spare, consider supporting our Patreon! There are perks, although admittedly there won't be a lot right now, as we are broke teens working with hopes and dreams. But we'll get it done one day!
If you read this far, have a cookie :3
