There’s a sweet spot for me in the coffee gamingverse. There are games like Coffee Talk, the pandemic-era narrative game that popularized the sub- subgenre, that are super chill and low-stakes maybe a little bit too much so. It’s all talking to customers, but this is still a video game, and I need something to do. Then there are management sim games like Espresso Tycoon or Coffee Break, and they just stress me out. If I wanted to be in the weeds all the time I’d still be behind a counter somewhere.
What I want is something in the middle. A chilled-out coffee sim but one with objectives, and I think I’ve found my Goldilocks. That game is the newly-released Good Coffee, Great Coffee. The free mobile game centers drink making, solid mechanics, and a few cheeky nods to coffee culture, all in a super cute presentation.
Released at the end of last month by Los Angeles-based games studio TapBlaze, Good Coffee, Great Coffee is set in Coffee City, which has its own Coffee New Station (CNS), which lets you know coffee is serious business around here. There are coffee shops everywhere and the proprietors of other cafes often come to visit you. You’re the new Brewist in town—the game’s term for Barista—and you’ve got to get your cafe up to snuff before the World Coffee Association test, which you are required to pass if you want to keep slinging spro in this town (can you imagine?).
You are slowly introduced to the mechanics of the game through a foundational drink: the espresso. You’ve got to dose the proper amount, tamp, and pull the shot in the right amount of time. Hit all your marks and you’re customers will love you and give you a little tip. As more ingredients are added to your inventory, the recipes grow in number and complexity, which you more or less have to keep track of in your brain—just like a real barista! Eventually, you’ll unlock latte art, including heats, tulips, and rosettas.
There are cute nods to coffee culture like Master Brewist characters Joe Kaldi, Judy Bean, and Max Shomer, so named for Espresso Vivaci founder and espresso icon David Schomer.
As you progress, the pace speeds up and customers become a little more demanding, which is all tracked in a customer satisfaction meter at the top. But still not in the hair-on-fire sort of way of management sims. And really, I need a little bit of oomph in my gaming. I’m not the sort that can wander around listlessly in a fanciful world. I need to wander listlessly towards an objective. And that objective, thus far in the game at least, is passing my WCA test to keep my cafe dreams alive.
Good Coffee, Great Coffee a free mobile app available for iPhone and Android. For more information, visit TapBlaze’s official website.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
