Just three days before the game’s release day I stumbled upon it and found it on Steam. From the moment I saw the graphics, I was in awe. It gave such a cute and cozy feeling. Previously I have never played games with this kind of art style, but Coffee Caravan I simply couldn’t resist. I had to play it. Waiting in anticipation for the 20th of May, like a child on Christmas, i installed the game and dived in.
The game
Coffee Caravan is a very cute time management game where you must serve coffee to your customers within a limited time. Along the gameplay you get to unlock different recipes of coffee and serve them to your customers. For every customer you serve, you earn money which can later be spent in a shop. In the shop you can purchase appliances for your kitchen to decrease your serving time. For example, it can be a faster brewing machine, dishing machine, a turbo grinder. There are also plants and other items you can buy to place around your caravan to increase people’s patience, increases customer amount etc.
Leveling map
At the beginning of the game, you will see a leveling map. For each successfully completed round, you ascend and you have the freedom to select your desired path. You can choose between an easier way, the icon of one person, but you can also choose hard mode, that one has an icon of multiple people, where the customers have less patience and are coming in quicker.
Along the way, as you gain levels, you get to visit the shop which has an icon of a cart on the map. Beside different appliances and upgraded items in the shop you can also purchase different coffee recipes.
Customers and circumstances
Along the progress, you unlock different customers, which can be for example a dog lover, a slow senior, a stressed business person, and extra wealthy person with tips.
Beside the different costumers you also unlock circumstances which changes the game’s rules, for example you move 20% faster, customers drink 20% slower, etc.
Once you finished entire map, you unlock a bigger caravan and more café space where customers can sit and where you can put enhancement items.
If you would fail a round you will lose all your money, but you get to keep all purchased items and recipes, so be sure to spend the money as much as possible. Also, what happens is that you must restart the map and do the climbing from the bottom again.
For achievement hunters, good news. As a bonus, there are achievements to collect with lovely, cute icons in the same style as the game.
Conclusion
I have been playing this game for 5 hours now, and I do enjoy it a lot, however it is testing my patience, especially when I fail in a round. I would probably say, the only negative side of the game is that you must restart the entire map, instead of just restarting the round you failed on.
So, for you who likes the game Overcooked, or serving customers in a time limited game, running around with fire under your feet, customers filling the queue line and waiting for free tables, this is the game for you.
When it comes to me; it remains to see for how long my patience lasts since somehow, I don’t find this game relaxing at all, it’s rather my own stubbornness that keeps me from stopping, playing the game.
And besides, who doesn’t love a good cup of coffee!