I typically don’t leave reviews for games since I’m pretty mid when it comes to my opinions. There have been times I’ve played games that people considered bad that I ended up enjoying, and vice versa. But with this game being in Early Access, and the team being indie developers, I wanted to show my support by leaving a review, since this is a game I view as having a LOT of potential. Things This Game Does RIGHT: * First thing I’ll say: as someone who has basically been spam-buying and playing simulator games at this point, a lot of them are pretty copy-paste with the same ideas. But for me, I don’t really get bored of it — I enjoy the repetitive nature. This game, however, definitely throws its own unique twist into the genre. Unlike other sims where you buy and stock pre-made products, this game is all on-demand, hand-crafted commission work, and I REALLY enjoy that. * While a lot of the crafting is pretty cut-and-paste — like if you’re using blue cloth, then you’ll also be using blue thread, blue buttons, etc. — it’s still enjoyable and makes things easy to remember. But in the future, being able to make your own Frankenstein-style items would be pretty neat! * I also really enjoy the online orders system. I’ve found that if you aren’t in the mood to have your shop swarmed, run around on a time limit making clothing, ordering materials when you run out, and trying to get everything done in one shift, you can just keep the shop closed and focus entirely on online orders. I’ve spent a few in-game days doing exactly that for a more relaxed pace, and it’s just as lucrative as walk-in orders. * While the shop customization isn’t as in-depth as some other titles, this game absolutely makes decorating much easier. It’s just a cycle, pick, and apply system — no need to order paint or flooring online and apply it yourself. I know a lot of people enjoy more in-depth customization, but for those who like it simpler like me, this is a win. And when you want to place plants, pictures, or other decorative pieces, the game has a really nice snapping system so you don’t have to worry about anything being crooked. * The atmosphere in this game is INCREDIBLY appealing. The lighting is beautiful, everything is very well decorated without feeling too cluttered, and when you need to visit nearby shops for purchases, they’re all within a reasonable distance. Plus, you get to enjoy a lovely little scenic walk, which is always nice in games like this. * The tutorial is always with you! At first, I was a bit intimidated when I loaded the game up because they immediately show an info screen with explanations of different mechanics. I thought this was going to be another “get thrown into the world and figure it out yourself” situation. But no — the info screen is really just a quick tidbit explaining some of the more passive mechanics. The game actually has a long, clean tutorial you can hide whenever you want, and it walks you through every step, every machine, and gives you tasks to complete for rewards. --- Things This Game Does WRONG: * Bugs. Oh lordy dear me, are there BUGS. Now, this is an Early Access title, so the game is obviously going to need a lot of TLC, but out of the few bugs I’ve run into so far, only one was a true soft-lock situation. * Bug 1: The phone doesn’t like you sometimes. This game uses a commission-based system, so when an order is ready, you need to call the customer on an old rotary phone. This is a really nice aesthetic detail, but the phone likes to act up. Sometimes when you first click on it, it’ll enter a random number on its own. This is fine if you catch it and can just backspace, but as someone who can be a bit of a speed demon, I’ll sometimes dial the number, make the call, and go back to what I was doing — only to later realize the customer never came to pick up their garment because I accidentally called the wrong number. * Bug 2: Your keyboard doesn’t lock into the computer when typing. Let’s say you want to quickly order thread. As soon as you hit the “T” key, it toggles the hints menu on your screen, and if you keep typing afterward, it’ll kick you off the computer entirely. So trying to search for something has basically become a “get on and off the computer repeatedly” mini-game. Mostly annoying more than anything. * Bug 3: Some materials don’t behave properly between saves. I’ve only experienced this so far with thread, but I’m assuming it can happen to other materials too. I had a fully restocked set of thread containers, then had to save and get off the game to go to work. When I came back later, my threads had apparently decided to re-identify themselves as different colors. My brown thread turned blue, red turned green, and white turned yellow. So now I had double stock of certain colors and none of the others, meaning I had to restock everything again. Not game-breaking, but definitely mildly aggravating. * Bug 4: Pathing Issue #1 Customers will, by default, prioritize the checkout desk. If someone is already there, they’ll take a seat and wait. That part is fine — the problem is how the game rotates the queue. In this instance, one customer picked up their order and went to try it on. While they were changing, another customer who had been waiting got up to place their order, but for some reason, once they reached the counter, they teleported back into the waiting chair and got stuck. Since the game considered that NPC “active” at the counter, the customer who had finished trying on their clothes came back to pay but also got stuck because the counter was technically occupied. The only way to fix this was to wait for the ordering customer to eventually get tired of waiting and leave. Once they left, the paying customer could finally continue. Problem solved — but now you’ve lost out on a new commission. * Bug 5 (Possible Soft Lock): Pathing Issue #2 On one occasion, I had several customers returning to pick up their orders. At the exact same time, a new customer tried walking in, and BOOM — doorway traffic jam. All four customers got stuck in the doorway and wouldn’t move. Usually in games with player collision, you can just bump into NPCs to reset their pathing. But nope — this game doesn’t have that. So not only was the entrance completely blocked for new customers, but I was also trapped inside my own store. At first I thought, “Uh oh...” but eventually enough NPCs piled into the doorway that one accidentally shoved the others loose and they all flooded inside, crisis averted. But if they hadn’t unstuck themselves, you wouldn’t be able to leave and go home at the end of the night. The only solution would’ve been saving, quitting the game, and reloading. * Bug 6 (I DID get soft-locked): Pathing Issue #3 Since this game’s biggest issue right now seems to be NPC pathing, trying to bulk-complete orders and call customers back all at once is absolutely not the move until it gets fixed. I had five completed orders and called every customer back at the same time. Like with the rotating queue issue above, everyone kept trying to squeeze around each other to get to the counter, try on their outfit, and then return to pay. This completely broke the queue system. Two customers got stuck at the counter, two got stuck in the changing room area, and one just stood motionless in the middle of the shop. Customers who haven’t picked up their items still have countdown timers, but customers who already have their items don’t. So unlike the previous issue where I could just wait for someone to leave, the only customer with a timer was the person at the back of the line. Meaning nothing was ever going to resolve itself. And unlike the doorway jam situation, these NPCs were spread out, so there was no chance of another NPC accidentally bumping them loose. This one frustrated me enough that I actually stopped playing for a while.