Game: Feed the Cups (Early Access)
Genre: Simulation
System: Steam (Windows)
Developers | Publishers: Vambear Games | IndieArk
Controller: Yes
Price: US $ 15,99 | UK £ 13.49| EU € 15,79
Release Date: February 21st, 2024
The review code was used, with many thanks to IndieArk.
Feed the Cups is a 2024 roguelike online co-op game developed by Vambear Games and released by IndieArk.
Premise
In Feed the Cups, we play as an overworked and disillusioned bear who gets tempted by Bear Devil into selling its soul for the chance to work in one of the Devil’s coffee shops, serving thirsty cups of all sizes and designs.
The Gameplay of Feed the Cups
At the beginning of Feed the Cups, we can decide whether to play the tutorial or skip it. Playing it since, while not particularly complex, the game has a few game mechanics quirks.
Our bear is picked up by a bus in front of its house and taken to the coffee shop. Then, we have a series of shifts until we complete all the goals for that particular shop. Then, we move on to the next shop.
At the beginning of each shift, we have boxes of resources to unpack, such as paper cups, ice, sugar, orange juice, milk, coffee, etc. We have to put them away on the shelves and throw away the boxes. We can pick up upgrades at the beginning of the shift and order more resources. If we run out of something mid-shift, we can order it immediately. We can also choose which recipes to include in the daily menu.
Once we’ve done the prep, it’s time to open the shop; we do that by choosing the cash register. Alternatively, we can open earlier, which guarantees higher earnings. Once a cup decides what to order, you have to take the order and prepare it. Once you are done, besides placing it on the counter, it is essential to sell it as well; otherwise, no earnings are counted.
At the end of each day, your earnings, including utility bills, are counted against what you owe the Devil. At the beginning, you are at a loss, but thankfully, we start with some savings.
With the money, we can upgrade our home, not that we spend much time in it, and the coffee shop itself, making it more attractive to customers in the long term. It is refreshing that the game’s style is cartoonish/ anime-like rather than pixel art, which is starting to be everywhere.
Feed the Cups has a sizeable map with several shops to explore. You can’t move to a different store before you’ve finished with the current one.
An exciting feature is the option to play online in co-op. If you get overwhelmed playing by yourself, you can play local 2-player or remote multiplayer mode and a 2-4-player online cooperative mode with friends.
Some Notes
Feed the Cups has Steam achievements but no trading cards. However, a demo of the game is available on Steam if you want to try it out. It’s substantial enough to get a good feel for the game.
The game has basic game, audio, and graphics settings. You can access the option to remap the buttons for the keyboard and the gamepad on the main screen.
Feed the Cups is released in Early Access, and the developers have a roadmap for what to expect next. I didn’t encounter any bugs, and everything behaved smoothly.
Conclusion
Feed the Cups reminded me of the old Dinner Dash games, which I loved. If you like that kind of game, It will be a nice distraction for a few hours. Early on, though, it proved to be too busy and chaotic for me, but that is not the game’s fault.
Final Verdict: I Like it