Game: Not Monday Cafe
Genre: Management, Idler, Farm Simulator
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer | Publisher: Sunny Syrup Studio | Flyhigh Works
Controller Support: No
Steam Deck: Unsupported
Price: US $8.99 | UK £7.49 | EU € 8,79
Release Date: June 23rd, 2025
A review code was provided, and many thanks to Flyhigh Works.
Not Monday Cafe is a 2025 adventure game developed by Sunny Syrup Studio and released by Flyhigh Works.
Premise
In Not Monday Cafe, we operate a coffee shop located at the bottom of our screen. This coffee shop is complemented by a farm, where we can plant and cultivate various ingredients, including coffee, tea, wheat, and fruits, as well as raise animals like cows and chickens for milk and eggs.
Gameplay
Not Monday Cafe is an actual cozy idle cafe management game that keeps you company while you work. It sits at the bottom of your screen, and you don’t even need to assign roles to your workers. After planting a new crop, buying a new kitchen appliance, or finalizing the menu, your little workers will divide the tasks and quickly get to work.
We start with a basic kitchen set-up, complete with a small farm plot on the side and enough space and coins for two tables. Once your business takes off, you can buy new appliances and upgrades, which in turn unlock new recipes. As the game progresses, we unlock more plants and animals to grow and keep, which gives us more ingredients for our recipes. We can also upgrade and decorate our dining room, where we greet and serve our adorable animal customers. And speaking of customers, clicking on them rewards you with little happy hearts and a bit of coins.
If we have enough coins, we can also expand both the cafe and the farm. As our ingredient list grows, extending the farm becomes essential. On the other hand, more customers- more coins for upgrades and other stuff. We can find and purchase expansions by clicking on the signs at the end of the cafe at either side.
In Not Monday Cafe, we have over 300 recipes, ranging from various coffee drinks and teas to classic brunch recipes and a diverse selection of dishes from around the world. We can see a close-up of each dish by clicking on it, once it’s been served. When starting the game, we are given the option to choose from three different settings: forests and mountains, oceans and islands, or urban-like.
Other Features
Not Monday Cafe has a pomodoro timer, which technically makes it also a good productivity app. The game also features Twitch & Streaming integration, enabling us to connect to our stream and transform it into a cozy cafe where our chat members can join as customers. We can also send gifts to our friends who are playing the game and visit their cafes.
The soundtrack of the game features jazz, lofi, and classic coffee shop music, making it quite lovely and very suitable for the game. There are also ambient sounds that one can hear in a coffee shop. Also, the time of the day changes. At the end of the day, the coffee shop closes.
Not Monday Cafe is in a beautiful and colorful pixel art style. It never stops amazing me the leaps pixel art has made in terms of colors and details, compared to the dawn of computer games. Not Monday Cafe is an excellent example of a visually gorgeous game, in a pixel art style.
Some Technical Bits
Not Monday Cafe is meant to be an idler, so, understandably, it doesn’t support a controller and a Steam Deck. It is also only on Windows for the moment; hopefully, it will get macOS support down the line. The game has basic audio and video settings. It has Steam achievements, but no Trading cards yet.
Conclusion
Simply put, Not Monday Cafe is a great idle game. It offers enough customization features to satisfy farm sim fans, yet it’s automated enough to keep you focused on work, even if your crops are dying or your customers are angry. And on top of that, Not Monday Cafe is a visual feast.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up: 