Game: Sips and Sonnets
Genre: Visual Novel, puzzle
System: Steam (Windows, MacOS)
Developers | Publishers: Blue Tango Street
Controller Support:Â Yes
Steam Deck: Unknown
Price: US $ 6.99 | UK £ 5.99 | EU € 6,99
Release Date: September 12th, 2025
A review code was provided; many thanks to Blue Tango Street.
Sips and Sonnets is a 2025 visual novel, developed and released by Blue Tango Street.
Premise
In Sips and Sonnets, we play through a few days in the life of Miss Meadows, who runs a cozy tearoom in a quiet English town. With no family and a few customers, Miss Meadows fills her days with writing poems and making tea, while finding inspiration from listening to the stories of the people who pass through the doors of her tearoom.
The Gameplay of Sips and Sonnets
In many ways, Sips and Sonnets plays out as a classic Visual Novel – we have a story with a fully voiced cast of characters, with choices that affect the ending. And we have multiple endings, so the game has some replayability value. That being said, Sips and Sonnets also incorporates some gameplay mechanics, not usually seen in other Visual Novels – for example, we have a mini game while making tea and a mini game for the daily dose of medicine that our heroine has to take each evening.
Another notable mini-game is writing poems. It’s not freestyle, but instead we have the bare bones of a poem and suitable words on the side to fill into the text. If the word is not working out in the text, the game will let you know, politely, at the bottom of the screen. Once the poem is complete, on we go to the next day.
Each day has its theme – Running Away, Staccato, and so on. The theme can be seen in the interactions with our client of the day, Ms. Meadows’ thoughts, and the brief conversation she’ll have with her nurse each evening. It’s of course also the theme of the poem, as well.
The tea-making part of the game is very simplified as well – we have to choose the type of tea to serve and to brew it for a certain period of time. To deduce the type of tea and intensity of the tea, we have to pay attention to what our customers are saying and then consult with our handy tea encyclopedia. For example, a customer might complain that they are not sleeping properly. So, using the tea encyclopedia, we will see that lavender tea has a calming, relaxing effect and is helpful for battling insomnia. While making tea, we are also making small talk and keeping an eye on how strong the cup is, of course. Once we are ready, we can just click on the cup to serve it.
World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
The conversations themselves serve a dual role – on one hand, they move the story along and shape the ending, but on the other hand, they also serve as a memory test. The developer was inspired to make Sips and Sonnets while reading about memory, and it’s no coincidence that the game is being released in September, World Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.
Sips and Sonnets offers a wide range of topics for conversation and observation. We have a shelf of little knick-knacks that Ms. Meadows has collected from all over the world, each complete with its own little story. At the end of the day, we have a wall full of pictures, serving the same role and simultaneously allowing us to get to know Ms. Meadows a little better.
At the end of each playthrough, we get a score card, where we can see which ending we got, how many perfect teacups we served, how our interactions with people were, the mood of our final poem, and, of course, our memory score.
Some Other Things
Sips and Sonnets has the usual video and audio settings. We also have some settings about the text, as expected in a visual novel game. The controls are minimal; the main ones are the left mouse button for interactions and the space bar for skipping dialogue.
Sips and Sonnets has Steam achievements, but no trading cards yet.
Conclusion
Sips and Sonnets is not only a visual novel, but it also thoughtfully explores themes of growing up, aging, and living a fulfilling life, as well as the wholesome connections we make with others. I admit I was attracted to the game because of all the tea shown in the trailer, and the poem making, and while all that was great, what really stayed with me were the characters.
If you like thoughtfully crafted stories, with a lot of little facts about life, philosophy, poetry, and tea, Sips and Sonnets is the game for you.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up