Upcoming features in Sugarplum Cafe + changes to post frequency (Patreon)

So I've had a few friends playtest the latest build and I'm already starting to work on the next update so I can change some stuff based on their feedback. As you may recall, a big part of the game is discovering all the possible cakes and teasets in the game, which are created by combining different flavors. Currently figuring out these flavor combinations involves a bunch of trial and error, but I'm going to change this and add in-game hints to help you out. 

The whole idea of Sugarplum Cafe was inspired by the tea minigame in Professor Layton, where clients ask you to brew a tea with specific ingredients based on their taste preferences. So it only made sense to try and incorporate deduction somehow! 

One catch is that I don't want players to be held up by too much dialogue. So this is my current design - every time you fulfill a customer's order, the customer will have a random chance of dropping Tea. (get it) Tea is like a currency for hints, so you can spend these hint points to unlock hints. This way you can choose if you want to unlock hints for cakes or teasets.

You'll only get to see 10 hints at a time, which means if you buy an 11th hint then the 1st one will disappear. Hints won't repeat, but each cake/teaset is tied to a specific character who gives you the hint. If you haven't served that person in the cafe at least once, you might get a hint telling you to serve that person.

So that's my current design, let me know what you think!

I have a couple more changes that I'm making, but I need to draw some art assets so the new features will be easier to understand. Which brings me to my next subject... 

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Starting next month, I will be temporarily reducing my Patreon posting frequency from weekly to every two weeks. Since I am prioritizing Sugarplum Cafe this year and a lot of my current work is coding, I just won't have a lot to share every week that I think you'll find interesting. Some weeks I'm just debugging, and other weeks I'm working on things that I'd rather not spoil. It'll be less stressful to have to come up with something to write every week. So I'm gonna try this biweekly cadence and see how things go.

As said, this is hopefully temporary. I alternate between coding phases and drawing phases so I'm hoping that once I get back to the drawing phase I'll be able to post more frequently again. Thank you for your support through this time!