"Let's Play Some Demos!" Video Series YouTube Playlist

Welcome to Part 11 of the Let's Play Some Demos! | LPSD series!
For those who are new, I aim to introduce gamers to, usually, Indie games and to provide commentary and feedback on the games for educational purposes!
For this episode, I used some of the demos I had grabbed from the Cooking Fest and Cozy Quest Steam Events!

Today, I, attempted, to play 4 demos for your enjoyment:

1. Critter Café – Available
   "Welcome to your Critter Café! Rescue and bond with adorable, fantasy critters in need of your help and build a new home together. Design and run your own café, care for your critters, uncover the secrets of mysterious portals, and create a wholesome café for all to enjoy!"
2. Grimoire Groves – Planned Release Date: Mar 6, 2025
   "Join the witches in their quest to restore the Grimoire Groves! Master magic, grow cute plant creatures and discover the mystery of the Rainbow Socks in this cozy, rogue-lite dungeon crawler."
3. Pixel Cafe – Available
   "Step into Pixel's shoes in this one-of-a-kind journey that bridges time, memories, and the aroma of fresh coffee. Dive deep into a city balancing its past and future. Engage in intense arcade challenges, immerse yourself in heartfelt stories, and navigate a world crafted in pixel art."
4. Wizdom Academy – Available: Q1 2025
   "Build your 3D wizard school, recruit students and staff, manage your resources, take strategic decisions and solve the mystery of the severe mana shortages at Wizdom Academy."

All links above are to the games' Steam pages. 
Pixel Cafe's demo is available on itch.io!

Why was it an "attempt" to play? Because Critter Café crashed after 30 minutes, and Grimoire Groves was unplayable DURING the first, in-game interaction. I had to press a bunch of buttons to be able to get the Pause Menu to open so I could get the Main and quit.

However, I will still be able to render a verdict.

Critter Café was FUN for that first 30 minutes. I was disappointed I wasn't able to continue. The character creation was amusing, despite the lack of diverse hairstyles, and designing the café had me excited, even with the limited options! The closer I got café the way I wanted it, I was eager to open it for the first time. And then it crashed, and that will be the last time I mention it. The art style was adorable and reminded me of Fae Farm. The controls were a bit of an irritant. Being able to put down more than one item at a time without having to keep going back to the inventory would have been nice. But the different color schemes were sublime!

I have high hopes going into Grimoire Groves, but they were killed in 5 minutes and 17 seconds. The art style was cute, even though it wasn't consistent. The little bit I was able to do mechanically was pleasant, though. Getting stuck talking to the main quest starter, twice, made me not even want to keep trying.

Pixel Cafe quickly improved my mood. It reminded me of other food preparation games I've played in the past, but this one really kicked in my ADHD drive with the growing urgency! It, also, had more of an RPG element, which I always look forward to in games. The story was surprising! I'm not gonna get into it, but the part where we see how critical the mom is kinda hit home. I'm glad to say mine isn't anywhere CLOSE to that bad. The other RPG element was getting to upgrade the house the character, Pixel, was living in.

I, initially, had issues with the controls, but, after I got the hang of it, I was able to get into a groove. My one big critique is in the player feedback. At the top of the screen, there are anywhere between two or three groups of three blocks. They are meant to show you when someone is at the counter, the mood of the customers, when you need to go to the counter to prevent something from burning or to stop a pouring drink machine from spilling over, and other information, but I had to figure that out myself. Now, the game does advise that it's "fast-paced" and we'll learn on the job, but that's no excuse for the minimalist tutorial. Other than that, it's an EXCELLENT game and I was disappointed when the demo ended.

Now, Wizdom Academy was a GREAT time, and, while writing this section, it reminded me a LOT of Ratopia. In both games, you have to build up your school/community from the ground up. They both require some type of resource management, people management, and growing in a sustainable fashion. Where Wizdom Academy is different is you don't have to worry about anyone dying and having to watch the graves accumulate as you figure out how to effectively take care of everyone. You also have a top-down view and you watch things unfold.

When I loaded up the New Game, the art style immediately caught my attention. Its bold, fantastical realism put a smile on my face. The realist in me, though, had me wondering why the teachers' sleeping quarters were so small. Why wasn't it a building with suites, instead? Why, when hiring teachers, do we not see their specialty as they're being hired? Why are we picking what a student wants to learn instead of them telling us what they're interested in learning? And why do I have to go through people vandalizing buildings due to their boredom WAY before we get ways to boost peoples' motivations? We're dealing with children; why isn't there anything available from the beginning to help them stay motivated?

With, most, of my criticisms out of the way, here are the positives: the way they provide goals via a council was an EXCELLENT idea! It gave me an idea of how to run the academy sustainably and it gave me a sense of urgency. The additional list of quests were helpful as well. I didn't feel like I was being left, completely, unguided. I was left to figure some things out, which was great. And I got sucked in BIG TIME! I had to rush through the closing because of it because of how close to 4 hours I was getting.

The art was great, and the plot, building a wizarding academy was great, even if only starting off with one course and building from there had me wondering... why? This game made me curious about how to start a school. And well done sucking me in, developers!

Overall, I want Pixel Cafe and Wizdom Academy and they are on my wishlist.

As a reminder, Critter Café is Available, Grimoire Groves' Planned Release Date is Mar 6, 2025, Pixel Café is Available, and Wizdom Academy Demo will be Available in Q1 2025.

And that's it for Part 11! Thank you for reading!
If this series of videos is something you're interested in, the videos are available on YouTube, The Titans' Discord, Steam, Rumble, Odysee, and Ko-fi!
Don't forget to hit the Subscribe and/or Follow buttons to know when there's more!

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The Monday, December 9th, and 655th, Artist Shout-Out goes to Henri Andersen Vinsnes!
Check them out here!

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TIMESTAMPS
0:00 – Singing Into
0:38 – Welcome Gamers!
2:23 – Artist Shout-Out
5:05 – Just Chatting
5:34 – Demos’ Intro
8:35 – Critter Café
38:34 – Grimoire Groves
43:51 – Pixel Cafe
1:30:17 – Wizdom Academy
3:51:07 – Demos Line Up
3:51:24 – Artist Shout-Out
3:51:43 – Thank You/Links
3:52:08 – Farewell

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• Pilot: CrossCode, Dumpy & Bumpy, Ynglet, Zero Ranger
  
• Part 2: A Dance of Fire and Ice, 2064: Read Only Memories, Death and Taxes, Underhero
• Part 3: TEKKEN 8, Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, Secrets of Grindea, Forspoken
• Part 4: Death's Hangover, Fae Farm, Fate/Samurai Remnant, Mini Settlers
• Part 5: All-Star Fruit Racing, Indivisible, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Visions of Mana
• Part 6: Glorious Companions, Tales of Arise, Ultionus: A Tale of Petty Revenge, Cozy Island
• Part 7: The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood, Cursebane, Dex, The Lady Puppet
• Part 8: Detroit: Become Human, Little Goody Two Shoes, Luma Island, Tinkerlands
• Part 9: Backpack Battles, Glaciered, Ratopia, Slime Rancher
• Part 10: Captain Contraption's Chocolate Factory, Maid Cafe on Electric Street, Neon Noodles, Tiny Glade
• Part 12: AdventureBarStory, Bone's Cafe, DELTARUNE, Mudborne
• Part 13: Food Truck Simulator, Magical Bakery, Magical Delicacy, Seaside Cafe Rush Hour
• Part 14: Chef's Tail, Espresso Tycoon, Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo, Tavern Talk
• Part 15: Chicken Journey, FANTASIAN Neo Dimension, Terra Memoria, Until Then
• Part 16: Cornucopia®, Hipster Café, Let's Café, Spells & Secrets
• Part 17: Doloc Town, Feed the Cups, Manitas Kitchen, Mushroom Picnic Party, Rift of the NecroDancer
• Part 18: Meadgard: Beer and Plunder, BOKURA: planet, Teeny Tiny Town, Tower of Babel: Survivors of Chaos
• Part 19: Dungeons of Hinterberg, The Mildew Children, Mythwrecked: Ambrosia Island, Yaoling: Mythical Journey
• Part 20: AI LIMIT, Harmony's Odyssey, Last Time I Saw You, Whiskers & Wizardry
  
• Part 21: Constance, Dragoon Ascension, Kara Fantasy, Welcome to Elderfield
• Part 22: Crowncity, Dungeon Alchemist, Parliament of Hell 1796, Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars
  
• Part 23: Tuesday, March 11th
• Part 24: Tuesday, March 18th
• Part 25: Tuesday, March 25th

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MORE INFO & TO SUPPORT

- About MonriaTitans | WGS
- Rendezvous Point Bookshop
- Artist Shout-Outs Criteria
- The Titans' Discord
- Throne Wishlist
- #SubOffTwitch
- YouTube
- Rumble
- Odysee
- Twitch
- Steam

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Originally published to https://opinionsandtruth.wordpress.com on December 10, 2024, one year after the Pilot.