[Demo] Brewmaster – Still Brewing

I am personally a big fan of the Simulation genre. It is always a treat when we get one, because we all so many pop up and wonder if we will ever get to experience it.Luckily for us the guys over at Auroch Digital, have giving us a taste on what is to come in Brewmaster: Beer Brewing Simulator, The demo is available to play now no need to wait until Steam Next Fest starts.

Every lover of simulators know the appeal to the game is being able to simulate a dream or job that is normally something you can’t or wont experience to give you a taste on what that life entails.Once I had seen Brewmaster demo was no available to try, I jumped at the chance to try this new simulator, as it sounds right in my wheelhouse.

Going in to this I kept my mind open. I think simulators have a hard time making a demo that can actually keep you focused. This is not because they are generally bad,  but for one reason the gameplay loop of simulators are made for you to sit back and relax, while taking your time and multitasking with a slow progression.So i was going in there to see how the gameplay flows,mechanics and all the other stuff that gives you the realism you hope for in a simulator.

I honestly feel like Auroch is on the right path with this one. Immediately  as I entered the game, the atmosphere of your house where you  do all your brewing, gives you this rustic and warm feeling. The graphics is looking stunning also and works well with the vibe the game is going for. As I looked around the house my first mission, was to grab a magazine this is there approach to you getting missions and recipes. I must say this one feature adds that little bit more realism I seek when playing these types of games. The fact I can flick through a fictional magazine and clients are looking brews for their events is something not out the realm of possibilities  On top of that you can grab your recipes like you would see in any magazine or cook book and it will guide you step by step on how to make that perfect brew.

Now I do not know a thing about beer brewing other than the end product is delicious. Thankfully you do not have to the games user friendly guides(recipes) make it very clear on what you have to do next, even going as far as giving you tips if you are still confused on the more technical words. I started up my first job and was making a beer to order, This felt good and smooth during gameplay and for the most part I was able to follow along without any hiccups. There was a few moments where my mind did get muddled on the control scheme of using the scroll wheel to pour, after playing the simulators where this is usually done by tipping the object.

What I did notice, as I mentioned earlier in the article, is the feeling of slow burn like I was playing a waiting simulator. The developers have gave us a way to speed up time in a form of a watch that you pull out to speed up gameplay, or in the form of a calender to skip multiple days. Brewing beer sure takes a lot of time, and with this only sadly being a demo, I felt I could not do the multitasking, i.e brewing multiple beers with only one stove. This is no fault of the developers however as portraying  this without having loads of content already to fire out in a demo is a hard task. With that said it did feel at times I was just adding one ingredient,speeding up time or skipping days completely. That was it nothing else to add to the feel I could become a master brewer or something else to pass in my day.

This is where it gets good. The developers have already shared a list of stuff features we can expect when the full release comes around, These Include.

• A full story with multiple characters. – This I am excited for, they have already managed to find a smart way to integrate the jobs system, So i have no doubt they will come up with a good one.
• More Jobs and Competitions – This one goes hand in hand with the story mode, for adding realism to the game. The competitions sound like a blast, maybe your brewery gains more customers/rep if you win? We will have to see.
• More ingredients, equipment and cosmetics
• A “free Play” Sandbox Mode – I personally prefer the story mode of games like this, a sense of a business owner, but I could see it being beneficial for this one, so you can try out the recipes you come up with without losing money on your experiments.
• Much Much More!

I think this game could honestly be great, and can not wait to see more from this title. With so much flexibility to be creative what is not to love, creativity and freedom is what makes simulation great.

You can try the demo now on the Steam page