Wow, I really adore this! This reminded me so much of the kind of game you'd see on flash game websites years ago (RIP Flash). You all really nailed the vibes here and I would absolutely play more of something like this. Here are some more in-depth thoughts that I hope are helpful to you:
What I Liked:
- I love the idea of a coffee shop that uses a magic mirror to give the customers exactly what they want. I think this is a really neat idea for a game of this style that brings something a bit unique to the table.
- I was excited when I realized that unlocking the first room added another interactive element in keeping the fireplace going, but I was a bit disappointed when other rooms didn't continue with that trend (at least from what I could tell). I think gradual upgrades are kind of essential to a game like this, so if you were to continue with this project, I would absolutely recommend leaning into the room upgrades and introducing new elements of the game with those.
- The overall presentation of the game is just so endearing. The art style is adorable and the music brings everything together--even your itch.io page for the game looks great! Very very stylish.
Constructive Criticism:
- As others have mentioned, my customers just stopping showing up after the third day and I couldn't continue the game. I imagine this is just a bug that couldn't be addressed in the time limit, but there was a chunk of the game I couldn't get to as a result.
- The camera controls were a little unwieldy at first, until I realized I could use the middle mouse button to navigate a bit faster. May be worth adding WASD camera controls or making a note of the camera controls somewhere in the game (hopefully I didn't just miss this lol)
- It would be really nice to have some sort of indicator showing what ingredients you have already added to the coffee machine, or some way of undoing the ingredients you've added. There were a few times I hurriedly added something and then realized it may have been the wrong thing, and I was unsure how to check or start over.
- It was also a bit confusing when figuring out what to do with the patrons on the first day, before any of the rooms were unlocked. I didn't realize I could place them in one of the locked rooms, which felt a little unintuitive. You may consider having a small seating area that starts out unlocked in the beginning.
Overall, this was really such a charming prototype you all put together, definitely one of my favorites out of what I've played. If you were to decide to continue with this project, I would absolutely encourage you to lean into the room upgrades and making those more interesting. I think it's one of the neater ideas you've got going on here.
Well done to you all!