Sugarplum Cafe Updates

Sorry for missing October - my IRL life has been stretched pretty thin between work, family, and friend stuff, so I didn't really have much to share related to Sugarplum. But now I do!

Next month, Sugarplum Cafe is returning to Ursa Major!

Ursa Major is a J-Fashion convention in Japantown SF, specializing in "lolita fashion" - think the frilliest, poofiest, laciest dresses imaginable. One of their many events is a Game Lounge and that's where the Sugarplum Cafe demo will be.

This is where I first debuted my game to the public, so I'm super stoked to be back! No one loves tea parties more than the lolita community lol.

More details below!

Two arms, one labeled "lolita community" and the other labeled "sugarplum cafe", are joined in a tight handshake labeled "frills + pastel + filigree + tea parties". I should redraw this with lacier sleeves haha

When: Saturday, December 13, 4:00pm - 8:00pm
Where: KOHO Creative Hub (1675 Post St, East Japan Center Mall 2F), Japantown, San Francisco
Admission Fee: You must buy a convention badge to enter the game lounge. At the cheapest, a single day badge can be purchased at the door for $20 (youth) or $45 (adult). However, there are lot of other cool J-Fashion events hosted throughout the weekend that are worth checking out!
See here for more info on purchasing a badge. Note that online purchasing ends on November 30!

In this month's newsletter we'll cover the following:

Ursa Major FAQ - what's changed from last year, what if you can't make it, etc.
Some visual polish updates

Click here to read past newsletters!

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I played the demo at Ursa Major last year, is it the same?

It's definitely new and improved! I spent a lot of time on the tutorials this year as I've learned a lot about where players get stuck or what players miss. There's more character interactions as part of these new tutorials, and there are some UI updates as well. I think the number of characters you can meet is about the same.

I've also added an option for those who played but didn't make it very far last year, where you can skip the initial tutorial and get straight into serving Tea Parties. I'd really like feedback on the Tea Party mechanic especially as it's changed a bit since last year, so would love to see you again!

Do I get anything for playing the demo at Ursa Major?

This time I'm bringing badge ribbons! Everyone who plays the demo will get a ribbon, but if you crash the game you get a secret bonus ribbon ;)

Can I play the demo on my own time?

Last year, everyone who gave me their email got a copy of the demo after the convention to play on their own time. This year, I'm looking for folks who can jump on a voice call with me and share their screen as they play. From experience, I found this method was easier to track bugs and see where people get stuck.

You will still need a PC to play the game on a voice call with me, so if you are a Mac owner I would recommend playing the demo at Ursa Major. I'm working on Mac support, I promise 😭

But if all of that sounds up your alley, I'll put out a call in future issues of this newsletter. Keep your eyes peeled!

I'm going to Ursa Major but can't make it to the Game Lounge :(

If you plan to attend Ursa Major but you are unable to make Saturday 4-8pm, I'll be at the convention all weekend so perhaps we can arrange some time to meet 1:1 at a different time! Please reach out to me - you can find me on socials below, or email me at thelettergii@gmail.com. Email might be best.

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I'm not going to Ursa Major but I want game updates!

A lot of my work has been on the tea party tutorials, and I want to keep that a surprise until the convention is over. BUT! I did add sparkles!!!!!!! ✨✨✨✨✨

I usually procrastinate on tiny visual updates because I know it won't be hard to do, but I do need to start thinking about making the game look polished enough for the trailer - yes, I'm hoping to have a trailer next year!

So one of the updates I finally made was to replace the sparkles you see when you merge desserts. The old version, with premade star assets:

The new version, with handdrawn sparkles:

I'm sure there's more I can do to improve the "juice" and make merging feel more satisfying, but I am okay with dealing with that later.

I also replaced some notification symbols with sparkles, because I felt that there were too many notifs on screen to the point where, ironically, the player would stop noticing them.

The old version, with all "!" notification symbols:

The new version, with orders sparkling when they are ready to serve:

Ending on a sweet note

I love talking about food, so I thought it'd be fun to end each newsletter with a different dessert. I spent October in Taiwan to visit family, but one dessert place that really stood out to me during my trip was Miyahara Ice Cream in Taichung!

The Chinese name of the place is actually "Miyahara Eye Clinic" because the building used to be owned by an ophthalmologist named Takekuma Miyahara. They've kept a lot of that old-school glamour when refurbishing the place, and it feels like you're walking through a building in the world of Harry Potter (minus the transphobia). But it really does feel magical!

The entrance of Miyahara, which resembles an information desk you'd see at a medical clinic.

The interior of Miyahara, with grandiose architecture. Pillars of bookshelves and elaborate cabinets decorate the walls.

And best of all, they sell my favorite thing - WEIRD ICE CREAMS!!

Most of them are tea flavored, because Taiwan is really big on tea, but there are some really interesting blends like Oolong & Whisky, or Tieguanying (Iron Goddess), Osmanthus, Rose, & Mint - yes, all four in one. If you aren't a fan of tea, you can also try Rose, White Wine, & Cheese or Raisin & Mascarpone. They also seemed to have a wide selection of chocolate flavors.

Unfortunately, my family are cowards, and so we ended up choosing safer flavors of which there are also many. I think we got Black Tea, Kumquat Lime, and the Oolong & Whisky (because I fought for at least one unusual flavor). You also can't sample ice cream flavors, probably because the place is packed and the lines are already long enough as it is.

I will be honest and say the Oolong & Whisky was the worst one haha...it was somehow watery. But the others were quite good and I don't regret trying the weird flavors. Notably, none of the ice creams are super sweet - perfect for the Taiwanese public who generally prefers 50% sugar max when it comes to bubble tea.