Sugarplum Cafe Newsletter

Welcome back to the Sugarplum Newsletter! There’s a lot of new members on the mailing list, so hello and welcome if you’re one of them!

ith every new issue I’ll share what I’ve been up to and how progress on my game Sugarplum Cafe is going, but first things first I like to start with upcoming events!

Next month Sugarplum Cafe and I will be at Magwest, a music and video game convention! I went to Magwest last year as an attendee, and I enjoyed the indie game exhibition so much I got mad FOMO haha. So I wanted to try being on the other side of the booth this year! Come play the demo and say hi!

• Location: DoubleTree Hotel in San Jose
• Address: 2050 Gateway Pl, San Jose, CA
• Dates: August 14-16, 2026
• Entry Fee: $30-$99, depending on how many days you’ll attend
• Time: 10-8 Friday/Saturday, 10-5 Sunday

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Speaking of conventions

Sugarplum Cafe was also at Fanime back in May! It’s the largest Bay Area event that the J-Fashion community attends (I think), so I wanted to make sure Sugarplum Cafe was there because it’s very EGL-coded, what with all the frills and afternoon teas.

I’ve done quite a few one-day showcases now, but Fanime was my first time showcasing for multiple days in a row. And god was my voice shot by the end, by the final evening my throat was physically hurting if I tried to speak….

But I genuinely had such a blast! One of the best parts about showcasing at Fanime was people drawing fanart of the game on the spot! Very unexpected, and an incredible warm fuzzy feeling. Thank you to those of you who drew fanart!

Turns out an anime convention is more likely to have folks who enjoy cozy, casual games compared to a gaming convention, so I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of attendees clicked with the game, whether they wore J-Fashion or not (most weren’t!). Hearing other people say this game was totally up their alley was really heartwarming. Sugarplum was always gonna be a niche game, but it’s validating to know that the niche is more than just me, you know? 🤣

So if you’re one of those folks who also vibe with Sugarplum Cafe, thank you! It’s really surreal to have people love this idea that’s been swirling in your head for so long. I’m more motivated than ever to get this game out so you all can play it!

(Seeing all the amazing cosplays at Fanime made me think…if I ever see someone cosplaying my game characters at a convention…that’s how I’ll know I’ve made it…!!)

If you’d like to learn more about what I would and wouldn’t do at Fanime next time, I wrote a much longer recap of my time at Fanime on Patreon for my paid members!

I’d also like to shout out some games from fellow devs who I befriended over the weekend:

• ​Full Moon Guildhouse Simulator - Fellow cafe sim and my first Fanime buddy!
• ​So, This Vampire Walks Into a Bar - Bartending Strange Horticulture-esque sim from the devs who told me about the Fanime indie showcase
• ​Amadeus ~ A Riddle For Thee - My neighbor and long-lost college friend (Fanime really brings friends together!), three words: werewolf 👏 visual 👏 novel
• ​Legends of the Arena - My other neighbor, a Smash Bros-inspired board game
• ​Backtrace - Yuri puzzle game with an art style that really caught my attention
• ​Magic Maho: Dream Runner - Magical girl endless runner! Say less!
• ​Literalchemy - Bookshop-keeping sim where you craft stories (I didn't get to stop by this table but this game looked cool!)
• Honorable mentions to Frog Fall, Cardboard Cowboy, Grandma Ghost, and Impossible Cave - all of these devs were so friendly, I feel like all of these games would be really great for people who love a challenge or less cozy games!

Okay, let’s talk game progress

Many people at Fanime commented on how polished the demo looks - and I'm so grateful for the compliments! But the rest of the game still has a lot to be worked on...

I'm currently working on more art for Sugarplum Cafe - specifically designing more Ladies! The goal for the game is to have at least 50 Ladies, each representing a different flavor. Currently there are 19 Ladies in the Patreon version of the game, which is the most complete version you can play (unless you are me lol).

Here’s a sneak peek of the Patreon Ladies - with a monochrome filter of course, because it would be too easy to guess the flavors right away. But if you think you have a good guess on who’s who, you can reply to this newsletter and I’ll tell you how many you got right! No cheating if you’ve already played the Patreon build ;D

You may notice small inconsistencies with art styles - we can chalk it up to face diversity, but the truth is that these were all drawn at different points in my art journey. Unfortunately I’m a perfectionist still trying to figure out my art style, so I figure I’ll make all the art consistent when I’m closer to releasing the game - because if I do it now, I might hate it down the road and revise it anyways 😅 So pretty much any art you see is placeholder status to me.

For example, a few of these Ladies have already been redrawn recently! Some of you who've played the demo may remember Lady Cherry, Lady Strawberry's fashionable bestie. (I suppose this is a newsletter-exclusive character reveal! We'll do the fancy "Meet the Lady" graphic later.)

At first I wanted her to have a similar build to Lady Strawberry since they were supposed to be like "twinsies", so she was slimmer in the demo. But my initial concept for her was a slightly chubby girl actually! And a few weeks ago, I was looking at her and as someone with a similar figure I thought...heck, I'd totally wear that outfit, let's go back to the original concept.

I only just decided to update Lady Cherry's design a few weeks ago, but I did want to shout out this beautiful Lady Cherry 1.0 fanart I received at Fanime! I mayyyy have revealed Lady Cherry just to share this fanart...but how could I not? 🥹✨

In addition to the Patreon Ladies, I’ve nailed down designs for 13 more Ladies for a total of 32 Ladies - more than halfway to 50!

The dream is actually 70-80 Ladies…but that depends on many factors, like how much interest the game gets and how soon I want the game to be out 😆

I do foresee my pace slowing down, because I’m starting with flavors whose concepts are clearest to me and as I go further down the list I need more time to flesh out the ideas in my head. But at this time I plan on prioritizing Lady design for the rest of the year, so we’ll see how much progress I can make. The Ladies are the reason why I wanted to make this game, after all!

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’ve been visiting many bakeries and dessert places (in the name of research, totally), and now that the newsletter is seasonal instead of monthly I have a much larger pool of candidates to choose from. I had a hard time picking just one, but Kukje Bakery in Daly City is the one I want to keep going back to!

I just love the variety and creativity of the breads here! It’s on par with the creativity of the fancier bakeries in the Bay Area, but at a more affordable price - it reminds me of a slightly elevated version of those classic and affordable Asian bakeries.

I have many favorites here, but the garlic cream cheese bread is sweet, savory, and a guilty pleasure, the green bean bread is a great option for those who don’t like red bean, the sweet potato tapioca bread has a mochi-like texture, and the cream cheese bun is so much more than its humble name - the thin crunchy cookie-like shell surrounding the bread is so good for texture lovers like me. Very similar to the crunchy brioche at Satura in Los Altos, if you’ve had that. Way better than a pineapple bun.

(Sorry to pineapple bun lovers. But there’s a pineapple bun bakery opening in San Mateo soon!)

I believe their menu rotates daily so you can always try something new!