This game feels like an early access title with a long way to go. I was shocked to return to the store page and realize this was the 1,0 release. I like this game, I like the idea of this game, but I don't think I'd recommend this game.

Functionally, the game does what it tried to do. It delivers on the promise that you, the player, will process from raw ingredients to delicious chocolate. You'll take orders from the workshop's phone, and then work to fill those orders from your baking kitchen. However, the model quickly wore thin for me. Even through the drip-feed of a progression system, all I found were more fiddly, inconvenient steps with frustrating pitfalls, little reward to engaging with those systems, and no interesting switch-ups to the core gameplay loop. The kinds of things that I expected to get easier -- tightening bolts on machines around the workshop, pouring correct amounts of ingredients, grinding additives in the mortar and pestle -- never materialized an upgrade path. These seem like the obvious way to chart a progress forward; instead of guessing at measurements from bags, maybe the player could unlock measuring cups. After grinding away at pistachios in the mortar and pestle for a few hours, maybe the player could unlock a blender or grinder. But no, none of that happens.

Instead, the game kept unlocking new machines that changed or added steps onto the process they first introduce. At first, this is presented as a new way to expand the kinds of confectionery the player can make, and that's true, new recipes do becomes available. It was honestly nice to have the saucepan and stove top replaced quickly by the Melanger and the Tempering Machine. However, the recipes that unlock from these machines' availability are just simple extensions of what the player had already been doing.

So, for example, in the early part of a new game, the player is asked to make simple, straight-forward recipes. Pour the ingredients into your pan, heat the pan to a given temperature, let it cool, bring it back up to temp, pour it in the Press to mold it, package it up, and ship it out. Then, the game starts asking you to add steps to that process, one at a time. By the time you have everything unlocked, an order might ask for 4 dark chocolate bars, with fine strawberry chunks and a banana ganache, topped with white chocolate, and decorated with cinnamon sticks. At its core, though, you're stuck still following the same steps the same way you've been doing them all game, and you're going to be asked to do it again forever.

Perhaps this is a gripe with the genre more fully. I think of myself as a fan of Simulator titles, especially one that takes the bold swings that this one did in terms of its aesthetic. Doing a steampunk, Willy Wonka style chocolate factory felt to me like a wonderful expression for this genre! Which is why I found it so disappointing how thin the actual game is, here. There's some nice character art for the people you take orders from, but their dialogue all feels like somebody's first pass placeholder text. I like the look of the machines, although operating them can be clunkier than they ought to be. In fairness, I find that kinda charming, and in keeping with the Wonka vibe.

Ultimately, if this were an Early Access title with a roadmap, I think I'd feel better about it. As it is, it just feels half-baked.

Tedious gameplay loop, superficial steampunk themes (just glue some gears on it and call it steampunk), a completely sterile world and AI generated artwork in the thumbnail that doesn't match the in-game art style.

Monochromatic color scheme, UI is not intuitive at all, some textures are literally 2D images. Monotonous, seems like the bulk of the heavy lifting is AI-generated. If it was a free game, I'd probably recommend it, but save your money.