How to rest a tired soul? With good tea, of course. Developed by Pixelity, we tried out Tea Spirit House at Gamescom 2023. Read on for our full impressions.
Purgatory is a fascinating religious concept. As a land between heaven and hell, it's not your final destination, a concept often toyed with by the entertainment industry. As a tea lover, I love the idea of a teahouse waiting for you. How you got here is unclear, but as the new owner of this teahouse, you must satisfy the needs of each guest. No money is used here - the only currency is stories.
The simple character-driven setting made me curious. Only two guests were served during the presentation, which makes any judgment premature, although some interesting conversations about their lives piqued my interest. Your first visitors are actually tutorial guests, and they just want hot water. It's easy, and once service is complete, the happy guest's heart indicator fills up slightly, indicating that I'll see them again.
Next, a second guest appeared who was more anxious and overworked, demonstrating the work that goes into the making of tea. Two vending machines are filled with different seeds filled with positive and negative emotions - the positive seeds provide sweet fruit, while the negative emotions create a bitter concoction. I didn't make a bitter tea, but making a sweet tea involves planting the seeds, watering them, cooking the fruit into jam and then serving it.
Taken independently, these simple interactions aren't particularly interesting, although it's certainly better than throwing a tea bag into hot water. It's a bit much for your assistant to read out a lot of new instructions at once, but luckily your log clearly explains the steps required. There's a sense of accomplishment in making tea, and hearing these stories provides some narrative payoff that I don't want to give away here.
I also appreciate Soul's design and colorful visuals. However, some rough edges quickly become apparent. Looking out the kitchen window reveals a lack of detail in the environment, possibly suggesting that the world is in purgatory. "Steam game screenshots” shows more detailed backgrounds, so I’m not sure if this is specific to a certain version, or if these worlds will be fleshed out as I play further. exist QuestPro Seeing this on took me out of the experience slightly.
Still, this demo showed potential, and Tea Soul House gave me a sense of pre-Pixelitygameofcompletely differentIt feels like that's a good thing. I need more time to judge the character development, but I enjoyed the process of making the tea. I'm curious to see what the full version will look like.
House of Tea Spirits will be released in 2023Meta Quest,PICOand on the SteamVR platform.
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