All posts tagged in Rolling Hills
Jul 18, 2020
There are so many wholesome games coming out this year! Let’s take a look at some of them together!
Garden Story
Garden Story is an upcoming social sim adventure RPG. With an emphasis on helping the residents of a broken island, this game is undoubtedly wholesome. The game is being developed by Picogram and published by Rose City Games and VIZ Media.
The planned release window for the game is currently Spring 2020, although no official date has been given. The game will be released for Microsoft Windows, MacOS and Macintosh operating systems. An official price is yet to be announced.
About:
Players assume the role of Concord, who is a recently appointed village guardian. However, you will definitely be kept on your toes. Whether it be neighbours requiring assistance, or the sudden appearance of a strange rot that has seeped into the foundations of the once thriving island, Concord has his work cut out. Fortunately, he is not alone.
If you help friends with their problems, they’ll help you with yours. Care for the environment, explore new regions, solve puzzles, make new friends, and ultimately, help restore the grove to its former glory.
Features:
- Whilst restoring a run down island, players are also able to explore and cultivate the islands four regions as ‘Concord the Grape’.
- By fulfilling residents’ requests, fostering relationships with others, and making friends with fruity people, you may find that these people will help you out in return.
- Take care of garden plots, gather resources, and ensure to upgrade your tools to allow you to take good care of your home.
- Whilst solving puzzles and defending yourself against the insidious rot, you may slowly unral the mystery behind the island’s broken past
- By depositing and cataloguing resources you can create a library featuring the island’s lore.
- At your own pace, you are able to care for garden plots each day, choose to take a walk in the evening, or can concentrate on completing favors. The ball is in your park!
- Experience new things and fill your scrapbook with usable perks and traits.
You can visit the game’s website here. Alternatively, you can check out their Twitter account here.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons ( Out now on Nintendo Switch )
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an upcoming social simulation game where you play as a human character living on a deserted island amongst anthropomorphic animals. Players can shop, socialise with the animals, and participate in activites such as fishing, catching bugs, gardening and decorating. Nintendo are both the developers and publishers of the game. Therefore it’s understandable that the game will only be released on Nintendo Switch. The game is set to release on March 20th 2020, and will retail for $59.99
About:
Tom Nook is ‘switching’ things up with a new business venture. This business venture is his exclusive Nook Inc. Deserted Island Getaway Package. Naturally, the Tanuki isn’t offering this for free. When you have landed on the island, you also find yourself landed with debt (yet again) by the tiresome tanuki.
Like in previous games of the franchise, players can participate in activities such as gardening, fishing, decorating, and interacting with a variety of NPCs (both old and new), etc. However, the game will also offer some new features. Examples include, collecting resources, crafting furniture and tools, new ways to interact with trees and flowers, more diversity in skin tones, outdoor stair, more multiplayer options, the handy ability to pole vault rivers etc.
Then of course there’s the tiny details that Animal Crossing fans quickly picked up on. These include, shirts with sleeves for villagers, overally realistic kneecaps for players’ characters, toe beans, and even shoelaces..
Features:
- Embrace your fresh start by customising your character and home to your liking. Decorate the island’s landscape (even with furniture, if you so wish), to create your very own perfect paradise.
- Utilise a brand new crafting system and collect materials to create a variety of furniture and tools.
- Relax and enjoy the activities Animal Crossing is infamous for such as gardening, fishing, decorating and interacting with charming NPCs and more. However, they can now be enjoyed in fun new ways on the deserted island
- Up to eight players can reside on one island. Four of these residents residing on the same island are able to play together simultaneously on one console
- Up to eight players can play together on one player’s island via either online multiplayer or local wireless. (For more information regarding how multiplayer works, click here).
- More information about the game can be found here.
- An awesome selection Animal Crossing decals can be seen here.
- For a selection of must-have merchandise, click here.
- Information about US pre-order bonuses can be found here.
- Information about UK pre-order bonuses can be found here.
Mineko’s Night Market
Mineko’s Night Market is an upcoming cat-themed crafting adventure game that celebrates Japanese culture. The game is essentially about friendship, choices, and of course, cats. The indie game is being developed by Meowza Games, and being published by Humble Bundle. The game will be released on a multitude of different platforms including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Macintosh operating systems.The exact release date for the game is yet to be determined. However, the game’s official Steam page says that the game will be release in 2020. Fingers (and paws) crossed! ?
About:
Playing as Mineko, a girl who has moved to a superstitious fishing town inundated with cats, you will uncover secrets whilst assisting Mineko in becoming a successful young entrepreneur. This can be done by completing tasks, undertaking quests and gathering resources in preparation for the weekly night market.
Players can craft a variety of odd items, toys, and trinkets, which can then be sold to townsfolk (who are now your customers) at Mineko’s night market stall. After you’ve finished selling your items, you can explore the Night Market yourself, where you can play mini-games, eat unusual foods, and purchase collectibles.
The game allows you to explore distant lands by unlocking different types of transport (which include buses, bullet trains and cat carts). Each land offers new people to meet and unique things to do, dependent on the time of day and season.
There are 16 uniquely themed markets every year which all feature a stage event that you can partake in. Examples of events include Taiko drumming, karaoke competitions, sumo suit wrestling, and more!
The better you perform at the market, the bigger and better the market will become, which may well attract new townsfolk and even celebrity guests!
Features:
- Players can explore the village and surrounding areas in order to discover a variety of rare resources and more importantly, make a bunch of new friends!
- You are able to craft a variety of unusual items by utilising the resources you collect whilst exploring
- Unleash you inner entrepeneur and barter with customers at the weekly night market to sell your creations
- Wander around the night Market to discover a variety of curious culinary dlights and collectibles
- Relive your childhood and take part in a variety of different Night Market games like cat racing, pachinko, and whack-a-tako
- Solve the mysteries of the mysterious Sun-Cat Abe and Mount Fugu Island
For more information regarding the game, check out this interview with one of the lead creators of the game here. You can also visit the game’s website here.
To bag some awesome game merchandise, click here.
Ooblets ( Out Now on Early Access )
Ooblets is now out on Xbox One and PC – more info right here.
Ooblets is an upcoming indie game that combines features of popular game franchises such as Animal Crossing, Harvest Moon and Pokemon. Initially, the game was going to be published by Double Fine. Ooblets will now however be developed and self-published by the game’s two main devs, who created a tiny game studio called Glumberland in order to do this.
According to the game’s latest Devlog, Ooblets will release this year, although no definitive date has been specified. It has also been confirmed that the game will release on PC and Xbox One. The price of the game has not yet been revealed.
About:
Ooblets is essentially a game where players have to balance farm life, town life, and the unexpected pressure of having to deal with numerous different Ooblets. On the plus side, you get the experience of helping to grow and train your ooblets, explore strange lands, and have dance-offs!
Features:
- Starting a new life with a little rundown farm, you are able to improve, cultivate and customise this farm until it suits your liking
- With a variety of hairstyles and clothing to choose from, you have complete freedom to customise your character
- Break out your dance moves and take part in dance battles with both ooblets and fellow ooblet trainers alike
- Explore the world of Oob and its variety of different locations, each with unique biomes, plants, characters, and ooblets
- Plant ooblet seeds to grow your own friends. Eventually, they will bloom into baby ooblets
- Join an Ooblet Club to match your personality
- Upgrade your house and make it your own, with various decor and furniture to choose from
- Unlock some funky new dance moves by levelling up your Ooblets
- Acquire a variety of things whilst in Oob, including seeds, items, furniture, machinery, badges, and most importantly, friends.
Lots of awesome Ooblets merchandise can be grabbed here.
For more information about Ooblets, you can visit the Ooblets website here where developers regularly post updates in their devlogs. You can also follow Ooblets on Twitter and Facebook.
Rolling Hills
Rolling Hills is a life sim game where players run their own sushi restaurant in a town filled with anthropomorphic animals. The game is being both developed and published by Catch & Release, LLC. No definitive release date has been given, but developers are pushing for a 2020 release. It willl initially only be released on PC via Steam, but there is the possibility of the game being released on other consoles also.
About:
Rolling Hills is a life sim game where you get given your very own sushi restauraunt in a small village. This restaurant has been offered for free by inhabitants of the village. The only catch is that you help to rebuild their town. Players will have their work cut out. When not occupied with the sushi shop, you also need to rebuild the town as promised and improve the lives of your neighbours. On the plus side, you’ll make friends along the way. If you’re lucky, you’ll also attract some new villagers.
Make your restaurant successful by collecting different recipes and buying ingredients. You can then use your profits to profit the town. Watch your town improve and better the lives of townsfolk, customers and yourself through the actions you make.
Features:
- Assume the role of a novice sushi chef and start a brand new life in your very own sushi restaurant (which fortunately happens to be equipped with a fully-automated conveyor belt)
- Make new friends and socialise, whether you want to hang out at the cafe, participate in a role-playing game, or show off your knowledge (or not) at trivia night
- Improve your restaurant by acquiring furniture and uphold your end of the bargain by building public works projects across town
- Train and utilise your very own sushi robot to help keep your restaurant running… Your loyal lackey will even cover for you after switching the game off!
- Head down to the river and go fishing for fresh sushi fish. Also, you can be a model citizen and use the magnetic rod to reel in trash.
- Grow yourself some fresh vegetables by building garden boxes
You can follow the progress of Rolling hills on Twitter here.
Hokko Life
Hokko Life is an upcoming cute and cozy village life simulation game. The game is being both developed and published by indie game developer Robert Tatnell. Hokko life will be released for PC via Steam at some point this year. The cost of the game is not yet known.
About:
Hokko Life begins with your player stepping off of a train. Having taken over your very own (albeit a little dusty and old) workshop, you are free to craft and create to your heart’s content.
The quiet village which you now call home needs your expertise. Help tocreate an endearing town for those who live there. Armed with paint and tools, design, build and decorate new homes for your new friends.
Players are able to craft materials and combine them however they wish. This allows you to create new and amazing furniture and items for the town. By collecting flowers and mixing paints, you can then use them to design wallpapers, flooring and even clothing.
With plenty of choice, you could design a bright flowery wallpaper set, or instead opt to create an urban-industrial furniture collection. Whatever your taste, with a workshop at hand, you have complete freedom when designing a town for the villagers.
Features:
- Chop, mine and dig for resources by venturing out to the forest or the abandoned mine. After bringing those resources back to town, you can craft them into materials that are usable in your designs.
- Gather materials, head into your workshop and put your own spin on each item you make. The design table lets you build your own furniture. Here you can combine various shapes and materials using a simple yet powerful editor.
- Design a variety of wallpaper, flooring and T-Shirts for you and the villagers to wear. Feel like a famous fashion designer and get everyone in town wearing your bespoke designs.
- Enlist the help of the local builder in order to begin expanding the town. You get complete freedom over where buildings are located and then need to ensure they are ready for new villagers to move to town.
- Customize both the interiors and exteriors of any home. Release your inner interior designer and pick designs and place furniture to create a home your new friends will adore.
- Turn any plot of land into a place where plants and vegetables will grow. When your produce is ready, you’ll be able to sell it.
- Enjoy quiet moments at the various fishing spots located in Hokko and expand your fishing collection. The fish have unique habits, and so players will need to vary their approaches. Similarly, each catch provides it’s own challenge when you reel them in.
- Hokko is home to a wide variety of different insects. These insects can be caught and added to your collection. Be sure to keep a eye out, as some may be hiding in a bush.
Click here to check out an exclusive interview with the game’s solo developer.
You can visit the game’s website here.
Calico
Developed by Peachy Keen Games and published by Whitethorn Digital. Calico is a magical, relaxed and family-friendly simulation game where players are given an opportunity to run their very own cat cafe. The game is expected to be released on Steam at some point during Summer 2020. The game will most likely release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and MacOS shortly afterwards.
About:
Calico came about due to the game developer’s obsession with cats, magical girls and fluffy animals. However, wanting to create a game that would appeal to everyone, she also included creatures such as lizards, birds, deer, raccoons, dogs, turtles, red pandas, foxes, etc.
She then shares about how she wanted to publish a game that would make players feel ‘soft, happy, cuddly and cozy’. If that wasn’t wholesome enough, she has said in an interview that she just wanted to create a game where the only goal is to have the best time possble.
However, simply running the cat cafe is not the only things that players can do. The game also incorporates enjoyable aspects from other popular gaming franchises such as Animal Crossing. Similarities between Calico and Animal Crossing include the simulation aspects of both games, and the ability to place furnitire and decorations in your buildings. A perk about Calico however, is that the animals will not leave, the shop never closes, and crops never die.
Features:
- As all animals are interactive, players can explore the village to find cats and other animals, including raccoons, deer, dogs, turtles, red pandas, foxes, lizards, etc. The animals can be befriended, petted and played with
- Players can ride on giant cats ( as you do? )
- Run your café by filling it with animals, furniture and yummy café eats!
- Use magic potions to change your animals and environment
- Meet magical girls, witches and other townspeople who you can help and befriend
Little Witch in The Woods
Little Witch in The Woods is an upcoming life simulation RPG. The game is currently in development by Sunny Side Up Games. No official release date has been given, but the developers are aiming for fall of 2020. They plan to release the game on Steam, and are hoping to release the game on Nintendo Switch and PS4.
About:
Little Witch in the Woods is an adorable fantasy RPG. You play as a super cute witch named Ellie. Close to graduating from witch school and becoming true witch, Ellie must experience the life of a witch as an apprentice. This involves moving to a new town and living in a witch’s house in a forest. Upon arriving to the town however, she is inevitably disappointed to find the in a state of disrepair, and a town which is virtually empty.
As the school is grading how well Ellie completes various tasks, she must explore the mysterious and magical region to gather the ingredients necessary for her potions. These potions can be used in other ways in the game too. Many of the ingredients can be acquired from obliging plants and creatures. The more rare ingredients can be obtained in the nearby village, where a curious bunch of NPC’s reside. By helping them out, they will reward you with ingredients, and some useful items as well.
Additionally, lending these characters a hand improves your relationship with them, and allows you to upgrade the small village. The game’s NPC’s, each with their own stories can sometimes move in or out of the village. It is possible to date these NPC’s, but they may not be human..
Features:
- Experience life as a witch apprentice in a mysterious fantasy world
- Explore the game’s mysterious and magical village and region
- Connect with a variety of plants and animals in a unique ecosystem
- Gather the the ingredients required for potion-making from obliging plants and animals. Rarer ingredients can be obtained as rewards for helping out NPC’s
- Create a variety of different potions such as the: Healing Potion, Clean Potion, Tickling Potion, Twinkle Potion, Sneezing Potion and Hush Potion
- Meet the handful of residents in the the small village, each with their own story.
- Upgrade the village into a larger one by lending a helping hand to its inhabitants
- Woo NPC’s enough, and you may find yourself a lifelong partner (although it may not be a human)
Check out an interview with the game’s developers here. You can follow the developers on Twitter here.
For more witch-y games, check out these ones.
You can also check out these upcoming magic school games and add them to your calendar.
Alchemic Cutie
Alchemic Cutie is a wholesome pixel-art-stylised RPG set on a colourful Island named Wimba, where you players can tame wild jellies. The game is in development by Vakio and Viridian Software, and will be published by CIRCLE Entertainment this summer. Alchemic Cutie will be released on itch.io. and Steam. A price has not yet been announced.
About:
Set on Wimba island, players get to tame slime-like creatures called Jellies. There are over 4,000 visual styles for jellies, each with unique traits and statistics. Players will have to meet the needs of their Jellies, which inlcude hunger, energy and happiness. Raise the perfect jelly companions and you may be in with a chance of claiming the top prize in one of the game’s eight competitions. In order to improve your jelly’s abilities, you can use alchemy in order to create special items with various powerful affects or to change items into something more rare and powerful. When you’re all jellied out, you can explore the island and uncover its secrets. In the village you can chat with its inhabitants and choose whether to form friends, or if you’re so inclined, rivals.
Features:
- Explore Wimba island and discover various jellies, items and quests
- Wander around a village and befriend the quirky, entertaining, and complicated characters that live there
- Utilise the Jelly raising and alchemy systems available for players to master
- Participate in a total of 8 fun jelly competitions where you can show off your Jelly raising skills and win medals
- Utilise the game’s modding feature and add your own villagers, quests, items, maps and more to grow Wimba Island. You can even build an island your own
- Release day modding support
- Share Jellies with others using special codes
If you would like to receive updates regarding the gaem, or share your modding creations after the game’s release, you can do so by signing up to the game’s ‘Cutie Club’ here.
Peaceful Days
Peaceful Days is a farming RPG simulation game reminiscent of Harvest Moon games. The indie game is being developed by Nhat Nguyen and published by Nhat Nguyen and Huiyin Studio. According to the game’s Steam page, Peaceful days is set to release for Microsoft Windows on August 31st 2020. It is currently priced at £7.19.
About:
Heavily inspired by the Harvest Moon series, Peaceful Days is a farming simulation set in the attractive Aurora Town, which is located by the sea. Living up to its title, the game appears to be peaceful and wholesome. Players have the freedom of character customisation and farm customisation too! Players can build friendships with the town’s inhabitants, become an important addition to the small seaside town, and participate in a variety of interesting festivals. Additionally you are able to build your very own farm from scratch. In your spare time, you are free to discover fish that you have not yet caught, spend time in the mine to discover ores necessary to upgrade your tools, play minigames, solve puzzles plus more.
As of February 3rd, an early access version of Peaceful Days became available on Steam.
Features:
- The ability to customise your farm, with 15 different types of buildings to choose from
- The ability to customise your character
- Players can receive various requests from the town’s inhabitants, including making deliveries, searching for items or part-time jobs etc, with the game’s request system
- Minigames
- Festivals to participate in
- The ability to raise a variety of different animals, waiting for you to unlock
- Grow lots of crops every Season
- Uncover secrets about the town
- The presence of mine puzzles waiting to be discovered over at least 20 mine floors
Upcoming features include:
- A house customisation system
- Improvements in character customisation
- ‘Heart Events’
- More minigames
- More mines floors and puzzles
- Jan 31, 2020
The team at Rolling Hills recently made public their January devlog, and the game is looking wonderful!
Rolling Hills is a super cute life-sim about running your own sushi restaurant in a town full of anthropomorphic animals. All of the inhabitants are amazing and friendly, and even fix up the restaurant to give to you for free. In return, they would like a little help sprucing up their town.
Rolling Hills is still in development, and the devs are pushing for a release of sometime this year. So far the game is only announced for PC, but will most likely come to console, if all goes well. And looking at some of the recent changes, my guess is that we will eventually see Rolling Hills on the Nintendo Switch.
What’s in the update?
The developers have been working diligently on many upgrades to the overall aesthetic of the game. The buildings have recently gone through some fine tuning in an effort to really make the town come to life. It is mentioned that there is an effort being made to “make things cuter, smaller, and more detailed.”
The feel of the environment has changed to that of a more simple style, allowing the town to see more progress, as opposed to an already pretty developed zone at the start. With all of these lovely upgrades being made to the game, it appears that Rilling Hills will definitely have a nice comfy home in the life-sim genre.
More Info
Rolling Hills is coming to Steam sometime this year. The developers are also considering a console / Nintendo Switch version of the game. I have reached out to the small team to see if they can share any more details on platform and release date!
For more information on the recent development of Rolling Hills, as well as the opportunity to help the game grow, you can see the full devlog on their Patreon page.
To stay up-to-date with what is going in on with the game, you can also follow on Twitter and Discord. For more cute game like Rolling Hills, check out my coverage of Hokko Life.
- Nov 1, 2019
Rolling Hills, a village-sim game created by indie developer Catch & Release, has come a long way and gone through some changes since their previous updates that I covered. To date they’ve revamped their sushi-making interface and added Customer I.D. cards. Their most recent October Patreon post even shows us the latest on the town’s design. With that, I wanted to take a step back and take a look at everything we know about Rolling Hills so far!
In Rolling Hills, your restaurant will be placing dishes on a conveyor belt for your customers. This way, you can load up the belt with tasty dishes, then run outside to take care of other things. This includes: purchasing ingredients, gardening, fishing, interacting with other characters, and beautify the town, all while receiving updates on what’s happening in the restaurant. This doesn’t mean you can neglect your restaurant entirely however, check back to clean dishes, arrange your furniture, and get to know your customers to cater to their needs!
Create and Customize Your Character
Not only can you now customize your character’s skin color, hair type, and hair color, but now you can also change the appearance of your shoes and apron! Throughout the game you’ll have opportunities to collect cute aprons that you can add to your wardrobe. The developers add: “We think this is a super cool way to customize your character’s outfit while still making sure they remain on theme as a sushi chef.”
Shop for Ingredients
Take a look at one of the shop’s interior in Rolling Hills! At the Fresh Market you can purchase ingredients and condiments for use in your restaurant. The store’s inventory changes often so you have to make creative decisions about what to serve your customers with what you have! Prices fluctuate both randomly and based upon what you buy. Meaning, you can’t over-saturate the market and need to keep experimenting with alternative ingredients.
Roam the Town and Make New Friends
The adorable animals in this unique town are unseen mountain spirits known as muses that grant people the courage to follow their dreams. Your restaurant happens to be in the exact location where their shrine was a thousand years ago, so they mistake the first dish you serve as an offering to them. Help the human characters to reach those dreams by giving them your magically imbued sushi chock-full of bravery!
Make Your Own Sushi in Your Own Restaurant
There’s a lot more description and organization now in creating a new sushi dish. All the individual ingredients are listed as well as the overall quality and price. Your customers have unique personalities and will want very specifics things but also be on a budget.
Serve and Satisfy Customers
Whether a customer adores or despises a dish, it’s important to know why. These simple messages are very helpful if you pay attention! With receipts during check-out, you can take another look at which dishes the customers ate and the resulting bonuses received for their favorite dishes, serving them in a timely manner, and their mood based on certain factors like the environment.
One of the things that the developers are working on going forward is exactly how you can make a difference to the score. You can already pick up trash and place it in the recycling bin which will improve the town. Therefore, maybe there will be more mechanics added like this, such as watering flowers. Stay tuned as we learn more about Rolling Hills’ progress and what platforms we can expect (for now it’s probably Steam).
- Oct 21, 2019
Rolling Hills is a friendly life sim about opening your own sushi restaurant in a cozy little village. The game is created by an indie developer called Catch & Release which also made Star Billions: A Sci-Fi Adventure for mobile and Cold Iron for Steam and PlayStation Store.
Rolling Hills is still in very early development but is estimated for a release sometime in 2020 for as many platforms as possible, although they are a small team. I am really looking forward to this game coming out as it’s reminiscent of Animal Crossing but with sushi!
Key Features
- Start a new life with your own fully-customizable home and restaurant in Rolling Hills.
- Make friends with a cast of more than 50 unique characters.
- Craft your perfect sushi with classics like the California Roll and thousands of possible do-it-yourself rolls.
- Catch rare bugs and reel in big fish while you make memories with your new friends in the countryside.
- Get a little help from your animal friends, each with unique skills to help you run the best restaurant ever.
Angler 
Chef
For more updates on this game you can follow the developers on Twitter here and their Discord channel here.
Gameplay and more details!
For more details, some gameplay footage and more information on Rolling Hills, check out the latest updates on the sushi creation and a first look at the cozy little town!
To get the latest and fullest scoop of Rolling Hills news check out our designated news area for this game right here!
- Aug 3, 2019
In our last article here on this life simulation game about owning your own sushi restaurant and getting to know your customers, created by indie studio Catch & Release, we had mentioned that the crafting mechanics were getting an overhaul. Now when you make your sushi, the flavor, richness, and complexity will change when you switch ingredients. With the most recent Patreon post, Matthew Taylor goes into details with the revamped Customer I.D. card and the “Mood” section.
Customer I.D. Card
As stated, “All of these changes are in an effort to make furniture, food, and customer interactions (both with you the player and with other customers and the environment) as meaningful and interesting as possible.” See below for everything that will affect your customers’ moods and expectations when visiting your sushi restaurant. We’re also loving the wicked name of this wizard character if you catch our drift.
Comfort
Has the customer been standing for a long time waiting for a seat? You’ll see their comfort level fall steadily. Look for some comfy furniture when you’re shopping in town. Customers will be thankful!
Environment
Although the act of expressing yourself through customizing the restaurant’s interior is already fun, knowing that your customers appreciate the carefully crafted ambiance is a big plus.
Fun
In Rolling Hills, you serve a wide variety of customers. That includes children (and playful adults) who value having fun and being entertained. The most obvious examples here are music coming through a jukebox or a pinball machine in your waiting area, but even chatting with customers and serving extravagant dishes can make things more fun for your clientele.
Food
Saved the best for last! Managing a customer’s hunger is your #1 priority in Rolling Hills. Richer dishes will fill this bar even faster, so keep this in mind when crafting your next masterpiece!
Mood
This combines all of the previous stats, weighing food a little more heavily than the rest (it is a restaurant, after all) so that you can see at-a-glance how your customer is feeling.
Appetite and Budget
They are similar in that they determine how much a customer can consume. When a customer has a full belly or an empty wallet, it’s time for the check!
Expectations
These are kind of like the customer’s difficulty level. The reason we display each subcategory is because different customers expect different things. The Caveman character won’t be too concerned about the ambiance of the restaurant, but he’ll have high expectations when it comes to food. After all, he’s used to the freshest ingredients possible!
The developer has noted that there is an “Info” and “More” screen where the former is a summary screen with all the things you’ll want quick access to, and the latter is a secret for now which you’ll unlock as you level up the customer. We’re definitely looking forward to trying this game out on either Steam or through the PlayStation Store whenever it releases!
- Jul 11, 2019
Rolling Hills is a sushi simulation game where you own a restaurant, meet new characters, and form friendships. The game is created by indie developer Catch & Release who have done a complete overhaul of the previously mentioned “mini-game” players had to complete to make their sushi. Although many things have been changed or added, as explained in detail in their June Devlog, there has also been some work done on the conveyor belt we here at myPotatoGames where excited to learn more about.
“What felt like a big change a month ago now seems like small potatoes! When I talk to people about Rolling Hills, they normally say what excites them most is the prospect of being creative with their sushi making.”
Matthew TaylorConveyor Belt Sushi
Instead of someone coming in and telling you exactly what sushi roll they’d like to order, you’ll get to be more creative and find out what kind of ingredients they either love or hate. If you make a dish with that in mind and place it on your conveyor belt, customers will consider all dishes as they pass them by. Therefore, not all customers will be terribly picky unless they make a specific special request which you can either accept or refuse.
New Cooking and Crafting Gameplay
The old way of making your sushi was to play a timed mini-game and then place the dish in your menu. As long as the dish was in your menu, you didn’t have to replay the mini-game. This was to give you the feeling of physically making your sushi by chopping/rolling. However, the developers say it lacked creativity that the fans ultimately wanted.
Now, as you are crafting your sushi and you add or take away ingredients, you can actually see the results of that change in your dish. You can even add condiments that change the dish in a variety of fun ways. This is definitely what was more exciting about Little Dragons Café in our opinion; changing the ingredients around.
If you mess up adding a dish to the menu, you can recall it from your conveyor belt! Phew, it won’t go to waste!
Customer I.D. Cards
Customers no longer shout out their order so now there’s an I.D. card that displays when you interact with them. It shows their name, some stats that are still subject to change, and their ingredient preferences. The blacked out ones are ingredients they haven’t been served yet. It’s up to you to experiment and see what they like!
Rolling Hills is still in early development and does not yet have a release date but will be coming to Steam and the PlayStation Store. If you’re wondering what else is happening with other amazing indie games on our radar, check out Snacko, Alchemy Story, Ooblets, & Button City Indie Updates.
- Jul 3, 2019
Rolling Hills is a simulation game about owning your very own sushi restaurant, created by indie developer Catch & Release. To get all of the updates on this game you can follow the developers on Twitter here and their Discord channel here. You can also see below on everything we know so far with tons of new screenshots!
Here are some of the bigger changes coming to Rolling Hills this month:
- Conveyor belt sushi! We’ve finally come up with a fun way to learn what each customer likes while still letting you flex your creativity as a sushi chef.
- Procedurally generated customers, therefore a sci-fi convention might bring a dozen different robots to your restaurant instead of just the one.
- Occasional special orders that you can fulfill for big bonuses.
- Plates that need to be collected and washed for a more realistic restaurant sim vibe.
- Super cute receipts at checkout and lots of ways to reward different play styles (rewards for quality, for variety, for speed, etc.)!
Once all of these changes have been implemented, the developers plan on working on their long-term goals; the storyline, lots of recipes and ingredients to discover, and new people to meet! By people we mean adorably weird humans and talking animals.
Feast Your Eyes on This!
Below are a few animations from the prototype of the game to tie us over until we can get our hands on it for Steam and the PlayStation Store. As you can see, we have been shown three customers: a chicken wanting our recommendations, a caveman that’s free at last, and a wizard making ‘punny’ jokes. We also get to take a look at the overall aesthetics of the restaurant so far and what seems to be the way we can fill our displays with sushi. Moreover, that making sushi will require you use your skills at pressing buttons just at the right time.
Want more games with sushi in them? Check out our most recent article on The Sushi Spinnery, and own another restaurant. Because sushi is yummy.
