Critter Cafe

How to play

A beaver runs a little cafe in the jungle, and you're helping. A critter ambles in and pictures what it would like. Tap that thing on the counter and hand it over. It does a delighted little dance, leaves a leaf-coin, and the next one wanders up. That's the whole game. There is no timer. Nobody gets impatient, nobody storms out, and there is no way to lose or to disappoint anyone. Serve quickly and you have a short shift; take your time and you have a long, equally successful one. How it unfolds. A shift ends when everyone has been served — about three minutes — and there are 20 shifts in all, grouped into four stages of five. Clear a stage and the cafe physically grows, adding a station and one new thing to do: - The Stump (shifts 1–5) — a berry basket. Just matching. - The Kettle (6–10) — drinks arrive, so an order can now be two things at once. - The Oven (11–15) — baked goods take a little while, and you can start one before anyone asks. Being slow still costs nothing. - The Terrace (16–20) — tables of critters share one order; load the tray and serve them together. Regulars remember you back. Every critter has favourites, and once one has visited a few times it stops spelling out its order — you get a thought-bubble with a '?' and have to recall what it likes. Guess wrong and it simply tells you; nothing is lost. Guess right and you build a memory streak, which is the one thing here worth being good at. Twenty different critters to meet, each with its own name and its own thoroughly silly happy dance. Leaf-coins buy lanterns, plants, benches and paths, so the cafe slowly fills up with things you chose. Your progress saves itself after every shift — the cafe, the coins, the friends you've met. Close the tab whenever you like and pick up exactly where you left off. Nothing wilts, nothing expires, and nothing is lost if you don't come back for a while. Finished all twenty? The cafe stays open, and you can keep pottering. How to play: tap the thing the critter is thinking of.

Controls

• Tap an item on the counter to serve it
• Tap a baked item to start it baking, then tap again when it's ready