Lemon Cake On Steam - First Thoughts - Rating & Review
So, what is Lemon Cake? And Can I eat it?!
Lemon Cake is a adorable indie style simulation game on Steam with time management being the main focus. Born from the single developer of Alchemy Story and Bunny Park, Lemon Cake has the same cozy & charming appeal. Newly released in February of 2021, this wholesome feel-good game is still being updated with new content on it's way.
Storyline
After stumbling into an unlocked & abandoned Bakery, you meet a some-what friendly ghost named Miss BonBon. She explains to you that she was the one who ran the bakery all of these years but now it has fallen to ruin. She can no longer take care of the bakery because well.. she has no hands.. and without hands she can no longer knead bread. Now it is up to you— a baker’s apprentice to restore the bakery and get the shop up and running again.
Character Creation
Before you dive into the game you are greeted with a lovely character creation pop up screen. I am so happy to have this option in Lemon Cake. There are 5 skin tones to choose from, several cute hairstyles ranging from short to long or even braids. You can also choose your eye and hair color so if you want to make your character look like you or a pastel girl with cherry blossom locks you can do just that! Last but not least, there are many outfit combinations to pick from so you can mix it up to your choosing. You can also change your appearance at any time in the game and unlock cute accessories such as hats & aprons so your customers know that you're a serious baker who looks the part!
First Impression
After a short, and I mean VERY short tutorial you quickly find yourself hitting the floor running— you're now responsible for the bakery. This means you will be growing and collecting ingredients, slinging pastries to demanding customers, making sure your kitchen is clean, tending to your farm animals, and playing mini games which includes bug catching when the inspector arrives.
On the first day of opening, I was a little confused on how to make the pastries (even after the tutorial) and found myself running around not knowing how to select the recipes that I needed resulting in customers walking out. You have a short time slot to get your hungry customers order prepped, baked, and served before they walk out empty-handed, and you with empty pockets. The time slot is graded from 'Perfect' to 'Good' and then Missed' depending on how fast you can serve them their order. If you're not careful you can also burn your precious baguettes so pay attention to the oven timer!
Gameplay
Each day is divided into 3 sections: Morning, Lunch Rush, & Evening. Before you open the Bakery in the morning you can take all of the time you need preparing for the day. Therefore, I suggest getting your ovens going, your fruit trees watered, & your display window well stocked with as many mouth watering cookies as you can.
Every task you do (big or small) will earn you cash and points to level up so you will want to keep up with all of your chores. If not they will slow you down. For example, each spill you clean up will net you +50, every plate you pick up +30, etc. which will add up to your daily total earnings so make sure the kitchen floor is spotless and they your fruit trees are green!
As you progress through the game & unlock more recipes you will find that the recipes may take longer time to cook or require more ingredients making your day a bit more hectic & busy but all in fun.
At the end of the day you get a final report card which will tally up your score and add to your total funds. Here you can also spend your earnings in what resembles a skill tree to upgrade the 4 rooms in your bakery (Store, Kitchen, Greenhouse, & Bedroom) with some new and even cute additions such as pastry displays, farm animals, pets, more seating for your customers, furnishings, or you can even turn your bakery into a cozy cat café where you customers can adopt the kitties! *Squeals.*
Lemon Cake has 40 different recipes as of right now so you can switch up your menu by selecting ‘+’ and ‘x’ to add or take away recipes from your menu for the next day. You will want to strategize your menu and change things up everyday so your customers have something new to look forward to the next time they come in which also means maximum tips!
Each time you level up Miss BonBon will present you with 3 new recipes. You're only allowed to choose one out of three so I suggest choosing based off of ingredients you already have or plan to purchase.
Art style & Controls
Lemon Cake's 3D graphics are very cute and I am in awe with the art style of this game. For this reason I want to try Alchemy story or Bunny Park (Perhaps I will review one of them next.) The art reminds me of a hand drawn folktale picture book. After all, Lemon Cake seems to be designed to resemble a book with it's page turner layout style. The art and color palette gives me a warm cozy vibe. I can see myself waking up early to play this game enjoying a warm cup of tea, with a lap blanket, & a chocolate croissant.. I also want to mention that all of the baked goodies are very cute and appetizing.
As far as the controls go movement is a wee bit clunky. I find myself not picking up or putting items down correctly and having to run back to an item's location because I didn't pick it up the first time. Oh and can 't forget hand cramps!! I can only play this game for under an hour at a time because running around using W, A, S, and D stresses my hand. Note* There is no controller option to play Lemon Cake at this time.
Music
The music is very relaxing & serene making me feel less anxious during lunch rush.
Verdict
This game had me at STRAWBERRY DOUGHNUTS and Cat Café!! And let's be honest, a part of me has always wanted to open up my own bakery even if I know next to nothing about baking. (All of my baking comes out of a box.) Lemon Cake is both enjoyable & adorable, but I feel that it loses some points because it can also get a little tedious & earning money can be slow. Nevertheless I recommend this game to cozy gamers, indie lovers, and cat worshipers! Get the cat café upgrade in early game and thank me later.
Rating: 7/10 ⭐️
