Wolfbiter encounters Spring Thing 2025

[wolfbiter]

Espresso Moka by Roberto Ceccarelli
Playtime: 18 minutes

This made me want to talk about:

• This game draws a lot from Breakfast in the Dolomites (BitD). Both games play like a slice-of-life simulator, although the extreme granularity of BitD has been scaled back considerably. The game has a lot of fun Easter eggs calling back to BitD, see, for example the notable line below, and also:

lengthy excerpt

>x me
A guy, about 30 years old, with blond hair and blue eyes.

You work as a software engineer, enjoy photography and love hiking in the mountains.

In love with your girlfriend, very beautiful, but also shrewish when something doesn’t go her way. In the end you always please her and she appreciates it.

Monica sometimes calls you Ciccio.

You wear a black t-shirt, a pair of beige pants and a pair of blue sneakers.

“Hey Ciccio!” — Monica claims your attention — “Do you think I’m shrewish too?”

yes
“I would use the term «sgudebla», but the concept is practically the same.” — you reply.

“An offensive word to describe a woman who is considered to be unpleasant and easily annoyed, and who argues a lot. This is the definition of «shrewish» in the Cambridge Dictionary” — Monica reminds you then add bringing her lips close to yours — "If you really thought that, you would have left me long ago, but now make it up to me! "

>kiss monica
“I may have exaggerated a bit, you can be a little too punctilious at times, but deep down, as I always say, you have a heart of cream.” — you say to Monica, then you kiss her sweetly.

“I love you!” — she whispers sweetly in your ear.

Monica, I’m thrilled to let you know that the author has decided to tweak the description a bit to make it more gentle.

“Narrator, please return my thanks to the author.” — she replies.

Absolutely, Miss Monica, but now let’s get back to the game.

>x me
A guy, about 30 years old, with blond hair and blue eyes.

You work as a software engineer, enjoy photography and love hiking in the mountains.

In love with your girlfriend, very beautiful, but also quite fussy when something doesn’t go her way. In the end you always please her and she appreciates it.

Monica sometimes calls you Ciccio.

You wear a black t-shirt, a pair of beige pants and a pair of blue sneakers.

(bold added by me)

Reader, I laughed.

• I thought this was a solid dialing in on the parts I enjoyed of BitD (interacting with a thoroughly implemented world, at least when it wasn’t too thoroughly implemented), and some gentle humor, without much frustration. (Although I may only have managed to turn over the paper because of my BitD experience . . .).

• I was also more vibing with Monica’s personality here

• Sadly this game did not answer my most pressing question as a non-coffee-drinker: is the thing we make coffee or is it espresso? Or are those the same?

Notable line:

“Hey look!” — Monica claims your attention — “There are the shorts you love, the ones that drove so many people crazy with their pockets in your last game.”

“It’s better not to mention it,” — you suggest — “I don’t want players to run away thinking they have to search all the pockets for the wallet.”

You both start to laugh.

My one fervent wish:
OK, I realize I may have occasion in the future to rue these words, but. I am ready to be challenged in this franchise! Like, intentionally! Assign me a task to execute where I do not immediately conceive of how to do so!

Overall, a nice refinement on the ideas from the prior game, perfectly pleasant and lightly funny

wolfbiter espresso moka - Copy.txt (23.4 KB)