Homebrewing video game in development

[JRems]

Very cool. I would love to test out the prototype when it's ready

 

[seandanger]

Do you make your own beer recipes in the game? Or are there built-in recipes, or both? It may be good to have some built in recipes for someone who plays, likes beer, but hasn't started homebrewing (yet) and has no idea how to create a recipe.

It does have built in recipes, and you can also modify them, but the recipe system is no longer actually based on real ingredients. In an early version, I had created an actual homebrew calculator that used real data from ingredients in order to calculate all the vitals of your beer, like ABV, OG, FG, SRM, etc. You would choose ingredients, when to add them, and how much to add in real measurements. Unfortunately it ended up being a little too complicated for most people to actually enjoy, the recipe editor was 7 pages long. The system in use now is (similar to some other games) a 3x3 grid in which you place ingredients. If you guess (or know) a proper combination, then you will create a recipe. I think this ends up being more fun and easier to use -- the editor is only a single page now. Here's an example:

So most of the recipes you'll get are built in, but you can change the recipes too. In the blank spots of the grid, you can add your own ingredients -- some that award more XP for your characters, some that add certain flavors that a customer or festival might be looking for, etc.

 

[MetallHed]

This looks pretty cool. Do you have a release date on the horizon?

 

[zach1288]

I would love to play this when It comes out.

 

[Adeering]

Nice, I applaud your creativity and a little jealous. As another android/app developer (in my free time, I made the android BrewAide App) I have attempted several games, but have never been able to finish do to lack of help with the graphics. If you need a tester for Android, Id be more than willing to test and give any feedback from the things I have learned.

I like what Im seeing now and feel like you have simplified it enough to be enjoyable to everyone but still keep the essence of brewing in it. It kinda reminds me of the restaurant waitress game in play style, which i always loved and was addicted to. Best of luck

 

[Antler]

Sounds like a great game can't wait to try it!

Will the brewing be realistic? What mean is, will the player have to mash in, hold mash temps, sparge, etc. Might be a little complicated for people who don't know how to brew, just curious!

 

[sfrisby]

With a beard!!!!

 

[BobbiLynn]

Sounds interesting! The more the player would learn about actually brewing beer in real life, the more I would like it. I remember a zoo game I got for my kids when they were little, had to run a little zoo. But the kids also learned about different types of animals in the process and the habitats they live in/foods they like. I even learned quite a bit from that silly game!!! If the game could get non-brewers interested in brewing and even teach them a bit about it, the more successful you will be, IMO.

 

[Conan]

Have you heard of a game called Fish Tycoon? It's rather similar in concept, except you run a pet store that only sells fish. Breed them, upgrade tanks, etc. It's a really dumb game you'd never tell your friends you're obsessed with, but it's addicting and a TON of fun. Your idea seems to follow that concept, and I'd love to spend way too much time on it. I'm a big fan of dynasty/ micro management games. Kyle

 

[seandanger]

This looks pretty cool. Do you have a release date on the horizon?

Thank you! We're going to launch a kickstarter campaign in the coming weeks in order to raise funding for the android version and extra features. If that goes well and all the extras get funded, then we're looking at June 2013. If it doesn't get funded, then we'll release ASAP on the iPhone / iPod touch and then add additional platforms if it does well there.

So, as early as March, and as late as June. I'm hoping later rather than sooner so it can have extra features and art!

 

[seandanger]

Nice, I applaud your creativity and a little jealous. As another android/app developer (in my free time, I made the android BrewAide App) I have attempted several games, but have never been able to finish do to lack of help with the graphics. If you need a tester for Android, Id be more than willing to test and give any feedback from the things I have learned.

I like what Im seeing now and feel like you have simplified it enough to be enjoyable to everyone but still keep the essence of brewing in it. It kinda reminds me of the restaurant waitress game in play style, which i always loved and was addicted to. Best of luck

Thanks a lot for the kind words. I'll keep you in mind for Android testing!

 

[seandanger]

Sounds like a great game can't wait to try it!

Will the brewing be realistic? What mean is, will the player have to mash in, hold mash temps, sparge, etc. Might be a little complicated for people who don't know how to brew, just curious!

Those are good ideas and the sort of things I've considered as possible mini game additions to the game, but for now there really is no realistic brewing gameplay. I've chosen instead to focus on the management aspect of the game -- so you do get to choose who does cleaning, who does mashing and boiling, who does fermenting, and who does packaging. But those tasks actually happening is based solely on the math behind your equipment choices and employee attributes (and random chance).

Even so, I wouldn't say some brewing task themed mini games or events are out of the question at this point.

 

[seandanger]

Sounds interesting! The more the player would learn about actually brewing beer in real life, the more I would like it. I remember a zoo game I got for my kids when they were little, had to run a little zoo. But the kids also learned about different types of animals in the process and the habitats they live in/foods they like. I even learned quite a bit from that silly game!!! If the game could get non-brewers interested in brewing and even teach them a bit about it, the more successful you will be, IMO.

Thanks. That is definitely something I've wanted to happen with this game. Working on and researching the game has gotten me even more interested in brewing and beer than I already was as well. As I noted before, an early version had you actually balancing vital stats like SRM ABV and O/FG, but I found teaching all those concepts to be more complicated than a lot of players were looking for.

I got rid of that system, but still have recipes based on realistic ingredients, and the ingredients all have accurate descriptions of what they're like. I'm also considering adding a "codex" for more information about ingredients, like date and location of origin, fun facts, and outside links to more info -- time willing. Finally, we have descriptions for each phase of the brewing process, and each piece of equipment in the brewery.

I'm also investigating if I can find some sort of link sharing / partnership with a homebrewing supply store or guide that I can link to from inside the game.

 

[seandanger]

Have you heard of a game called Fish Tycoon? It's rather similar in concept, except you run a pet store that only sells fish. Breed them, upgrade tanks, etc. It's a really dumb game you'd never tell your friends you're obsessed with, but it's addicting and a TON of fun. Your idea seems to follow that concept, and I'd love to spend way too much time on it. I'm a big fan of dynasty/ micro management games. Kyle

I haven't played that particular game, but have played (and also loved) games similar to that vein! I'm hoping Fiz will have the same appeal

 

[seandanger]

Hey everyone, just posting again to let you all know that the game is coming along great and we launched a Kickstarter campaign for the game today. If you visit the page, you can learn a little more about me and my co-developer, and about the game. Please check it out and tell your friends if you think they'd be interested.

Fiz: The Brewery Management Game Kickstarter.

If you're unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's a way for project creators to raise funding from fans of the project. It gives donors (known as backers) the chance to take part in creating something, usually in exchange for rewards of some type. In our case, we have t shirts, drink coasters, and special in game items. If you're feeling really spendy, you can even design recipes or marketplaces to be included in the game for all to see. The best part about Kickstarter is that if the funding goal for a project is not met within its timeline, then no funding is received, which means you don't get charged anything. This is nice because you can "pledge" funding to a project and not have to worry about throwing your money away if the project creator doesn't get the minimum amount of funds they needed to go forward.

 

[MindenMan]

Great looking game so far, I am really interested to see how it goes. Yup, unh-unh, sure... If my wife knew there was something else beer related for me to spend my time on, I would be sleeping in the garage. Just because she at present does not have any hobbies, doesn't meam she gets to play kill joy with mine. I hope she doesn't read this

 

[MetallHed]

Hey everyone, just posting again to let you all know that the game is coming along great and we launched a Kickstarter campaign for the game today. If you visit the page, you can learn a little more about me and my co-developer, and about the game. Please check it out and tell your friends if you think they'd be interested.

Fiz: The Brewery Management Game Kickstarter.

If you're unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it's a way for project creators to raise funding from fans of the project. It gives donors (known as backers) the chance to take part in creating something, usually in exchange for rewards of some type. In our case, we have t shirts, drink coasters, and special in game items. If you're feeling really spendy, you can even design recipes or marketplaces to be included in the game for all to see. The best part about Kickstarter is that if the funding goal for a project is not met within its timeline, then no funding is received, which means you don't get charged anything. This is nice because you can "pledge" funding to a project and not have to worry about throwing your money away if the project creator doesn't get the minimum amount of funds they needed to go forward.

Backed. I want to see this come out for PC too! I also posted in r/homebrewing, r/gaming, and r/games on Reddit to get some more attention.

Good luck!

EDIT: I took the posts off of r/games and r/gaming because it's against those subreddit's rules. I posted to r/kickstarter though!

 

[seandanger]

Great looking game so far, I am really interested to see how it goes. Yup, unh-unh, sure... If my wife knew there was something else beer related for me to spend my time on, I would be sleeping in the garage. Just because she at present does not have any hobbies, doesn't meam she gets to play kill joy with mine. I hope she doesn't read this

Hah! You can play this in between steps of your homebrewing so it doesn't look like you're spending any extra time on it

 

[seandanger]

Backed. I want to see this come out for PC too! I also posted in r/homebrewing, r/gaming, and r/games on Reddit to get some more attention.

Good luck!

EDIT: I took the posts off of r/games and r/gaming because it's against those subreddit's rules. I posted to r/kickstarter though!

Wow, thank you MetallHed!! Sharing like that helps tremendously, and thank you for backing! What name did you back under? I'd like to send you some extra coasters. You can PM me if you want.

 

[MetallHed]

Bump.

So close! Do it do it do it!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitbybitstudios/fiz-the-brewery-management-game/

 

[seandanger]

Hey everyone, today is the last day of our campaign! We've reached the goal but we still have "Stretch goals" if we receive more funding. Check out the page here if you're interested! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitbybitstudios/fiz-the-brewery-management-game