Nothing beats a pint of frothy beer. Ale Abbey Demo takes us behind the scenes of the production of the oldest and most delicious drink in the world.
Ale Abbey Demo is currently available as part of the Steam Next Fest. This is a Steam event that brings together demos of upcoming games to build up the hype and give us a better idea of what to expect at launch.
The game takes us back to the 1500s to manage an abbey of brewing monks. Our goal will be to brew the best beer, sell it throughout the region and gain influence.
Ale Abbey is a typical management game where we will have to manage the construction of new facilities to support the supply chain, hire staff (monks and nuns) and manage their needs.
The game is made in pixel art and is played comfortably with the mouse. At the moment the playability on Steam Deck is not the best, but hopefully the developers will also look into portability.
Like any other business management game, Ale Abbey requires the careful management of economic resources so that you can continue to invest in order to increase your capital and pay your employees.
With the money at our disposal we will have to buy beds, desks, kegs, barrels and even decorations for our brewery. To ensure the good mood of our monks, we will have to furnish the rooms. We also need money to build some structures to properly produce the foamy goodness.
Ale Abbey: The joy of beer brewing
To brew beer, we will first have to create a recipe based on a precise type of beer, and then choose the ingredients and their doses. The doses of ingredients we choose will determine the overall quality and characteristics of the beer, such as strength, head, flavour and colour.
Depending on the ingredients we use and their quantities, our beer will have different production costs. In fact, depending on the time of year, certain raw materials are discounted due to their high availability. To make the most of this and reduce production costs, it is possible to build a warehouse to store raw materials. Unfortunately, warehouses can only be built in the full version of the game. In the demo, you can at least build cellars with barrels to store your overproduced beer and distribute it later.
Once the recipe has been created and the ingredients purchased, it is time to produce. The quality of the final product will be influenced by both the dosage of the ingredients and the monk who follows the fermentation process. Surprisingly, the quality will also be affected by the cleanliness of the room in which the beer is brewed.
At the end of the brewing process, the beer can be sold to one of the neighbouring villages. We can also choose the selling price.
Unfortunately, we found it very difficult to make enough money in the early stages of the game, probably due in part to the lack of a storage mechanic. Progress is also hampered by the bandits, who threaten to attack our beer supplies unless we pay them a bribe in beer or money.
Although it is difficult to progress due to the very low profits, the management mechanics are well done. By making the monastery very large, it will probably be a challenge to keep all the rooms clean, as each room has to be cleaned manually.
On the other hand, the tutorial needs to be reviewed, as it gives us too much freedom, and there is a risk that later on we will not have enough money to buy the things we need to continue it.
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