When I reviewed TOGE Production’s Coffee Talk, the game stuck with me in a way very few games did. There’s a lot of games that I play (for fun and for work), and sometimes when I load up my Switch and various systems it can, unfortunately, feel like an obligation. This was not the case for Coffee Talk, which had a calm and soothing atmosphere that was always inviting. Portraying characters that were warm and kind despite the heavier issues they faced. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to the Indonesian-based development studio about the inspirations and design philosophy that are found in Coffee Talk, while also chatting about our favorite ways to consume caffeine.
What games/stories were inspirations for Coffee Talk?
We draw inspiration from many games and movies. VA-11 Hall-a obviously, we also drew inspiration from Bar Oasis, the movie Bright, Midnight Diner.
Coffee Talk takes place in contemporary Seattle, while your development studio is located in Indonesia. Was there a particular reason why the game has the setting it does?
Seattle is where Starbucks originated. Coffee Talk started as an internal game jam prototype, the original idea was to replicate the feeling of watching the rain while holding a warm drink and listening to conversations. So, Seattle’s famous rainy weather is also the perfect setting for the game.
The game adds to the setting, elements of urban fantasy. Filling its world with fairies, orcs, and vampires. The more intriguing aspect of this is that the team used these various aspects to craft metaphors that discuss everything from homosexual relationships to racism. This a clever idea, where did the inspiration for it originate?
The characters in the game are based or loosely based on our crew members. So the personalities and struggles are based on real personal experiences to some degree. However, these topics are sensitive so we used the fantasy creatures and the fantasy world to create a stylized reflection of ourselves.
In Coffee Talk there’s a branching narrative path that is explored by experimenting on the coffee brewing minigame. Apart from this, Coffee Talk is a fairly passive experience, with a lot of dialogue coming from the protagonist. Did the team ever experiment with dialogue options?
We discussed this internally. It’s purely an artistic decision to leave out dialogue options.
I noticed that a great deal of the conversations in Coffee Talk seemed as if they were directly drawn from actual casual conversation. Am I correct in assuming that? If so, how did you go about doing the research for that?
Glad you noticed that. Actually, during the development of Coffee Talk, our writer/game director, Fahmi Hasni had a writer’s block. So, Kris Antoni, founder of Toge Productions and co-writer/editor of Coffee Talk, suggested that the team do a role-play session. So, we assigned each crew member a character that fits their personality and we just start chatting random topics. We adapted those actual conversations into the game’s writing.
The pixel-art and design in Coffee Talk is quite intricate. How long did it take for the team to create each of the characters?
Dio Mahesa, the art director for the game took months designing the characters. We did a blog post about it in detail here: https://medium.com/toge-productions/coffee-talk-devlog-2-bringing-doodles-to-life-a3c14c846656
The music in Coffee Talk is very (pardon the phrase) lo-Fi hip hop beats to study/relax to.” Why did you feel that the music needed this particular vibe, and how did you go about curating the selection?
We want the game to be relaxing, and just like I mentioned before, we want to replicate the feeling of watching the rain while holding a warm drink and listening to conversations. Lo-fi chill beat is the perfect fit.
In the game you can take the time to make lattè art. What’s everyone’s go to designs? Given each opportunity (since I’m a terrible artist), I ended up blundering my way through it and I need better ideas.
We love making leaves or flower blooms.
What’s the team’s favorite way of consuming caffeine?
Kris: I’m more of a tea person. I drink cappuccino from time to time
Dio: Cafe Latte with half shot of Cappuccino
Andrew Jeremy: with lots of milk
Fredrik Lauwrensius: I like tea more than coffee
Coffee Talk is currently available Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC platforms.
