I'm a little late reviewing here, but this MIGHT be one of my top favorites for the entire jam. It felt simple and straight-forward while having plenty to explore gameplay-wise, and the whole game had a blend of really good horny energy (it was hard not to blush at all the post-shift praise) as well as just good game design! I can't think of any major issues I had while playing. Thank you for making such a cute little thing! :3

This one had no idea becoming a reprogrammed CAT utiliken was so fulfilling. And wholesome!

So... this is really, really good.

It's the third game so far that shifted me from the "game jam review mindset" to "sit down and enjoy a game" mindset. The service-oriented drone theme and the comfy, cozy, simple service game are a match made in heaven. The characters were a delight, the world was subtly conveyed, and you implemented multiple senses of progress (upgrade chips, more dialogue, more features) to keep the experience fresh. It's also an incredibly polished game -- little sound effects, mantras that shift based on your chip choice, and a veritable buffet of little snippets of praise. The fact that the end screen gives you more praise depending on how you did is the cherry on top. Good gameplay, good polish, and great harmony between themeing and gameplay. Very, very, very good work.

If you continue to develop this -- and I hope you do -- the one thing I'd request is the ability to switch drones in the middle of an action. Currently, I can swap seamlessly during movement, but if I click on a destination (customer, food desk, charger), I'm locked into that action until I complete it. I got around this by moving as close to the destination as possible without clicking on it, but that seemed more metagame-y than intended behavior. Fix that, extend the story of this (really quite interesting) world, and you've a cozy game I could easily see myself losing hours in.

...more than the hour I already lost, anyway.

Drone is happy. Drone is a good drone. Drone is grateful for such a wonderful game ^w^

This is so cute! Loved both the gameplay and the story.

This unit is a good drone.

🧡

such an encouraging world and comforting characters. I look forward to our very clean, loop-treat-filled robot uprising.

I’m a good drone???????? 🥺🥺

stellar!! truly outstanding. horny and endearing and lovely all the way. I'm reminded how much I truly adore this aesthetic. delightful!!

The games you've made in the past have been instrumental to a conversation that has been ongoing amongst some friends:

What does it look like to move past queer dystopias and apocalyptic cyberpunk and to look beyond, ahead to worlds where we have carved out good lives for ourselves. Where the way we are and look and think and play are all meaningfully appreciated as we live our lives. It means a lot to see a drone game about being rewarded for accomplishing to the best of your ability what is often almost impossible when depressed (Cleaning, Customer Service, Fast Paced Employment). This game really really resonates with me. We get to see those who have set themselves playfully to explode modes of living hell bent on making life better for each other while playfully being ourselves.

There is love and glory in finding ways to care for each other. There is compassion in making sure that Service and Aid efforts are appreciated. It's also funny to see monopoly man ass econ bots enjoying what it means to play with numbers and be passionate about the game of finance, from afar.

These games are a part of imagining good lives that feels like a healthy appreciation of living well. I honestly think it's more than just escapism, it's exercising an atrophied sense of hope for the future that's been eroded as our collective histories have been eroded. Making/telling these stories and making these artifacts for each other to experience is sacred, to me. Thank you for making these

Just wow. This was beautiful. Polished, stylish and loads of content. Loved the writing and worldbuilding. And the gameplay is awesome. Especially liked how you can customize your loadout. Really wish you could control one drone during the other’s walk to the objects, but you can get around it by walking just next to the object so it’s probably even deeper this way.

Really enjoyed my time as a drone, made me very happy. Amazing vibe altogether.

Very gud game.

Another fellow WhiteSmoke enjoyer here, reporting for duty.

This is a fun little romp! There's a charm to the way the characters and worldbuilding are presented - drones aren't really my thing,  but the utopian backdrop of the game is some wonderful escapism just as a baseline. I also love the sheer amount of customisation/accessibility options available to the player - being able to remove mouth chewing sounds is such a small detail, but I know that it'll be really appreciated by some.

The "only switch while still or moving" point is interesting in theory, but clunky in practice without the ability to cancel interaction, and the food selection feels like it takes a few too many clicks. On the flipside, I love the praise quotes you get at the end of the day, and the characters have some real liveliness to them.

Seriously impressive work for only joining partway through the month!

Love drone stuff. Disconnected thoughts while i play through:

I don't quite remember if it's come up in your games before, i think it has, but either way certain robot components being made out of renderite is such a great, cheeky IYKYK bit. That's just among a lot of other fun little nerd references like that in the writing, which is typical of one of your games and we love to see it.

I enjoy the idea of getting to play as a digital hivemind of sorts but i dunno yet whether i think the "only switch while still or moving, not while specifically moving to an interact point" really does much besides make me wish i could cancel a movement when i accidentally click on instead of near one... on the first day, i was already starting to try and walk to the general area where the refreshments were, to get walking without waiting for the next customer to present their order.

WhiteSmoke doesn't seem like a true himbo to me but that choster got the spirit. That bit with the loop treat is really something, too. This one thinks he'll be good at that "topping" thing.

I had a great time playing this game. I sent an contact email with more robust thoughts about the works in this series as a whole but in short I think the themes presented in this game are both very well executed and thought provoking as regarding how it all works out.

It feels like a lot of other commenters have already mentioned most of the things I'd reasonably post as a critique (controls, etc), but I still think it's fairly impressive for it to have been done in a month, and I very much enjoy the art and the artstyle.

I tried the freeplay mode then got carried away! I  love these types of cooking/cafe management games. Also I can't believe this was done in a month... there are so many accessibility features and things to customize.

The art's been improving with each new game. The menus and options are excellently presented with fittingly retro icons and borders. The writing is detailed but doesn't wander, and I like the occasional use of emotes to add a bit of fun to the dialogue. Some text like the food preparation description can probably be omitted to get players back into the action a bit faster. It's cool to see a bunch of different customization options available for the free mode!

Switching between drones was helpful for charging one while the other works, but it never fully felt like I was controlling a team. You could consider adding an ability to queue up commands for the drones to make more use of the switching mechanics. I like the results screen with all of the feedback, but something to show players how they are doing during service may be a nice touch. The daily themes are a fun way to change up the game, and you can probably push some of them further to have an even bigger twist on gameplay!

It's neat to see the upgradeable drone mechanics in something more action-oriented! It's a bit different, but I think it could be a step in a fun new direction for the universe you're making!

All my years of Diner Dash have trained me for this moment. A perfect genre fit for a drone game. Waiting for an interaction to finish felt a little sluggish, but once I found you could just move them vaguely towards interactions to get them both in motion, multitasking brain started to go  brrrrrr.

 On behalf of the service top drones (all twelve of us) thank you for the big dumb blorbo. I wish a bright future for him, delivering gently distorted one-word commands for the benefit of labor.

One behalf of the drones who regret getting a business degree... *sigh* like yeah... I guess you can call it that.

This is a really fun game the dialogue and characters really make it. Amazing writing!

I always love playing your projects and seeing the world of your drones. Also love how you write the characters and the way they speak.

Oh, and serving foods and drinks to get a big score does mix quite well with being an obedient drone that wants praise. Good thinking on combining those two things :3