# Cafe Simulator - Game Design Document

## 🎮 Core Game Loop
1. **Customer arrives** with mood/personality
2. **Conversation phase** - dialogue choices reveal their story
3. **Drink crafting** - prepare drinks based on preferences/hints
4. **Reaction & Story Impact** - customer responds, relationship changes
5. **Day ends** - story progression, unlock new content

## 📖 Narrative Structure

### Story Framework
- **Time-based progression**: 2-3 weeks in-game, each day = 1 session
- **Branching narratives**: Customer stories interweave and affect each other
- **Multiple endings**: Based on relationship levels and key choices
- **Central theme**: Your cafe as a safe space where people share struggles

### Character Archetypes (5-7 main NPCs)
- The burnt-out office worker
- The aspiring artist questioning their path
- The elderly regular with wisdom to share
- The mysterious late-night visitor
- The barista's old friend with history
- Interconnected side characters

## 💬 Dialogue System

### Mechanics
- **Choice-based dialogue** (2-4 options per prompt)
- **Mood indicators**: Customer emotional state affects conversations
- **Memory system**: Game remembers past choices/conversations
- **Relationship levels**: Affects story depth and endings
- **Topic discovery**: Unlock deeper conversation threads over time

### Player Character
- You play as the cafe owner/barista
- Minimal backstory (player projects themselves)
- Personality shaped by dialogue choices

## ☕ Drink Crafting System

### Base Mechanics
- **Ingredient selection**: Coffee, tea, milk, flavors, toppings
- **Temperature**: Hot/Iced
- **Strength levels**: Regular, strong, mild
- **Recipe book**: Unlock drinks as you learn preferences

### Integration with Story
- **Preference hints**: Dialogue reveals what customers like
- **Mood matching**: Right drink improves relationship
- **Special drinks**: Unlock story moments
- **No fail state**: Wrong drinks = different reactions, not game over

### Drink Categories
- Coffee (espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino)
- Tea (green, black, herbal, chai)
- Specialty (hot chocolate, matcha, seasonal)
- Customizations (sugar, milk alternatives, flavors)

## 🎨 Visual Design

### Art Style
- **2D pixel art** or **hand-drawn illustration**
- Cozy, warm color palette (browns, creams, warm yellows)
- Day/night cycle affects lighting
- Weather visible through window

### Key Screens
1. **Cafe view**: Counter, customer seating, background details
2. **Dialogue interface**: Character portrait, text box, choices
3. **Drink crafting**: Ingredient selection UI
4. **Journal/Relationship tracker**: Story recap and character info
5. **Main menu**: Save/load, settings

### UI Elements
- Minimalist, non-intrusive
- Character emotion sprites
- Thought bubbles for hints
- Day/time indicator
- Relationship hearts/indicators

## 🏗️ Technical Architecture

### Tech Stack Options
**Option A - Web-based (Recommended for start)**
- HTML5 Canvas / Phaser.js
- JavaScript/TypeScript
- JSON for dialogue/story data
- LocalStorage for saves

**Option B - Game Engine**
- Godot (GDScript) - lightweight, 2D focused
- Unity (C#) - more robust, mobile export

### Core Systems to Build
1. **Dialogue Engine**: JSON-based branching dialogue parser
2. **State Manager**: Track game progress, relationships, choices
3. **Drink System**: Recipe matching and feedback
4. **Save System**: Serialize game state
5. **Audio Manager**: Music and SFX playback
6. **Scene Manager**: Transition between days/screens

### Data Structure
```
{
  "characters": {...},
  "days": {...},
  "dialogueNodes": {...},
  "recipes": {...},
  "gameState": {
    "currentDay": 0,
    "relationships": {},
    "unlockedRecipes": [],
    "playerChoices": []
  }
}
```

## 📝 Content Planning

### MVP Scope (First Playable)
- 3 main characters with simple story arcs
- 5 days of gameplay
- 8-10 drink recipes
- Basic dialogue system with 2-3 branching paths
- Simple pixel art graphics
- Background music + basic SFX

### Full Game Scope
- 7 characters with deep interconnected stories
- 14-21 days
- 20+ drinks with unlockables
- Complex branching with 3-5 endings
- Polished art and animations
- Full soundtrack with ambient cafe sounds

## 🎯 Next Steps

Would you like me to:
1. **Start building the MVP** - I can create the basic game structure
2. **Design specific characters** - Flesh out character profiles and story arcs
3. **Build the dialogue system** - Create the JSON structure and parser
4. **Create the drink crafting UI** - Build the interactive recipe system

**What aspect would you like to dive into first?**