Starbrew Cafe: Mystical Merge

This is the first merge game I've ever given 5 stars after a few weeks, which may sound like faint praise until you hear that I've played dozens and tend to give them 2s or 3s. Starbrew is a model for what merge gaming should be. It's energy system is standard but easier to replenish due to the many opportunities in game, the freemium currency is plentiful, the ads are optional and non-intrusive, the UI is clean and attractive, the events are helpfully integrated into the main merge table rather than being siloed out, and the table isn't littered with barely useful max tier items, which you can helpfully retire as the game goes on. All this on its own would earn 4 stars and a favored spot on my main screen--but what puts it over the top is the entirely hand-drawn art and, best of all, the warm, textured, interesting characters and worldbuilding that feel like they leapt right off of a mid 2010s tumblr post. Gay vampires? Check. Bicurious heroine? Check. A subby werewolf in love with a slightly mean urban planner lady serving dommy mommy energy? Check. I fear I will be playing this for a long, long time since I've grown so attached to Starla and the gang. I've fallen under Starbrew's spell and I never want it to break.

The game itself is pretty good love the story and the characters, the game play is also so satisfying and fun! However sometimes when there’s an event like the one that’s happening now it keeps glitching in and out between existing and not existing and even though the candle event started yesterday it says it finished for me and at the beginning of it it took away the candles I just got because It decided not to exist IT’S VERY FRUSTRATING! Also the little packs you can buy are nice but too persistent sometimes and pop in at the worst times like I almost accidentally bought stuff twice while playing when half asleep, cause it comes in at just the right hight to accidentally click. And I’m still upset about the candles even it said 2 days left but instead finished at the same time as the merging bubbles event so not only are my candles gone but the thing ended prematurely on it’s own so I can’t even get all the rewards, What The Heck. I needed them to finish the long running memories event cause I’m like 3, 5 star pieces away and now I’ll never make it in time because it’s being glitchy!! … I love this game a lot but I think after realizing how upset it made me with this i’m dropping the rating down that I had in mind. Update: The developers fixed the candle event issue and all those affected were compensated. I appreciate them taking the steps to improve the gameplay. It certainly helped.

-EDIT- Within a few weeks of making this review, the problem I had with passing the end of the story was fixed, I was able to retroactively read the storyline I had skipped over, a pop up was added to tell you when you had caught up with the story and reassures you that if you continue playing, you’ll get the chance to read the story when it’s released in the future. Fantastic job devs! My only continued thought is having a way to reread dialogue if you accidentally press skip while reading but I am happy with the progress I’ve seen. I’ve been playing this game for two weeks now and I adore it. I’d highly recommend this for anyone wanting an interesting storyline behind an easygoing game. However I’ve found a few things concerning. Several times during the dialogue, because of how I was holding my phone, I accidentally hit the skip button. This is rather frustrating and I wish the button were somewhere at the top of the screen where one is less likely to hit it when they don’t want to. I’ve now got gaps in the story that I’ve no way of going back and rereading. Also, I finished the front yard patio area yesterday morning where you talk to the health and safety lady who’s name escapes me and Aunt Letty is missing. I then moved on to the botanical patio area. Is there no storyline in this area? I didn’t have any dialogue show up for this entire area. I let it go thinking it’s such a small area one might not have been thought out for it but I’ve moved on to the front garden and I’m still not getting any story. Is my download corrupted? Is this purposeful? If there was story in these areas, is there a way to go back and read them? Half the fun of the game is being invested in the story and it’s seemed to have disappeared.