One of many main causes that 2020’s Hen Police: Paint it Pink lives on in my head is due to how clearly the setting and characters are beloved by the writers. It’s straightforward to disregard any shortcomings when the fervour for the mission is so infectious.

The follow-up, Hen Police: Into the Hive, presently has a imprecise launch date of 2024. Which means it’s wherever from a very long time to very quickly that we’ll be seeing it. Within the meantime, The Wild Gents have been ready to slot in the event of Zipp’s Cafe, a short-form prologue sport to maintain us glad till its arrival. Not solely that, it’s an try by The Wild Gents to create extra media primarily based across the “World of Wilderness” setting that they began with The Hen Police.

It’s straightforward to surprise why such a sport is critical. Nonetheless, after taking part in it, the reply appears to be, as soon as once more, that the developer simply loves their world and characters so very a lot.

Maybe surprisingly, you don’t have to have performed Hen Police: Paint it Pink to get into Zipp’s Cafe. Whereas it does make reference to the occasions of the primary Hen Police sport, any main bits of backstory are offered as context, and the political panorama of each Clawville and the higher Wilderness settings are described each in dialogue and in a pocket book.

The sport facilities across the eponymous Zipp’s Cafe run by the additionally eponymous Zipp. Beforehand, it was often called the Hop Canine, however Zipp determined to class up the joint. It’s positioned smack between the insect slums often called “The Hive” and the remainder of Clawville. The insect inhabitants of Clawville has lengthy been the sufferer of racism from the remainder of town’s animal inhabitants, and in recent times, they’ve all been pushed into the singular district that has fallen into disrepair.

It’s referenced a number of occasions in Hen Police: Paint it Pink, with the titular duo expressing their sympathy for the inhabitants. Nonetheless, it’s additionally talked about that the district is a roiling pot able to burst at any second, and Zipp’s Cafe takes place on the precipice of this, with a manufacturing unit shutting down within the district and inciting riots.

The narrative entails Zipp getting caught within the midst of some spill-over. He’s being extorted by a ganglord, a police detective wants his assist moving into The Hive, and a younger couple needs to flee town. In the meantime, Zipp is making an attempt to go away his darkish previous behind whereas serving one of the best espresso within the metropolis.

Regardless of being a narrative-first prologue sport, there’s extra to the sport than listening to individuals speak. The truth is, regardless of what you may anticipate, there are only a few decisions you get to make as a participant. As a substitute, you truly tackle Zipp’s duties of brewing espresso, fixing meals, and even washing the dishes on the finish of the day. 

These quick gameplay vignettes are slightly easy to finish; there’s no time restrict, and failure gained’t imply the brakes are pulled on the story. Weirdly, although, they’re additionally very satisfying to play. Perhaps there isn’t any actual gameplay incentive to maximise your effectivity, memorize recipes, or get orders to clients rapidly, however I simply discovered it enjoyable to do. The tactility of those quick asides is surprisingly properly executed, to the purpose the place I type of want they have been featured in a bigger sport.

The narrative of Zipp’s Cafe is expectedly slender in scope. I imply, it’s alleged to be a prologue. It takes place over three days, during which a plan is conjured and executed. Nonetheless, it’s principally right here to introduce us to a number of the gamers within the upcoming Hen Police: Into the Hive, which it does a very good job of. It offers loads of context to the primary trailer of that sport.

But, even whereas the story is stored small, the plain love from the author nonetheless shines by means of. It comes by means of as small particulars, imprecise allusions, and visual empathy. It could not practically be the deepest, most unique, or thought-provoking story, nevertheless it nonetheless manages to have a coronary heart.

Zipp’s Cafe could also be a sport only for the followers. Or perhaps it’s for individuals who need to play Into the Hive with out going by means of all of Paint it Pink. However for me, I loved it as a result of I like the inventive course of. Zipp’s Diner is created from the place of somebody who’s so enthusiastic about their work that they will’t assist however attempt to present it off. It’s from somebody who is worked up to discover The World of Wilderness, a setting born from their creativeness, and might’t wait to have others discover it as properly. I relate to that, which is why I’ll preserve returning to The Wilderness so long as the fervour stays.