Bear and Breakfast

On the subject of simulation and management games, just because something looks simple doesn’t mean it won’t be any less enjoyable. Such is the experience in Bear and Breakfast by Gummy Cat Studios, a 2D adventure management game where you play as a well-intentioned bear who attempts to restore old buildings and turn them into successful tourist accommodations, in a forest that was once bustling with activity.

The game starts you out slowly, easing you into the process of gathering materials, adding rooms, crafting and placing furniture. Materials are scattered throughout any given area, and you will unlock different ones as you progress to new areas. You will scavenge anything from wood to nails, ceramics, plastic, rubber and more, in order to create furnishings to make your facilities more appealing.

Beginning with a small hut and an outhouse, your initial tasks will be simple and guided through the sketchy mechanical shark “helper” (Fin) and takes the form of your typing adventure RPG quest: go here, do that, come back. The process repeats itself as you move from zone to zone: progress in the main story, gather materials, clean up the buildings, restore them, build rooms, manage guest requests, turn that resort into a success. Then, gradually, you will have a few other things to manage which will eventually start to feel overwhelming, such as keeping an optimal temperature by using boilers, or having a good stock of food for your guests.

It’s important to note that Hank – our friendly neighborhood bear – has two currencies to work with. Coins are self-explanatory, and they are the currency your guests pay with. This is also how you purchase crafting recipes from the Pawn Voyage and other resources from other characters’ shops. Then there are the Valuables, which are basically… trash. That’s right. Trash that is found when your guests make a mess has value and everything is recyclable! You will learn from a friendly racoon named Took that you can bring in your valuables and trade them for decorative items at her stash (the dumpster).

To meet your guests’ needs you must to try to meet their comfort, decoration, temperature and hygiene values by placing them in the appropriate rooms. Guests will leave star ratings depending on how pleased they were with their visit, so make sure you have the right type of accommodation before you accept someone with a high comfort rating into your level 1 bedroom. Facilities and special rooms will also become available and some guests will ask for them as a requirement, such as a campfire, lounge, movie theatre or arcade, even a high food rating. Once you have completed all of Fin’s regular quests, additional optional quests will open up at each resort, which will focus on improving your facilities to higher prestige levels, room levels and 5-star ratings.

As you complete quests, you receive useful trinkets that will help you out along your journey. For example, the compass shows you the local map, the thermostat tells temperature, the pager allows you to accept guest requests and allocate them to rooms without going to the reception desk, and there are even inventory upgrades so you can store and carry more items.

You will also meet several characters that can be assigned as staff. Gus, the weird and somewhat creepy possum, will offer his services as a host, which means you can leave the guest assignments up to him. Jax will help keep the furnaces running in the freezing cold ski lodge, making the temperature comfortable indoors. Julia will offer to cook and serve, keeping the buffet tables stocked. Wade, the little mouse, will gather the garbage your guests leave all over the place – and they will make a mess. You can employ your staff where they are needed the most, or in all buildings all at once. It will cost you quite a bit per day to keep their services though, and obviously you will need to complete their personal quests first, which usually means a considerable amount of time and effort.

Bear and Breakfast is an easy to play game that allows you to express creativity as you build and decorate. It’s a relaxing experience with great music and cute artwork, oozing charm from the adorable main character to the witty dialogs. At times, the upbeat mood is broken by story that tugs at the heart strings with glimpses of tragedy, sad events and some past traumatic experiences for a few characters – I particularly sympathized with the lonely bearcat. It’s a solid management game that keeps you very, very busy, and can distract you for hours on end just gathering, cooking and making sure that all resorts are running smoothly. If you’re the type who lets simple 2D art turn your off, you’ll be missing out on something great.

Bear and Breakfast is currently available on Nintendo Switch and on PC via Steam.

Check out our playlist of Bear and Breakfast below, and look through the timestamps in the video descriptions for quest hints.