STOVE

S1737996245184112's record is 121 points!
I got 0 Flakes as a challenge reward.
I can't wake up from my egg..
Next time, try faster!

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Take the challenge now!
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The Legend of Zelda - Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild stands out from other open-world games with its innovative map design and creative use of objects.

I think it's a really well-made game that sets a new standard for open world games.

Nishindenim's record is -380 points!
I got 0 Flakes as a challenge reward.
I can't wake up from my egg..
Next time, try faster!

🦖Want to feed your baby dinosaur?
Take the challenge now!
👉 [Play on the Stove App]

S1730549631928511's record is 87 points!
I got 0 Flakes as a challenge reward.
I can't wake up from my egg..
Next time, try faster!

🦖Want to feed your baby dinosaur?
Take the challenge now!
👉 [Play on the Stove App]

The number of dinosaurs caught by Chuldonghapche is 83!
I got a 2025 flake as a challenge reward.
Top Ranker Mode ON 👑
But you mustn't let your guard down!

👉 [Play on the Stove App]

This post was written subjectively and the information about this game is as follows:

Before we begin

This is the cat that comes back when you forget. The game I'm going to introduce this time is an indie, casual, tycoon game called 'Storm Maid'. The reason I found out about this game and started playing it was because Stove Indie had a smart demo life, and if you play the demo version of (mostly Korean) indie games and give feedback, you get Naver Pay? There, I first encountered it, and because it was fun, I participated in the funding (purchased it) and recently started playing it.
So before I get into my thoughts, let me first show you a gameplay video of this game.

Play video

review

This game made me think a lot before writing a review. I wondered if I didn't understand the game well enough, but I couldn't completely organize my thoughts even though I unlocked all the content that was released so far, and it was ambiguous to evaluate it up until now as I'm writing this. Nevertheless, from the perspective of someone who played from the demo version to version 1.0.9, my evaluation was as follows.

First, let me summarize the story of this game.

"The protagonist (player/bespectacled + otaku + pervert), whose goal is to create his own maid harem, drops out of college, borrows money from loan sharks, and helps Belle, who is in danger of being dragged onto a tuna fishing boat, turn Maid Cafe Argent (the perennial last place) into the best maid cafe."

It was possible to summarize it to that extent. It had one ending and had a light-hearted story that was easy to laugh and pass over, like the tycoon and arcade genres. It parodied many memes that are familiar in Korea, such as Undertale, One Punch Man, and the suspiciously rich Furry, so I thought it would be fun to look for them and watch the story.

Time is money

The controls of the game were simple, but they required skill as they progressed. Basically, all controls were possible with the mouse, and there were few things to press, such as selecting a table with QWEASD, confirming and skipping with F/E, and moving with WASD and arrow keys. The corresponding functions for each key were intuitive, and since it used a layout commonly used in games played with other keyboards or keyboards and mice, it was easy to get used to and the controls were simple. However, as I mentioned above, as the game progressed, the tempo of the game got faster due to upgrades and such, so I felt that I needed skill as I had to press the right keys at the right time quickly. (Since the last boss battle was a one-coin battle, I thought skill was needed in the boss battle as well.)

The way the game progresses is also simple. It's a repetition of [run a maid cafe (farming) → watch the story → engage in a sales battle → watch the story].

The game's system... is easy to enjoy, but it's a bit complicated because you have to keep a lot of things in mind when playing each game. Easy... you can make the top-tier foods (dessert, main, drink) your daily menu and play with the 6 main characters, but when playing each game, you can aim for the optimal play by thinking about the passive skill combinations for each character, the leader skill selection for a specific character, the today's menu effects, the effects of clothes and accessories, and the task rules you choose for each task.

The game's graphics were 2D, dot, animation graphics. Except for some situations, the dot graphics were so detailed and gorgeous that you'd say, "Was it possible to express this with dots?"

As for the sounds, there weren't that many (sound effects, BGM), but I didn't feel bored. Aside from that, there were some BGMs that I wanted to download separately and listen to repeatedly.

Bugs... There were various issues like bugs that would freeze the game, a specific character's leader skill image being broken, being able to wear more than 3 Today's Menus, etc., but as of version 1.0.9 when this post is being written, most of them have been resolved. Now, before I get into my thoughts, a little chat... To be exact, the reason I couldn't write a review right away even after seeing the ending of the game was because 'the pros and cons coexisted so it was hard to evaluate.' It was a fun but boring, flashy but disappointing game.

-merit-

1. Fun (story, basic game, etc.)

- It was literally fun. If you notice, it was a fun game that you didn't even realize how much time passed, like 30 minutes or an hour.

- To be more specific, the main content was basically repeating what was done at the beginning, such as placing the right maid at the right table and playing the mini-games that came out from time to time. The main game was well-made to fit the tycoon genre, and it maintained the right amount of tension in different ways from beginning to end, so I was able to play it while it was fun (although a little boring).

-The story was also one of the reasons I kept playing the game. The story, which seemed to have a couple spoonfuls of what is called a crazy emotion, along with various parodies, was funny even though I knew what kind of atmosphere it would lead to.

For example, if a guest extends their stay, they wave a glow stick (a maid's intention to empty out the remaining balance in her bank account).

2. Direction (including graphics)

- In a way, it was a part that was related to fun. It was literally fun to watch.

- Due to the nature of dot graphics, if you make a mistake, it can look dirty and you can't see important parts (like not seeing a bullet flying, having difficulty distinguishing enemies, or not being able to figure out what you're doing), but this game doesn't have any of that, and the dots are so cute, flashy, and detailed that you'll think, "They implemented this with dots?" It was fun to look at while playing the game.

-disadvantage-

1. Content (Fun) → [Additional items scheduled in order from May 2025 to December 2025 according to the roadmap]

-As I said above, it was so much fun that I didn't even realize how much time had passed, but at the same time, I often felt like there was something missing while playing the game.

- Since there are only four minigames in the main content, Maid Cafe Operation: Drawing with Ketchup, Taking a Picture with a Maid, Shaking a Shake, and Guessing What You Imagine, it felt repetitive. (I was personally even more disappointed when one of the minigames in the demo version was removed because the game was said to be too long.)

- You can walk around the town, but the things you can interact with are very limited and only progress the story, like buying clothes, furniture, or taking a taxi to the finals venue, so it feels like there's a lack of content.

The SD characters have good expressions and direction, but the standing illustrations are just plain bright.

2. Some direction omissions (maid illustration expressions) → [Scheduled for revision in September 2025 according to the roadmap]

- As mentioned in the advantages above, this game was fun to watch because it had cute and lovely graphics and at the same time had flashy productions despite being dot graphics. However, I thought that some of the productions were missing or insufficient in parts where they appeared infrequently but had a large proportion.

- For example, there were standing illustrations that appeared during conversations (when the story progressed), such as the one where they were smiling brightly even though they were clearly being dragged away by loan sharks (in the case of SD characters, they were dragged away while crying), and the character who wore an eyepatch over his left eye when standing on the right but wore an eyepatch over his right eye when standing on the left, etc. These are characters that you don't see very often while playing the game, but I thought it was a shame that they ruined the immersion in a section that had such a large proportion as the story, which is one of the reasons that make this game worth playing.

finish

Let me wrap it up. It was fun, but it was a disappointing game as of now. The basic game framework was fun, and the story was interesting, so I had fun playing without realizing how much time had passed. However, the fact that there was practically no content outside of the main game, and the parts that were missing during important moments such as the story were disappointing. I think the developer is aware of these parts (shortcomings), and since it is written in the update roadmap that they will add/modify them, I think it is a game that you should buy first and wait to play, or buy later after a certain amount of updates have been made.