Starbrew Cafe: Mystical Merge 4+

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.

I’ve really been enjoying this game. The merges are satisfying and it’s really nice to pop in throughout the day. I really like the art style and the story is very well written. Interesting plot and very diverse characters. I’ve been consistently ahead of the updates in the story and noticed it’s been more difficult to progress due to higher and higher task goals, but this makes sense as I’m sure it takes a while to get writing done for the dialogue. I respect the writers are taking their time and not rushing! Looking forward to future updates 👍🏼

One suggestion I have for future updates would be to make it a bit easier to get around the map. It would be nice to have a max zoom out or map mode to see all the progress made without having to click and drag all around. Also, it would be nice to have the ability to go back through the story or be able to see a table of contents of some sort to be able to replay past story dialogue and see how far in the story I’ve gotten. Just my two cents!