Marking this "Not Recommended" over the structure of the "couch co-op" to serve as a buyer beware for anyone looking for an actual co-op experience. The split screen featured in the ad and "couch co-op" declared in the product description definitely made us think we were getting one.

Wife and I were excited to have another game we could play together, having logged hundreds of hours on the likes of Stardew Valley. The game is exactly as we hoped---cozy, cute, and scratching the itch of a peaceful farm/craft sort of game. However the co-op mode is excruciating because of a major design flaw: entering or exiting any house or different area transfers both players to that zone. This mean no one gets to play the game because separating from each other at all just results in you being tethered back to where the other is at all times. The game works in day cycles where you go to sleep at night. So say you start the day--you head to the post office to do a mission there, you're almost at the door, but alas! Your co-op partner entered the Tavern, so now you're both in the tavern. The only thing to do there is to talk to an NPC, and as all progress is shared in co-op (resources etc.), you get identical dialogue boxes, so there's absolutely no point for you to be there to talk to that NPC as well. Rinse and repeat with everything you can do.

We loved the vibe and what the game is going for (I'm certain it achieves it in a single player experience), but this tethering mechanic makes it unplayable as a two player experience. We REALLY hope the dev decides to patch in a true co-op experience, as you might as well play single player and pass the controller back and forth as that functionally mimics almost exactly what is going on currently. Kills me to leave a thumbs down as this is exactly the sort of game I want to be made!


Also---Honorable mention to bugs in co-op. The dev seems good natured and I think they'll patch this stuff as fast as they can so I wouldn't mention it save for their decision to release early with a confident statement that the game was fully functional. Purchasing/furniture placement are major parts of the game. They either weren't tested in co-op or deliberately ignored.

1) HUD popup around interactables is bugged in co-op to stay on screen when the tethering mechanic is triggered while displayed.
2) Player 2 cannot see the HUD for purchasing market goods. The pop-up instead appears on player 1's screen, but only if you rotate the camera to a specific angle that it seems to spawn in.
3) Moving furniture in your bakery often goes berserk in co-op. I think it's if player 2 touches the lifted furniture object while being moved. It tweaks out, clips all over the place and you have to spam click accept to try and get it to place in a legal placement area to try again.

I've been looking for a cute, cozy sim game that I could play couch co op with my 8yo daughter and this is finally it! I played with keyboard/mouse and we connected our xbox controller via bluetooth to steam for her. We had zero issues with starting the game together and playing for a couple hours. We had a blast each designing our own bunny and being able to run around and do separate tasks at the same time (yay split screen and shared inventory!). Some might find it annoying that when one person goes through a doorway, you both end up in the new building/area, but it's a plus for us since there were times she would get lost and I'd be able to bring her back to me. I originally expected to only play this game with her, but now I want to start a solo game, too!

This game is super cute and cozy! A nice, chill experience that doesn't make you feel rushed, has cute bunnies, and you can do everything at your own pace as fast or slow as you want.

The dev is an awesome guy who was really receptive to feedback in beta, and it was a pleasure to work with him to bring KS rewards to life in the game. I was really happy that he was able to make a cat plushie furniture item for me as my KS reward in-game that you can buy, to memorialize of one of my kitties that passed away. 😭❤️❤️❤️ That means the world to me! Thank you!!

Looking forward to diving deeper into the game now that it's officially released!