Opening the Tavern
Brewess Development Blog #1
Hail fellow, well met!
I’m Gavin Spoors, one of the writers working on Brewess at Fairer Games. I have the pleasure of kicking off our development blog with a look into how we’ve managed to put together a demo due to launch alongside this year’s London Games Festival.
For those who don’t know, Brewess is a historical narrative adventure game that tasks players with running a successful ale house in 16th century East Anglia. Whilst the stakes can be quite high - particularly for a woman living during the witch-hunts of the late 1500s - Brewess is ultimately a cosy game where you brew ales with the help of your cat and forge meaningful relationships with the locals to help grow your brewing empire.
Early key art for Brewess (Dwyn D’Alton Goode)
It seems surreal that in a matter of months we have a fully playable demo nearly ready to launch and are part of the London Games Festival 2023’s Official Selection with a team as small as ours. Led by our fearless leader Robin Milton, founder of Fairer Games and project lead on Brewess, we are a team of seven individuals from different creative backgrounds. Fairer Games’ mission statement is to focus on diversity within the games we make and in the team creating those worlds. It’s why the team is currently made up of mostly queer and neurodivergent creatives who can’t wait to introduce you to the colourful cast of characters in Brewess.
Another core part of Fairer Games’ and Brewess’ identity is its roots in the fine city of Norwich. The studio is based in Norwich and most of us working on the project are either living in or have lived there. Robin is a passionate advocate for the local games development scene there, so it comes as no surprise that Brewess is unapologetically Norfolk in tone and setting. As a team, however, we work remotely to accommodate those of us that live across the country; from South London to Newcastle.
Whilst that can present some challenges to overcome, this way of working has given each of us the flexibility to work how we want, when we want, where we want. Some of us work as freelancers or with full-time jobs on top of developing Brewess, so working to our own schedules has allowed us to properly manage our time and energy levels so we can make Brewess the best game it can possibly be.
Robin being charmed by the cat during an online meeting (Fairer Games)
Making games can be a costly and difficult endeavour, which is why we’re so fortunate to be supported by numerous funds and accelerator programmes. Fairer Games was first selected to take part in the very first Coutts Interactive Entertainment Accelerator, which helps businesses in the game industry grow through coaching and networking. The studio was also selected to join the latest cohorts of the Creative Enterprise and Ukie’s Games Foundations Programme, a BFI-funded programme that supports early stage developers and their games by providing business advice and support.
Perhaps most crucially, Fairer Games was selected for round nine of the UK Games Fund, which provided the funds required to bring Brewess to life. Robin has been able to bring people on board to work on the project such as an art director, a programmer, a historian - and of course myself! Finally, Fairer Games was selected to join the Games London Accelerator programme which not only gave Robin and the studio support and guidance, but also a spot in the London Games Festival.
It’s incredible to be so fortunate - but it also means we have to come out of the gate with an amazing demo for you all! The aim for our playable demo is to show off Dwyn’s (our amazing art director and fellow writer) gorgeous artwork whilst introducing 1500s Norwich, some of the characters you’ll be befriending (or making enemies out of), the brewing gameplay, the dialogue options that define your character and advance the branching narrative, and of course your helpful/unhelpful cat. No pressure then…
Robin, Dwyn and Gavin at the OLL XP event (Fairer Games)
We had mere weeks to get something together as we were due to be showcasing the game at the OLL XP games festival. This was our first public showing of Brewess and on home turf no less. In the end we had produced what we dubbed a “narrative teaser”: an interactive narrative build of the eventual demo created in Inky that also featured some of the imagery we plan on using in the final version. Although it wasn’t quite what we had envisioned in presenting at OLL XP, the reception was beyond anything we could have imagined.
Players were taken aback by the striking visuals, intrigued by the storyline and smitten by one cheeky kitty. After hearing everyone’s thoughts on our “cosy” game, we knew we were on the right track. Since then we have been able to plough on and level up the demo. We are incredibly excited for you all to get your hands on Brewess and see players concoct beverages and fall in love with the cast of characters that await you.
Be safe and see you in the tavern!
For more details and updates, visit our website.
Post Author; Gavin Spoors
Gavin is an LGBTQ+ writer who specialises in narrative design within films and games. He is bringing our characters to life with witty and authentic dialogue, helping players fall in love with our tavern’s regulars.
Find more of his work at www.gavinspoors.co.uk
