BEAR AND BREAKFAST REVIEW SERIES

But you can’t help but feel a growing sense of unease about the whole thing. The animals see the return of humans as beneficial because it will bring trash (which is a currency for them) and it will make the Valley feel more lively again. There are hints at the moral issues of bringing humans back to the Valley, but it all seems to go over Hank’s head. You get the sense that there’s something sinister behind the admittedly already suspicious exterior. Image: Gummy Catįin frequently takes jabs at Hank for his intelligence (or perceived lack thereof) and spits out nonsensical platitudes that are secretly sales pitches for other scams. The details of their personalities are drip fed to you between quests and it motivated me to slog through the often repetitive quests, just to catch another snippet of priceless dialogue. These animal characters are so nuanced that even though they possess negative qualities and unkind character traits, it’s amusing to try to unravel what makes them tick and maybe even see the nice person (animal) beneath the facade. Meanwhile, Gus the opossum prides himself on being a bad guy so much that if you compliment him in any way, he will fly off the handle. Ipswitch, the turkey who works at the service station, believes that ‘striving towards any achievement is like trying to mop away the ocean’. This makes for some genuinely hilarious dialogue.Įvery character in Bear and Breakfast seems to be either weighed down by the meaninglessness of existence or ridiculously self-involved to the point of being out of touch with reality. There’s a clear nihilistic tone to everything they say, but Hank is too naive or intentionally ignorant to understand.

BEAR AND BREAKFAST REVIEW SERIES

Image: Gummy CatĪlong the way, you’ll meet a variety of the Valley’s animal inhabitants – most of whom are certifiably insane – who will send you on a series of fetch quests before they decide that you’re friends. You need to strike a balance between these management elements and completing main story quests, because you can only progress so far in one facet before hitting a roadblock in the other they’re cleverly designed to go hand in hand.

You only unlock the ability to cook – that all-important breakfast in the equation – around halfway through the main story, and it gradually becomes more challenging to juggle all your priorities. There are five hotels to unlock around the Valley, and each will add new variables to the mix. Additionally, there may be requests for specific drawcards in each location, such as a distillery or a campfire. Guests need to be matched to rooms based on their requirements – factors including comfort, decorations, hygiene, etc. This becomes a bit monotonous once you get familiar with the formula, but the interior design element involved is enjoyable nonetheless. When you find a new location for a B&B, you’ll need to clean it up and restore it to serviceable condition, as well as build and decorate rooms before assigning guests to them. You’ll explore the Valley on foot, meet new friends, scout and repair new locations for hotels, collect building materials and pick up trash to trade for furniture from Took the raccoon (is that an Animal Crossing reference?) to build your empire.

You meet Fin, a stuffed shark with a speaker strapped to it, who with quick wits and an opportunistic approach, tricks Hank into working for the conglomerate Pawn Voyage to franchise a chain of B&Bs, with the goal of bringing human tourists back to the Valley. Bet you didn’t expect a game about a bear running a bed and breakfast to be lowkey post-apocalyptic, did you? It has fallen into a state of decay, after being ravaged by fire, so only animals and a few humans roam the wastelands now. When Hank’s mother asks you and your besties Anni and Will to venture out of The Thicket for supplies one day, it becomes apparent that the Valley beyond your little pocket of safety was once occupied by humans. He’s just single-handedly running a chain of bed and breakfasts while trying to solve the major economic and environmental issues the world is facing – and making friends along the way too.īear and Breakfast is a life sim B&B management RPG where you play as Hank, a wide-eyed brown bear, who quickly goes from living a simple life in a woodland cottage with his mother and two best friends to being a well-travelled property tycoon.

There’s a bear wearing pants and a trucker cap decorating your hotel room while you sleep, but there’s nothing weird about it, I swear.

Bear and breakfast review