Wanderstop Preview: A Hard-Hitting Cup of Tea

Spearheading the day-to-day at a video game outlet of our own creation is a dream come true. Never in my life would I have thought this is where my path would take me, and I’m beyond grateful we have a platform where people like you, reading this preview, actually care about these words. But there’s a side of running something like this that’s not all too great—an open secret that not too many acknowledge. Running a gaming outlet, especially one with a small full time crew with ambitious output, is exhausting. It takes a serious toll on your overall well-being.

The unbelievable cornerstone of Six One Indie is the community. I’m lucky to have never been in a situation where I or anyone in the crew faced harassment—an unfortunate and unnecessary reality that comes with the job. For me, the exhaustion has shown up as severe burnout. On top of our regular content, there’s the added challenge of constantly trying to outdo ourselves with each Six One Indie Showcase and now The Indie Game Awards. The work is rewarding, fun, and I miss the grind when I’m not doing it. But this past holiday season taught me the hard lesson that, even if you don’t feel it right away, the grind will eventually catch up and trigger a spiral. I honestly wasn’t okay once we started our holiday break, and it forced me to take a real look at my physical, mental, and emotional sustainability in this line of work.

Now at this point you might be asking, what does any of this have to do with a game where you run a tea shop? Well, based on my time with Wanderstop so far, nearly everything.

Wanderstop is the cozy, narrative-driven debut from Ivy Road, a supergroup-like development team consisting of Davey Wreden (creator of The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide), Karla Zimonja (co-creator of Gone Home and Tacoma), and Daniel “C418” Rosenfeld (the music of Minecraft). The game follows Alta and Boro as they manage a tea shop within a magical forest, tending to the customers who pass through. However, in true Stanley Parable fashion, not everything is as it seems.

The game opens with Alta, a mighty warrior whose sole goal is to become an unbeatable fighter. Eventually, Alta’s undefeated streak comes to an end. She gets knocked down again and again, and finally decides enough is enough—she must become stronger. But soon, the weight of her sword (both literally and figuratively) becomes too heavy to bear, and Alta blacks out. We’re then introduced to Boro at Wanderstop, who offers Alta respite as she regains her strength. The catch? Alta must help Boro run his tea shop. She reluctantly agrees, setting her on a new and less strenuous adventure.

Wanderstop is a cohesive blend of Coffee Talk’s narrative rhythm and barista mechanics with the farming-sim elements you’d find in Stardew Valley (with a hint of Viva Piñata vibes in there, too). The gameplay loop is simple: speak with a character, hear a bit of their story and desired drink order, and execute the drink to perfection. The twist comes when you have to use the hints from customers and consult your field guide to ensure you're using the right ingredients. For example, if a customer wants a minty tea, you’ll need to plant the correct seed in the right formation to grow a fruit with minty elements. Other optional tasks include sweeping leaves and cutting weeds around the shop, though they don’t seem required for progress—unless, of course, a pile of leaves in the middle of a walkway drives you crazy and you just have to clean it up before continuing.

While the loop is simple, it’s fun and reliable. Farming sim fans will love fulfilling tea orders, cleaning up around the shop, and experimenting with new plant and tea variations. But as someone who doesn’t typically play many games of this ilk, I’m relieved that the gameplay doesn’t get in the way of the narrative. The characters and overarching themes is where Wanderstop truly shines. Though he initially gave me severe serial killer vibes, Boro is a gentle giant and the perfect foil to Alta’s “full steam ahead” personality. Alta is aggressive, snarky, and combative, making it clear she doesn’t want to be at the tea shop, let alone help manage it with Boro. She’s brash to his face, but despite her constant verbal assaults, he remains calm, cool, and collected.

As the berating continues, I found myself wondering if there’s something about Boro that we, as players, don’t know. Who is this man? Why is he taking such a beating? Is he real? Could he actually be a serial killer biding his time? Toward the end of the preview, I realized that he’s simply a patient man. Despite giving Alta plenty of time to figure things out, he eventually tells her a hard truth: human beings only have so much energy in the tank. While we may know what we’re capable of, it can all come crashing down when we least expect it. We can brush the dirt off and keep going, but the damage will linger until we collapse and can’t get back up. This is the moment where the narrative took a personal turn, where I saw myself in Alta as clear as day. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and agreed to stay.

With Alta now on board to help out at the tea shop, I have to take a moment to rave about the two customers I met in the preview. The first is an unnamed Demon Hunter whose job is to plant themselves in a community and offer any help necessary. Though demons aren’t much of a threat anymore, the Demon Hunter is lost and simply trying to find their place in the world—a struggle many of us can relate to. The second customer is Gerald, a delightfully delusional knight who just wants his son to think he’s cool. Gerald is a big, lovable doofus. He wears a tie over his suit of armor, does sit-ups in the hope of lifting a witch’s curse, and confuses thievery with treasure hunting. Gerald must be protected at all costs.

These two characters serve a greater purpose than I initially expected. As I saw each one stroll in from the forest, I assumed I’d simply fulfill a tea order and be done. But both I and Alta formed an immediate, unique connection with them. As a player, I found myself wanting to learn more about their lives beyond the forest. As Alta, I saw her slowly let down her guard, opening up in ways she hadn’t before. She came into the tea shop with only one goal: to be the greatest fighter to ever live. Her story was all that mattered, with no room for any subplots. But here she was, showing genuine curiosity about family, community, and the place of others in the world.

Just as Boro did for Alta, sometimes it takes brutal honesty and a willingness to listen to realize how not okay we are. I had that moment with Six One Indie co-founder (and my wife), Kelsey. Wanderstop feels like the kind of experience that, for certain players, will help them be more honest with themselves about their well-being. It’s a game that feels like it’s going to severely mess me up on a deep level. I think many of my colleagues, both within Six One Indie and the larger games industry, would agree that I need the mental ass kicking to further whip me into shape. But for everyone else, it promises a strange, cozy, and wonderful ride with brilliant characters, an intriguing mystery best left unspoiled, and, of course, a good cup of tea.