The Wild Gentlemen has announced that they’re releasing Zipp’s Café, a prologue game to their upcoming Chicken Police: Into the Hive. it’s said to “cost as much as a small coffee” when it releases on November 15. I don’t drink coffee, so I don’t know how much that is.
Zipp’s Café casts you as the eponymous Zipp, proprietor of the Hop Dog. Zipp made an appearance in Chicken Police: Paint it Red as someone who reluctantly helps protagonists Marty and Sonny, even after some previous unpleasantries. The game has you running the Hop Dog and serving a variety of regulars while getting the scoop on Clawville. It’s plain that this is largely a worldbuilding game, but it includes three “full” mini-games, which are dishwashing, coffee making, and cooking. The Hop Dog has the best coffee in all of Clawville, but no one knows why.
There’s a lot of unexplored lore in the noir-styled Chicken Police series. The world is equal parts gritty and vibrant, but it’s obvious that The Wild Gentlemen have poured a lot of love into sketching out the details. I imagine that Zipp’s Café is a fun dive for them, as it helps establish more backstory in preparation for Chicken Police: Into the Hive.
Oh, and to top it off, the press release teases that it will tie into “other unannounced projects too.” Pulp novels!? Are the unannounced projects going to be pulp novels!? Considering how much I loved Chicken Police: Paint it Red, I am very eager to dive into more of the universe.
Zipp’s Café is coming to PC on November 15, 2023 for the price of “a small coffee.”
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