Sips and Sonnets

Earlier this year, I was given the opportunity to do a backtrack review of 2024’s Backspace Backspace Backspace, an interesting visual novel that took a look at what it means to be a writer. It was a delightful experience, and I was very happy to find out that the developers of that game, Blue Tango Street, were returning with a second game only a year later. It always surprises me at what rate indie developers can create stunning games, and I am very happy to report that that’s the case here too.

In Sips and Sonnets, you play as Ms Meadows, a retired journalist who now runs her own tea shop in the British countryside. While she doesn’t have that many customers due to living in such a small town, she instead finds the time to talk to each person who visits her boutique and get inspired by them. Yes, her writing days as a journalist might be over, but her passion for poetry – given to her through her best and oldest friend – runs deep.

During the day, you will meet the people who visit Ms Meadows’ shop and serve them the tea they want, or maybe the tea they need instead. You’ll meet a small number of people, both new faces and ones you’re more acquainted with, as you are eagerly looking forward to a visit from your best friend, as she’s due to come back from a long trip abroad.

The game revolves around making tea in a minigame, sort of like a slightly more limited version of what games like Coffee Talk and Tavern Talk have made so popular, and the conversations you have with your visitors. These range from a young up-and-coming athlete to a biologist or an old colleague and dear friend. Because you’re such a nice old woman – and being nice is not optional, as the developers mention on the game’s Steam page – these various people feel comfortable enough to share their stories with you. Choosing how to help these customers will influence their stories, with the game having different endings depending on what you say.

And let’s just get it out there: these conversations are incredibly wholesome and so very eloquently written. If you played Backspace Backspace Backspace before this – and you should! – this will come as no surprise, but I was just smitten with some of the language used in Sips and Sonnets. Yes, there is the poetry aspect of the game, of course, but the conversations are just written with so much grace and beauty.

Not everyone will be as easy to talk to, though. The nurse who comes by every evening is far more closed off, and try as you might, it can feel impossible to get her to open up to you, even if you don’t know why that is. Luckily, there’s the visit of your friend to look forward to, which keeps morale high even on the days when life is just that little bit tougher.

It helps that these conversations are brought to life by some top-tier voice talent as well, among which you’ll surely recognise Baldur’s Gate 3’s Bethan Dixon Bate and Disco Elysium’s Lenval Brown. It’s a lot of fun to hear these pretty epic voices in a far more down-to-earth game.

In general, this is just an incredibly wholesome game that seems to be going under the radar somewhat. Whether it’s learning more about the different kinds of tea you can offer, or the stories Ms Meadows tells about her memories travelling the world as a young reporter, or even the memories she shared with her oldest friend – it’s just all a joy to listen to. Sips and Sonnets also manages to give the game’s protagonists a lot of depth and history without having to go into darker subject matter. These people feel real, not like caricatures you might see in lesser games in the genre.

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t any darkness in the game at all. I can’t really mention why that is, as I’d be going into major spoiler territory, but the game does have an important message hidden within it, no matter which ending you’re getting. All I can say is that Sips and Sonnets deals with real humanity and the various ways that can present itself: through the people we meet, the relationships we form, and the ways we find to communicate with each other.

I also need to mention the poetry aspect of the game. Ms Meadows has always been a big poetry fan and has kept on writing even after her journalism days came to an end. At the start of the game, she’s just started on a new poem, one that she wants to finish before her best friend shows up. For that poem, you get to choose a number of words from a set of suggestions. These suggestions will be based on a couple of choices you make, depending on how that day’s visitors have influenced you.

It’s not the most engaging mini-game, but it does feel nice to be able to shape the tone of the poem you’re going to be showing someone you love. It’s a nice little addition, although I would’ve loved it if it were even more adaptive. I just felt like it was a shame that for certain positions, you only had one word that actually fit, and it would have been amazing if there was slightly more choice. But still, that does not detract from the quality of this game and its gorgeous narrative.