Sitting alongside ever-popular indie franchises such as roguelikes, farming and cat hunting (my favourite waste of time), visual novels continue to be in the conversation. Short stories which players can click their way through can create some of the finest dialogue and narrative in gaming. I admit, I haven't played all too many but recently loved The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog - which you can play entirely for free via Steam - and that's left an itch that needs scratching.
As a proud British person who frequents the bread bin for a pair of morning crumpets, I'm very excited about the premise of a small town tea shop visual novel. Step up, Sips and Sonnets. Developed by Blue Tango Street, Sips and Sonnets places us in charge of Ms Meadows tea shop as she prepares for her best friend's long-awaited visit.
Sips and Sonnets trailer
In the game we will brew tea, craft poems and converse with townsfolk in a game rich in British charm. Ms Meadows is voiced by Bethan Dixon Bate who voiced characters including Vlaakith, Cashguard Helenia and Goblin Booyahg in Baldur's Gate 3; as well Lenval Brown who played the narrator in Disco Elysium, delivering over 300,000 words in the process.
The game places emphasis on the choices we make and offers multiple endings across its approachable 2-3 runtime. I'm genuinely considering getting this downloaded on Steam Deck and popping off to a countryside tea shop for a few hours for total immersion.
Sips and Sonnets releases 12 September 2025 on Steam. In the meantime, I'm going to pickup their only other previous Steam release, Backspace Backspace Backspace for the grand price of 89p (about one USD) to see what the developers are all about.
Are you a fan of visual novels? If so, drop a few suggestions in the comments for me and other members of the GSC community to try. For more news and coverage of Sips and Sonnets, stick with Gamer Social Club as we approach launch next month.
