I’ve never been a coffee person in the slightest; tea had always been the drink for me. Growing up, my tea diet was mainly Earl Grey and Chinese tea served at Chinese restaurants. Recently, I had come across the concept of tea bars — places that would hand-brew tea for their patrons. It was a wonderful experience, learning about my drink of choice — origins, brewing methods, and the like. Two leaves and a bud, a game by Flying Robot Studios is a tea growing simulator, and plays on a lot of the knowledge I had gained there.
The place was cozy, and the host — highly knowledgeable. There were your traditional Oolongs, Japanese Matcha, and a host of other tea varieties from around the world. Within Two leaves and a bud, the game tasks you as the owner of a tea plantation.
From there, you learn the various methods to grow and process various teas. The machinery was rather interesting as it came pretty close to the actual thing. This game is largely a management sim, so it came with the worker placement and starter currency.
I learned to manage my plots of land whilst getting the leaves in the processor on time. What I really enjoyed about the processing was how each “recipe” detailed the exact settings of each process. Of course, this being a video game — was simplified heavily. The various teas had different growth conditions, but again the flavour text displayed a wide variety of information regarding their origins and flavour profiles.
The game was very enjoyable, but it being in Early Access meant that I had come across a couple of bugs. The UI was a little wonky and froze at times. Despite that, it didn’t fully take away from the experience of Two leaves and a bud. This game has plenty of potential, and I look forward to seeing what the devs have in store next.
Grab Two leaves and a bud in Early Access on Steam.