Love at The Milky Way Diner
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux
A LGBT-friendly cozy sci-fi cooking/dating sim about making friends, finding love, and running a diner in deep space.
Want to help us make the full game? Please consider backing our kickstarter, which ends on July 10th!
200 years after first contact, humanity is still trying to find their place in a galaxy full of far more advanced and established species.
One such human, our protagonist, has recently been laid off from their corporate job on Mars when news reaches them; their distant aunt Cassiopia has passed away suddenly, and she would like one of her relatives to take over her restaurant on the distant deep space station Hesperides.
The protagonist decides to take a leap of faith. They may have never left their home start system of Helios, but surely there must be something (or maybe someone) better out there waiting for them.
When they reach the station they find themselves welcomed by a vibrant, multi-species community of eccentric individuals who are only too happy to welcome the new owner of their favorite place to eat.
Love at the Milky Way Diner is a game about cultural exchange through food, building community, and finding love in the process.
In order to lower the initial cost of development, we have elected to try and fund a shorter version of "Love at the Milky Way Diner" first
This new version of the game will take about 6-8 hours to play through.
We've decided this new structure will take the form of a “common story”, in which the player gets to run their diner, and gets to know and flirt with the characters; gathering affection points for their favourite love interest.
Certain story beats that would have originally been saved for individual character routes will be added to flesh out the characters and gameplay more. The focus would be more so on getting to know the cast as a whole, and the budding romantic connections you choose to foster.
The idea is to have a satisfying version of the story that can stand on its own, while still allowing us to add individual character romance routes as stretch goals, or for DLC routes for each character to be released later.
This base game will cover the player's fist month of running the Milky Way Diner, culminating in a cute first date with the character you have gained the most affection points with.
As we reach our stretch goals, free romance route DLCs will be added for each character as well. We anticipate each of these routes will have about 3 hours playtime.
This means an extra 27 hours of free gameplay if we unlock all the characters (twice the original game's scope) in addition to the base game's 6-8 hour playtime.
In this game you will get to experiment and cook over 40 different dishes with a rotating selection of ingredients that differ week by week.
Your choices will also dictate what ingredients and cooking methods are available to you.
Learning the favorite dishes of your love interests will help you gain their affection, but you will also have to build connections and friendships with other characters to obtain the cookware and ingredients you are missing.
The demo contains just over 20000 words or 1-1.5 hours of expected gameplay!
The demo includes
-alcohol consumption
- recreational substance use
-strong language
The full game is planned to also include
-implied/non-explicit sexual content
-light violence
-discussions on heavy topics like death, ptsd, family drama, and space politics
Feedback Form
Notice any bugs or errors, please let us know by filling out this form so we can fix the problem ASAP!
https://forms.gle/VeVDJ5Wcsy4cMLjP6
You can find more infos here
UPDATED APRIL 1st
bug fixes, minor typo corrections
Status | Released |
Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux |
Rating | Rated 4.8 out of 5 stars (101 total ratings) |
Author | Clumsy Cat Studio |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Made with | Ren'Py |
Tags | Amare, Cooking, Dating Sim, Gay, LGBT, Otome, Romance, Sci-fi, Singleplayer |
Average session | About an hour |
Languages | English |
Inputs | Keyboard, Mouse |
Accessibility | Subtitles, High-contrast, Interactive tutorial |
Links | Kickstarter |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- Love at the Milky Way Diner: 1 Week Kickstarter update.Jun 17, 2024
- "Love at the Milky Way Diner" Kickstarter LaunchJun 10, 2024
- What's next for "Love at the Milky Way Diner"May 30, 2024
- Cooking tutorial added.Apr 04, 2024
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
Awesome game and very relaxing, I'm a big fan of sci-fi and love anything space themed, so this game is a win for me. ^-^ Keep up the good work.
Does she/him/they have a store we’re I can buy the stuff?
Hiya! I was wondering if you guys are continuing with this project? Because, this game is honestly wonderful and really nice! :D I'm just wondering because the page hasn't been updated in 52 days.
Chill out 😭 the game's still new. It's only worrying when they dont update for years. 50-100 days is normal for games that are high quality like this
I absolutely enjoy the vibrant colors, lore, characters, and calm cooking environment! I hope to see more in the future and hopefully play the full game! Also, where I thought I saw a bug with the Roon there wasn't any. I accidentally named the Roon, my MC's name was my fault. A false alarm since I got a bit confused thinking the Roon would call the MC a nickname. So, apologies for that! Anyway, besides that I think this game is promising! I hope to learn more about the characters soon! Especially Setteth, Ka'el, Aedar, and Shiwoo.
I just finished the demo and may I just say I AM SO IN LOVE WITH THIS GAME! I cannot wait to buy the full version and am hoping all goes well with you CC Studios!!!
Side note I love Aedar so much, he is such a cutie! I know I'll be losing quite the few hours of sleep when it comes out because I was trying my best to extend the first meeting, I had with him LOL!
Ugh im in love with Setteth and La'ro. I cant wait for the full version
AAA!! Just learned to donate at Kickstarter!! I'm so pumped, although $5.00 isn't much it's all I had in my bank 😅😅
This game rocks!! Good luck Clumsy Cat Studio! <3
Setteth is probably my favorite, but all the characters are so fun and vibrant. The cooking was a little confusing, not on the mechanics, but how to find the recipes. It'd be really cool to get a recipe book to fill up, so you wouldn't have to memorize them just after you makes them the first time.
Hello, the discord link doesn't work anymore, would it be possible to have a new one? Also, will the add-ons be available for digital tiers after the campaign via backerkit? If so, will it be possible to buy photocards individually ?
Here's a fresh discord link! https://discord.gg/JqZ4D6hp
As for the backerkit, we'll see if we can include some for folks to add on! However the photo cards will only be available asa set.
Thank you for the link! And sweet, i will be sure to get it if you guys do
WAIT HOW DO I USE THE KICKSTARTER TO DONATE 😿
someone help a girl out, I swear I have money! :(
Go to the kickstarter page, select what level you'd like to back at, input your info and you're set! if we're successful you'll be charged on the 10th and if we fail, you won't be charged at all :)
thank you for your support!!
Oh my god!! Thanks!! You're so awesome, this game will be fantastic! <333 (I really hope I can donate, I have money at the moment I'm just bad at using my laptop.)
oh man, I completely missed the fact that this was only still a demo; you cannot imagine my dissapointment upon coming across the "end of demo screen" lol. Well, either way, that just speaks to my enjoyment of the game so far!
For a demo, it doesn't feel too lengthy nor too short; it comes to a satisfying conclusion while still leaving you wanting to live in the world a little more. The cooking mechanic is shaping up to be a super cool addition to the world building, especially with all the new ingredients.
Speaking of the lore behind the world, MAN. It is all so intricately crafted, one can tell so much care went into the world-building. And that makes it all the more fun to explore! Really, it is a treat to actively explore and learn more about the world as the story progresses. I'm also very relieved at the fact that the exposition isn't too piled on to the point of getting too much to get your head around; alot of fantasy-like games fall into that trap! Yet here it is cohesive and yet ever-expanding.
The character's are really likeable, but that's about all I can say at the moment as we haven't truly gotten to know them yet; which I am looking forward to.
I have very few criticisms, and they are so minor they barely stand up against my vast praises. For one, I wish there was just a bit more variety in choices presented to the player. One such example I can think of is either fully buying into Ka'era's (gosh I hope I'm remembering the name right) romance path from the very beggining or being a bit too standofish for my personal liking. It would be nice if the romance aspects of the game were more of a , well, choice. Like how, when the security guy catches us, MC's monolgue regardless of prior choices comments on how "handsome" he is. Overall, I think the player experience would feel alot more representative and immersive if, say, we were given more choices than just two in each given scenario. These, of course, don't have to have a greater impact on the story as a whole, moreso just helping the player to identify a little more in their role as MC.
Otherwise, I also feel that having two whole other humans in the story, as charming personalities as they have, hinders the fun trope of supposedly being the only human on board. Not only that, but it also takes up valuable character slots which could've been used to expand upon the diversity of alien species present in the story. I also think, especially with the established species diversity, that it would've been super cool to include a character or two that lay somewhere other than the two ends of the human gender spectrum, whether that may be on an "identity" basline or biological(since the possibilites are endless in a setting like this)
All in all, something I'm really looking forward to seeing more of: 5/5
thank you so much for your review and your feedback! It’s very appreciated and we’re so happy you enjoyed your time with the demo. Hopefully we reach our goal and get to make the full version for you to enjoy!
VERY CUTE!!!!! I love the setting and it's clear that a lot of work was put into building up the lore of the universe. I can't wait to have the chance to dive deep into learning all about the history of this game's universe, it seems really interesting! Also, just as an aside, I would love to see some really weird looking aliens, the anthro ones are cool and pretty and cute and handsome and lovely, but I would love to see some really freaky looking characters show up.
I could def get behind your point on less anthropomorphised aliens!
thank you for your feedback! I wanted to make some of them freakier but… ended up chickening out. Happy you enjoyed the demo!! 💕
THE CUTEST!!!! THE CUTEST!!! THE CUTEST!@~!!!!!!!!!111!!!
I just love, love, love everything about this game so much! I really hope the kickstarter is successful so that this wonderful world of yours can be further explored! I'm not able to donate, but I'll definitely share it around to reach more people :D
Shiwoo and Ka'el are so hot meeeOOWWWW
Also v happy to see Korean representation heck yeah
RAAH!! I love this! Fantastic job!!
thank you!!! 💕💕
How do you make the summer cake? I'm struggling😭
Sweetner, soymilk, flour, atlas beans in the oven 💕
Thanks babes!
yeah lol, I kept trying to make it in a pan bc I thought it was going to be more like a pancake
WE'RE GONNA DO THIS YALL!!!!
If this kickstarter doesn't get to it's goal i'm going to shed tears.
Real. I think my life will actually be over. BUT IM TOO YOUNG TO DIE SO WE HAVE TO REACH THE GOAL!!!!
That game is so cute aaaah, has to be one of my favorite visual novels I've tried even if it's just a demo for now!! I can't donate anything on Kickstarter sadly ;-; but I'm so excited to try the full game ! Will it be free to play ?
so happy you enjoyed it! Sadly given the amount of work it takes we will need to charge for it. The price will be about $18 CAD and it will release next year (if funding is successful)
I loved this so much!! Can't wait for the full game!! My fine Shiwoo, cutie pie smoochable Aedar and bb girl La'ro, wait for meee.
The game was super fun! I had trouble with the cooking section for the summer cake but other than that I had such a good time playing!I can't wait for future updates and for the full release.
happy you enjoyed it! We’ll be adding some more hints into the full release to make it a bit easier for folks 💕
shiwoo and aedar let me smooch you
they are so smoochable 🥰
I just finished playing the demo, (and donating kickstart teehee) I really liked the characters and the art! The colors are super awesomesauce and the cooking feature is super fun too! But- it can be complicated sometimes. It took me a while to figure out how to make summercake (//ω//).. BUT!!! Still SUPER awesome :D I really like it and I hope you guys reach your goal and get it funded so it can be a full game! Im really excited for the full game :P
(i also love shiwoo plz more shiwoo content/hj)
Thank you so much for supporting the game! We're so happy you enjoyed the demo :)
We'll be looking into a hints button for the full version, so hopefully that way folks can have an easier time!
I just finished playing the demo and this game is so cute!! I love the vibes and the characters <3 I hope it gets funded!!
thank you so much for playing!! We're so happy you enjoyed it! :D
We're gonna keep promoting it till we can't promote anymore :)
I can't access this because my laptop says this might damage my laptop.RAAAH!! I want this game so bad! :(
if you're on a Mac there are a couple hoops you have to jump through to get games from unidentified developers to run (I even had to do it myself to run the game on my computer), but it is possible! A google will give you all the tutorials you might need!
I am on windows, I'm so grateful for such an angelic reply though!! I will ask google for help. :)
AHHHHHHHHH i LOVE this game and everything about it, it's like it was made for me!!!! I LOVE Aedar and Shiwoo so much and i can't wait for the full release!
So happy you enjoyed it! We're gonna do everything we can to make the full release happen :D
All the compliments to the background/character designs ofc, and I liked getting to make inferences in the cooking segments! Ka'el is great, I've got a soft spot for Shiwoo, and learning Setteth's greetings was a cool moment :o) Stellar cast all around !
I'm glad this has been gaining traction, I really hope it succeeds!! I'll have to see if I can pledge later on, I want that photocard haha
Thank you so much for playing the demo! We're happy you had a good time and enjoyed the cast!!
We're gonna keep promoting the game and hopefully have a successful campaign!
The perfect game for pride month
❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜🩷
I like the demo so far but the cooking is a bit frustrating. How am I suppose to make an arulian summercake? It would be nice if there was a recipe in the game cause I can't figure out which ingredients to use.
I’m sorry you’re feeling frustrated. The idea was to have a puzzle aspect to the game, but we’ll look into adding a hints button in a future update.
If you want to make the summer cake, put atlas beans, milk, sweetener and flour in the oven :)
Hey! Thank you for your reply! It would be cool if you guys could add a hint button in the future! :3 Despite the struggles (I ended up making him a different dessert but he seemed to have liked it anyway! xD) I really enjoyed the demo though and I look forward to the full game. ^_^
And weird! I thought I tried out the combo of ingredients you've mentioned. D: Does it have to be in a specific order as well? Anyway, thanks for the tip, I'll try it out now. ^_^
i think the option to get a refresher on the dialogue prior to cooking would be a good way for folks with crappy memory like me lol
I just discovered that you are able to look at past dialogue by clicking on "history" which shows all past dialogue and who said it which is super helpful
Despite only being a demo, this game easily has to be my favorite visual novel I've ever played (and frankly, I've played an almost sad amount) and has everything I love from sci-fi and cozy games. I'm really rooting for y'all with the kickstarter! There's so much passion and personality here that me and many others would adore to be explored.
really cute demo, I had a lot of fun!
thank you Light! happy you enjoyed it! :D
I cannot stress how much I adore this game. It has easily become one of my favourites. I also absolutely adore each and every one of the characters which is actually quite rare for me.
I'm definitely going to give some money to the kickstarter when I finally get paid for my job. I need to see this game so bad!!!
Thank you so much for your support Tannie! We're so happy the game has resonated with you so much :)
REALLLLLLL La'ro might have to catch these hands though (ToT)
ughhhh i looooove the space aesthetic brooo i cannot wait to see more of this game
Thank you so much! We really hope we can move forwards and make the full game very soon :)
THIS GAME IS SO CUTE I'M DYING
I WANNA EAT THESE SPRITES THEY'RE SO AWHFDGATFY
srsly tho, this game is so freaking cute, I love the art, I love the minigame, I love the characters
EVERYTHING
I LOVE IT
Thank you very much!! We're so happy you enjoyed the demo :D
So glad I finally got around to downloading and playing this! I am so hyped to see what a fully funded version of this looks like. I was intimidated by the cooking element at first but so far it seems super lax and fun! I love the art style, its fun and lends itself to being a very pretty game. The drinks and food all look so polished and tangible, such cool designs.
I know this is uncommon in dating sim games like this but how RAD would it be to be able to create your character, once again i am just so in love with the art... I think it would be super fun if you could play as the different species as well (I know very unlikely but gah i just love it all lol.)
I will most definitely be putting funds towards this. If you like cozy space vibes, cooking, and all around a fun atmosphere give this demo a try!
Thank you so much for the lovely review and for your support! We loved making the game so much.
Maybe in the future we might look into making a picrew for the game so players can make their own avatar outside of the game, but for now we've gotta focus on finishing what we've set out to do.
Thank again for supporting our dream project
This was a lovely demo that really showcased how much love and care your team put in! The backgrounds were stunning and I could really see that someone with a mastery of colors went all out. Seriously, super pretty! And speaking of pretty, the CHARACTERS!! Absolutely adored the softness of their designs and their personalities were all so endearing (with Aedar and Ka'el being my faves <3) And lastly all the drinks/food in this universe were so well designed too! It's a shame I'll never get to actually taste them :')
Wishing all the best for the success of the full game!
thank you so much! We're thrilled you enjoyed our demo and it's cast <3
we actually posted a couple irl recipes for two of the drinks on our socials (@pastelgrandma on twitter and TikTok) if you want to try making them for yourself! :D
omg dreams do come true
I love it!!! >o<
thank you!! 💕
Hello there! Gosh, I have to say that this game feels like it was made for me. I've always been drawn to space concepts and cute/soft art styles, not to mention the little cooking games! (I'm in love with the creative ingredients and dishes that I've seen so far.)
The characters are soooo lovely and well-designed too! I'm incredibly interested in each of them and I'm looking forward to trying all their routes in the future. I hope to see more of this game soon, it is truly promising! I'll do what I can to support it :D <3
hi!!
thank you so much for playing our demo! We are so happy it resonated with you 💕💕💕
We can’t wait to (hopefully) make the full game a reality!!
Just finished the demo and loved it! I'm really sorry that the Kickstarter didn't go well, but I truly hope you are still making it
thank you so much! We’re happy you enjoyed the demo!
We’re launching another attempt at crowdfunding with an altered scope on the 10th, and you can find all the details on our latest devlog.
We can’t wait to (hopefully!) make the full game for you all 💕
I really liked this one, I hope to see more of it!
hi!! Just wanted to say the love interests are all so well made that I would have a really difficult time picking just one since I love each and every one of them!! Keep up the good work!! And please never give up on this game it brought me so much happiness when I first played it!! Hope you’re having a good day if you’re reading this! <3 Sky They/Them
Thank you so much for your kind message Sky!! We are so happy our demo brought some joy to your day, we are absolutely not giving up! We're exploring other avenue's to tell the story and will be keeping you all updated as the journey goes on!! :,)