How I Created a Ghibli Style Bathhouse for My Indie Game 

I think adding benefits to being in the bathhouse is a great idea, maybe talking to npc's while in the bathhouse would increase your relationship with them faster then normal. It could also decrease the amount of energy used for a period of time

A suggestion, since working as a Chef IRL is an extremely stressful job: have a system of stress and it's management where the bathhouse is one of the 'good' ways to reduce the stress

As someone who worked as an architect in the past, you have no idea how much I'm looking forward to this project to be finished. Really loving the aesthetics, and I hope it will be something someone can spend many hours into!

I like the idea of finding sometimes items in the bath tubs because NPCs have lost them.

The first thing I thought of after you mentioned player buffs was that the soap items could be used to give specific, otherwise unobtainable buffs. Gives a purpose to the soap items and also gives people another reason to spend more time at the bathhouse.

I first thought it a bad idea to redo the bathhouse but seeing the result made me change my mind. It looks super cool! But you should ad some notes and stuff to the managers desk right now it looks more like a podium

this somehow gets better with each update. love that you share what you know abt architecture & design while also being open to suggestions & ideas from others. knowing the developer has this mindset rather than the far too common egomaniacal behaviour we witness from ppl on kickstarter is such a nice thing to see. always learning & improving & it is evident in this game’s progress.

A breath holding mini game would be a cool way to create an emotional experience in the water

Updating the water effects will add so much more to the pools, adding more steam or a way for the player to fill the room with steam could also add tons of atmospheric effect.

Hello my friend! I made a point of venturing here on google translator, because I needed to tell you these words. I've been following your works for some time and every day they inspire me more and more. The care in which you work every detail, added to your talent, makes this work something that makes me look forward to consuming it every day. It's something that brings me a lightness that is good for the soul. Sometimes I review the videos I liked the most just to relax. I imagine that sometimes it is very difficult to reconcile everyday things with personal projects (I go through this nowadays). But stay strong. You are producing something amazing! Once your game is out, I'll be able to say it's one of the games I've been happy to buy in my life. Greetings from Rio de Janeiro. Note: Sorry for the ebook I wrote here! 🤣🤣

As an aspiring architect your videos explaining buildings are extremely helpful, also perhaps the soap could be used as a way for the player to heal? So they take it into the baths and use it, in the same way one might wash blood off themselves

This looks so good! I love the parallax effect on the background through the windows. I think you should make the windows a bit tinted (like white) to make the outside view a little more obstructed. It might make a better split between the outside and inside.

I loved what you did in the bathhouse, the new shapes and animations add a lot to the structure, this was very brave as many developers don't update their first ideas leaving them out of place and behind schedule compared to the rest of the game. Now talking about the buffs that the bathhouse can give, I realized that many of the foods require precision to be made, what if the bathhouse gives you relaxation, increasing your accuracy and hit chance (these bonus can be farmed once the player is inside the water, filling a acurration bar, the more your fill more time the player will have the precission bonus, the bonus will slowly decaying once the player leaves the bathhouse or open the restaurant, and if the player sleep the bonus will vanish. This will estimulate the players to stay more time on the bathhouse and better, go more regularly visit the place). If the player is equiped with a swinswit the bar will be bigger (since it will be more comfortable increasing the effect of the warm waters). Ok let's talk about the soap, how about this, on your restaurant you will heave a bathroom to the staf and clients to use, wath if you leave special soaps and lotions on the bathroom, to increase your popularity with the costumer (i love when i go to a restaurant with good smell, specialy when they have nice products on the bathroom, i allways fell so happy, and make me thrust on the place hygiene). I know your game is really far ahead, but i want to give you my character, a train bartender, a human with prosthetic golden arms, that can teach you how to make special drinks, i can make the draw if you want to see. Something i want to know about the train, since i rewatch spirited away today tanks to you kkk, their gonna charge us to ride from a place to another? Are there different tickets that can be purchased at the station? the further he takes us the more expensive he charges us? Are there different classes, like first, second and economy class? If there are, do you think they could have different interactions within them? I really like to see these kinds of details on games, since mostly the things on the world need to be pay. A thing that you can add to the bathhouse too is an acess to the engine room, like on Spirited away, i love the scene whem Kamaji starts to mixes the herbaes and the requests drops, remember me a lot my first work making the ambientation much more real (you can put the acess on the left side on the entrance, since is the side with more machinery). The player can't acess normaly this place, they need to wait the NPC who works on the boilers, go out, he is shy and just leave the boilers at night, if he sees you he will runaway, back to the boilers, if your lucky he will leave the door open, leting the player enter the boilers and interact with him, he can give you special soaps when you bring food, soaps that you can equip on your restaurant bathroom. These ideais will fit perfectly on your game, especially the train part.

I did not know the character sprites had changed, this goes so much better with your beautiful overworld. This bathhouse is so gorgeous.

As for a function inside the bathhouse. I honestly don’t know why, but for some reason I imagine there being like a shady dealer or gambler somewhere in a corner. Changing from place every time you come back and offering unique objects in return for winning a game or doing tasks somewhere. With like a pet of some sort. Which isn’t supposed/ allowed to be inside of the bathhouse 👀 hidden underneath his towel or something 😂 I know it’s very specific 😂 but maybe this could spark some new ideas~✨ Also adding some paper flyers lying around on the ground or bars of soap could make the floor look less empty and more lived in. Or luggage and stuff ^^ Hope this could be of any help~

I love the pumps but they are a little too fast and it kind of messes with the slow, warm, chill theme of the baths.

Those hanging platforms and the pumps really bring the whole thing to a new level ! Though now the water in the actual baths is looking kind of plain… maybe adding texture and animation to it will make it feel more cohesive

The level of detail blows me away every time. Can't wait to get my hands on this game next year and enjoy this wonderful world you've been putting so much love and care into!

The parallax is a great idea, but I think it moves too fast. With scenery that's farther away, the movement should be smaller and more discreet, which is a good thing because currently it attracts a lot (too much) attention I think. Also it might help to have some glass effect if possible? Right now the windows look too clear, almost as if there's no glass at all. Other than that, what a great video! You've definitely improved the bathhouse, it was already one of my fav buildings so far but seeing those improvements makes it even better ♥ Thank you for sharing, as always!

So, so, so many great ideas in this video, but the overarching theme is my favourite of all: I've spent so much time impressed by your architectural savvy that I never thought about how it might be a limiting factor in terms of imaginative, surrealist design. And beyond the ideas, the execution is magnificent and recalls so many great moments from other works of art: Hudsucker Proxy, Super Metroid, Totoro, and Dark City all came to mind. I especially love you addressing access to Aylin's suite, and makes me think there's a lot of room for cut-scenes and "reveals" of some of the interior spaces of the bath-house. This mirrors a lot of the joy of SPIRITED AWAY, and would help highlight the beauty of your pixel art. It would also create goals/objectives within the space that would pull efficient players there, and could also narratively serve to tie the world together (who painted that beautiful tree? is there any other work in town by that artist?, etc.). Either way, wasn't expecting such a massive upgrade to a space I was already impressed by but this was a real treat to watch, keep up the amazing work!

The redone bathhouse looks amazing! At first I was a bit skeptical about getting rid of some of the orange/browns in the hallway and stairs as I love warm colours but you were totally right that the blue adds a great contrast and makes the orange areas seem even warmer too. I also agree that the camera should pan out to give the players a view of the whole bathhouse when you walk up to it on the path. Brilliant work as always!

A possible storyline for the bathhouse that can give unique minigames could be that one of the staff that help Aylin gets sick, so you offer to help at the bathhouse. This can increase friendship with her, whilst also maybe giving you new unlocks/recipes that she shares with you!

You speak calmly, yet clearly. You don't speak so softly that I mishear. You speak very well. You're good at explaining things. The game looks amazing so far.

I am mesmerized, this looks so beautiful! Love all the art in there, but also the calm pace of the video. I am not a game developer but an artist, I liked how you mentioned a lot of design tips! Especially liked the "blue light-red light" one for architecture. BUT you make it look like it's easy peasy, I'm not a programmer but I'm sure it's not ahahah

Continuing with the Spirited Away inspiration - maybe different soaps could be inserted into a steam machine and change the color of the steam, which will give the player a "scent." For example: pink soap -> pink steam -> player smells like strawberries These scents could be a temporary status effect that will alter NPC dialogue and relationships, making it more likely an NPC will/won't want to talk depending on if they like how you smell. I don't think it should be a forced mechanic across the board where players will start to smell "bad," but could be more of an optional or quest-related feature? Great video as always, love seeing your thought process!

Since he bath house can be a big social hub I feel that a lot of character events could happen here. I also think maybe some baby or children npc being held by parents in the water? Just seems like a space where someone would bring their kids.

I am so excited for this game

I feel like the game cover with that anime look does not represent the true beauty of this game and may ignore or not click the steam game preview. Great work keep it up.

I think sound effects will play a large role in an area like this. Faucets turning on and off, steam hissing, the sound of water splashing. I think nice touches could be if all the doors to the toilets aren't closed, if some of the shower heads are dripping, or better yet, if they can be turned on and off! Details like that make the space feel lived-in and real, I think.

I love that you are so transparent with the dev challenges and changes that you make to overcome them. Thank you for sharing your development journey with us normies.

Gameplay suggestion: maybe on rainy days, the changing room could become quite muddy. You'd meet an employee near the door, overworked and in over their head, and you could get a discount on soap / entrance + a friendship point if you help clean up the mud, by borrowing a mop ^^ It could even be done with a timer, minigame-style: you need to clean the mudspots fast enough, or after 30 seconds, Aylin pops in and you get a debuff (getting yourself overworked too, and not succeeding at the task before the owner discovers that things are not running smoothly). No malus of course, if you suceed.

Out of all the big AAA games coming out I’ve had this project on my radar for quite sometime now. I tell my wife all about these update videos and how much she’s going to love this game upon release. I hope your mental health is well during development and I wish you continued success! Enjoy yourself during the upcoming holiday season if you celebrate them!

Maybe for the soap it might be interesting if you could possibly clean/ repair special dishes like bowls you’ve dug up somewhere or old pots you’ve received from other villagers ^^ To add a special collecting option for custom dishes in your restaurant. Might be a bit of work, but it could also be interesting to consider combining it with other ideas~ Really love your pixel art btw and yesss the blue painting in the background does look really good when walking into her room!! 💙💙

Im loving how this looks so far but i think aylin’s room could do with a rework, her character is very cool toned, opulent and of high status however, her room has a warmer undertone and the vectors clash with each other; i think this creates more of a hectic and unpolished aesthetic which clashes with her character. I would make her room darker and almost an entirely different aesthetic to the rest of the bath house, i also think it lacks personality. Maybe make the room smoky to add mystery? hanging decor and plants, rugs and trinkets, maybe you could obscure the corners of her rooms to create the illusion of opulent maximalism? Or art nouveau and victorian furniture, consider howls room in howls moving castle but cool toned. If the room was darker than the blue glowing painting, it would make the painting stand out more. Maybe remove the stairs in front of the painting too as it loses its focal point that way. I am so obsessed with this game and i want it to turn out as amazing as possible! It looks great so far and i’ve been following every step of the way!

Adding benefits is a great idea, for the soaps that can be purchased only as gifts you could use them as boosts to either increase the rewards of spending time at the bath house or decrease the time it takes to get those benefits!

My only notes are that the bathing suit makes the character look naked, and the tile of the bathhouse through the lobby looks like the transparent tile in art programs so I thought that door was incomplete. I do really like this series and the bathhouse looks even better than before!

I have a few suggestions: 1) Make the parallax effect not as pronounced can improve the feeling of the windows 2) NPC's gathering into talking groups at the edges of the big pool, with some facing with their backs to the pool wall, and leaning with their elbows on the floor 3) In regards to water in general, it would be cool if the movement changed a bit and slowed down slightly, just enough to notice but not annoy, to represent difficulty while moving through water 4) I think soap should give a temporary charisma bonus, and gifting soap should also be something that increases the chance of a customer to return next time; it should also unlock some exclusive content

I don't think I've seen this anywhere in the dev logs and I'm unsure if this is even relevant anymore but I think it would be nice to change the way one can store items. Instead of dragging things into a chest, it would be nicer to just click the chest (the indicator of whether or not its in storage mode or build/move mode being whether or not its open or closed) and everything you select is quickly removed. Maybe even make a quick animation of the item being stored into the chest with a little bounce effect! In addition, a feature (maybe double clicking the chest quickly, or a button) that stores all items back into the build inventory, so that players who want to rearrange their entire restaurant layout.

Wallpaper for the owners room! Opulence! No bare boards up there!

the cold tree painting in the staircase is really doing the trick for me. it gives u a sense of being in a hot spring surrounded by nature. the pipe bathtub though is not really catching the spirited away vibes for me. If u look at ur favorite scene u can notice that all mechanics are hidden behind wooden planks, if u dont know where that water pipe thing is u could never find it. The magic of chihiro is that she enters the hidden places of the bathhouse, that being the boiler room, kitchen, service staircase, cooling chamber etc. and only through the knowledge of whats going on behind the scenes she can beat the challenge of the river god. So if thats what u want, i think u need a basement with all the supporting rooms, there needs to be a threshold to enter and it needs to be significantly less finished and tidy. Ur doing great work, hope ur game goes well!

This game is so impressive. I'm new to these devlogs but you really put so much thought into each piece. Every time I think you run the risk of feature creeping, you pull it off!

Make the soap useful! You can use it to wash yourself and you'll feel clean (buff to speed or another thing in game) and absolutely please make the baths useful! I love when I do things that can actually be helpful in the game to m,y character, such as the stardew valley bathhouse helps your rest bar.

Learned so much from you walking us through the design, please do more of them!

I think that it would be pretty cool if there was an animated view of the whole exterior (or whole thing) of the bathhouse the first time you get to that location.

Maybe adding expensive soaps that add a modifier to socializing. For instance one that makes it easier to get characters to dislike you. One that makes romancing people easier, something like that?

I know I’m late, but if you still get these comments, I think making most or all of the pipework throughout the bathhouse move and spit steam would be a great touch. You could make holes throughout the pipes, and have steam periodically coming out of them, while they bang around and each segment rotates slightly on the screen. It would feel super dynamic! Other pipes or mechanisms for water could drip a little bit, too. Great work so far- been watching from the beginning and I absolutely love your design and thinking skills. I’m definitely getting this game, and I can tell others will too!

Oh wow I didn't think those backgrounds would add to the scene THAT much! Thank you for your continued work on this game!!

If you need an extra area to expand to, I can suggest looking at a small ski village that grows into an international destination

I look at this then look at my own pixel art sim game (idea, hasn't gone anywhere but a text file) and i suddenly feel like i need to kick my concept up a notch. Amazing work.

Maybe certain soaps could have certain fragrances which NPC’s can either like/ dislike and it can improve or devalue your relationship with them?

I am never not gonna be hype for when this game comes out

You should add a shriveled up retired old guy, that is 24/7 in the bathhouse and tells the most insane stories about hidden secrets in your world if you sit next to him in the water. With some of them actually being true for the player to find. (stuff like........i swear every second moon i see the town kids dissapear under the town fountain and they come out with the most amazing foods ever. And than have the player actually be able to go there when its full moon and unlock a secret story there. (maybe an hidden vendor living in the sewers selling spicey rat meat or something). The regular town folks love the dish but dont know exactly what it is. And serving it too much will sometimes make your restaurant get infected with rats forcing you to shut down and miss 2/3 days of income.

Great aesthetic. Moving backgrounds and amazing architecture design in a pixel art game. Truly amazing. Some feedback on gameplay: 1. Make it so bathsuit will provide bonuses when in bath and small benefit if without bathsuit (incentive for us to wear it) Or Auto trigger the change when entering bath so it auto equip the bath suit. 2. Some aesthetics maybe in future post release if you have time is when came out of bath/water some dripping water on floor that dissapear after x sec make it looks refreshing coming out of the bath Great job, can't wait to play the game when Alpha releases

I think the soap serving the purpose of dish cleaning and have that be a little fun mini game that you should do once you get enough crockery dirty would make a lot of sense and be fun in a game about cooking! Edit: Also maybe you could have a soap slot in all showers where you can put one soap and depending on the one you use, your character would be given a different specific minor buff or effect that would impact gameplay. Then the soap would wear out and be spent after X amount of showers

17:10 NPC: "Can't wait to visit the bathhouse!" whilst currently IN the bathhouse :D

Make the pipes in different color(not so strong color, just enough to blend in the background) according to temp, its content (air or water). A made up metal can also be incorporated to the lore that some NPC can spout non-sense script from time to time. It will make the bath house tell its own story if some players somehow want to follow the pipes connections by just taking a stroll on it, or if you want the players to be directed to certain places subconciously, you can implement placement of rare items(decorations, paintings, statue that can increase employee's stats or anything that can be an item that a player can see in his shop). It will be enhancing the place in my opinion.

Love the new bath house. aylins room is definitely one of my favourites. A suggestion I have is maybe somehow elevating aylin or creating a big shadow of her behind her, so to make the character presents more formal and grand. The scale of the scene is making aylin look small which in my opinion takes a little bit away from the scene.

I love this! Great work, you are very talented and obviously hard working. My suggestions: towels draped on hooks and over railings might give it an "actively used" feeling. Also, lounge chairs around the baths, with NPCs laying on them if possible. Maybe just a slower pace altogether-have the NPCs shuffle rather than walk. Bathhouses are about slow breathing, relaxation, gentleness. Perhaps a few potted plants or stringy vines as well, particularly in the welcome area and by the windows. Thanks for sharing this video!

This looks amazing! Your art style is so beautiful! A suggestion for the outside scenes out windows: maybe when the player moves left and right the outside should also move instead of just up and down (like if the player moves left, the outside should move slightly right)

It makes me emotional to see so much love put into a project. Gameplay suggestions: -cooking soup in a tub. Maybe that could be a tradition in the town lol -Different soaps could change water's color. Some NPCs could prefer or be in the mood with specific soaps.

I don’t know if anyones mentioned it, you should have the steam pipes slightly shake from side to side to show the pressure of the stream going through them. It doesn’t have to be much, but just a little shake here and there would 100% bring the room more life.

Amazing improvements all around, glad to see the project chugging along. I had three ideas for the immersion that shouldn't be too difficult to pull off: 1. The entry to the bath house and your idea of panning to see more of the house. It seems your camera is flexible in following the player, so could you make a 'zone' leading up to the bath house, where the camera gains more speed, the closer you are to the bathouse, slowly inching the player towards the bottom of the screen, and showing you more and more of the building. Have it line up so that once you reach the front door of the bath house, the player character is just at the bottom of the screen and the rest of the screen is filled with the bath house. 2. The parallax through the windows looks good already, but since the camera and player can also move left to right, you'd expect the parallax to do that too. Currently it only moved up and down. 3. Once the players and NPCs are in the deep water, maybe change their animation to swimming? Seeing how the game happens on a seaside town anyway, swimming animations would enable you to have some future expanding possibilities for aquatic tasks, and more activities to happen around the town. It wouldn't have to be much more than just having their hands bob to the surface when 'walking' forwards when in water, and maybe have the head swing back and forth to emulate the motion of a breaststroke.

Tweaking the steam particles out of the boilers could be nice. Even just a opacity fade-in/fade-out at beginning/end of the particle lifetime could make things a bit more polished. Could also have them increase in scale over time, and maybe widen as if they are dispersing into the air and filling the space

Just found this channel and I'm wishlisting the game, wish more quality content like this was available on youtube.

I think maybe adding some more plant themes like in the painting above the reception would be cool and bring some more contrast to the mechanical feel in the bathhouse? The platforms feel a bit empty/dull so I think they could use something to contrast them? I dunno if it's too cliche to add japanese plants though but maybe some vines twisting around beams could look cool or some sort of plant that enjoys the humidity from the steam :) Also the main bath could perhaps use some sort of backdrop or half wall thing to divide it better from the background?

Damn this was extremely well done, amazing stuff. Only suggestion is maybe adding some kind of a subtle ripple trail when a character is moving through the water. Overall flawless execution, keep it up!

17:10 the NPC in the top right is having a hard time distinguishing bathhouse from bath

This is so gorgeous..! As for tatami patterns.. I've learnt that (+) crosses are avoided in the pattern... as it's considered to bring bad luck

Wow, I already thought the bathhouse was amazing on the first iteration, but this update is incredible. Well done! One small idea, you could animate some steam coming out of the seams on the pipes as well, I think it would look cool.

Maybe the soaps could give the player temporary bonus stats, like making NPCs more receptive to them.

Wow! I just heard about this game and watching your videos makes me travel through this crazy world without even playing. I'm very anxious to see what you came up with next!!

Absolutely love the design so far. I think it would be amazing to have moving water/water features of some kind (mini waterfalls)

Maybe make the horizon visible from the top room, so you really feel the height of the building. As it is now, the top room and the employees quarters below feel like they’re on the same level. Also maybe different soaps could provide different perks if used in the bath?

I love the way the game is looking! Perhaps add a white overlay on the windows to help to differentiate the outside with the room you’re in. And I think adding squash and stretch or a rumbling animation to the other pipes would make it look like something is running through them too

great video as always. Maybe the soaps can give specific buffs when used in the bath (different scents and products give different temporary boosts), or perhaps for other game play. I'm not sure what happenes in the story, but they could be used as quest items too. Perhaps there's an oil spill and the characters help by cleaning it up with soaps.

It's fascinating to listen to your explanations for all the changes you make. It makes me realise just how much knowledge game designers have - architecture, colour palettes, lighting, and so on.

This is so incredibly beautiful, holy cow.

I would maybe add a curtain to the window behind Aylin's desk to make it stand out more. the curtain would be open to see the painting and frame to window, but not hanging down straight instead have the top swoop to the sides where it's clipped. similiar to the effects curtain bangs give, only covering a small portion of the window. I rlly hope this made sense and you'll consider it , I explaind it as best as I could 😣 (probably overexplained.. but it was more important to get the right idea across). either way this game looks awesome (I love the aesthetic) and I look forward to the full release!!

I truly can’t wait to play this but am so enjoying the process of it being created! Your videos are wonderful and very relaxing while also being informative. The bath house looks much more cozy now! You did a great job.

Dude! I have been searching for just the perfect mix of games I couldn't put my finger on...and you took those inspirations and just completely blew them out of the water with ChefRPG. From what I can see it's gonna be the perfect blend of restaurant, cooking, growing sim all in one package and the art style is next level! Gotta say im very excited about this one!

''Inspired by Ghibli'' say no more. I already support your project.

Looks amazing - keep up the great work! I think what would make one more thing for Aylins (if this is how you spell her name) office would be something like a glass pane behind her, or an art piece like a koi fish - or something similar to the great wave of kanagawa.

hi Noah!I for the bathhouse. i have an idea similar to spirited away. there are certain treated water that gives different effects. the catch is, you have to take part of gathering/hunting/recycling rare/seasonal ingredients/materials to treat water according to your needed buff! discovering/testing combinations failing and succeeding at it just like cooking!

This is one of my favorite of your videos so far! I was also wondering how you were layering your images to allow characters to walk behind them, so seeing the breakdown here was really helpful. Your videos combine insights into the design process with gorgeous artwork, and I am always so happy when they drop. Can't wait for the game!

All these additions to the bathhouse are wonderful--especially the expanded lobby and suites! If I had to critique something, it's the water tanks. I think they're kinda too smooth and organic-looking, like organs. Maybe if you had each segment made of panels--rivets and whatnot--it'd still have the same shape but look less smooth.

People should comment on the player's scent if they use the soaps. You could even include and NPC or two that won't talk with the player unless they've used one of the purchased soaps.

Brilliant update! Thanks for sharing. Excited to see what you and the writer do next.

Your artwork and skill is simply amazing! Fantastic work! I can’t wait to play the finished game!

This looks amazing! Would be awesome if you were to add a slight screen distortion effect in the baths to show the heat.

Considering we are a chef, and hygiene is obviously important when preparing cuisine, maybe the soaps can give the player temporary cooking buffs? Like, after a good shower I feel human again and I'm totally ready to take on the day! Or something. Maybe they have different scents and NPC's could react to how you smell? (Like in text, doesn't have to be a whole system lol) Obviously giving them a gifts is great too!

The Ghibli art for this movie took a lot of inspiration from the town of Jiufen in Taiwan : the red lanterns, the food stalls, the small streets… You can check for more refs online 😊(and yes, Japanese bathhouses too. You could add some kind of massive wall painting on a backwall featuring mt fuji or something, as it is very often found in bath houses here. Also two entries for men and women, with two separate areas (but the same bath… not sure if that’s clear ahah), a vending machine with vanilla ice cream near the entrance (and beer!), rocks embedded in the bathtub to hide the hot water arrival and make like a waterfalll, maybe an outdoor 露天風呂 section with bamboo and a stone lantern, etc.)

Wow, you do seem to implement all the architectural theory in here, including the color theory aspect, and I looooove it! Inspiring.

I've seen cafes and tea houses that sell things like soap and preserve jars and things like that, maybe soap could be something you "cook" or craft to sell as well? Soap making can be a simple process you do with kitchen tools if you're doing it on a smaller scale, so I don't think it'd be too different from making food.

One thing I thought when you spoke about buffs from being in the bath was having a stress system where the player gets stressed out from working too much in the restaurant. Thus it forces the player to do more things outside of working. Could also be used with coffee as an adrenaline boost effect while also increasing stress.

I love the idea exposed pipes and pumps, i suggest try adding a secret area to discover, like a narrow path with drainpipes, or a machine room or something, even a small one, it adds depth + more fun for exploration.

the paralax windows look awesome

your pixel art is too good AGH! :))

Re: the soap, maybe have an achievement if they discard it it’ll go “Don’t drop the soap!”

One of the best devlogs out there. Watching this just fills me with determination and motivation to work on my own game!

you could definitely add a “comforted” status effect that the player gets by relaxing, sleeping, etc and it could maybe make you unlock new dialog or make friends easier or your workers listen and work harder for you something like that