Ale Abbey - In Beer we Trust Windows game

First Something's Brewing for 2025 and apart from hyping ourselves up (and stressing a bit ) over the imminent release of Ale Abbey this February, we also reminisce a bit about what a year 2024 was...

There's nothing to complain about, really. Regardless of how busy it turned out to be at times, this year was a doozy one for the entire H&R team.

On with a quick review!


-- Things that were good

Although development progressed smoothly (an achievement in itself), we were fortunate enough to also gain a significant boost in visibility through two major events: PC Gamer's PC Gaming Show and Steam's Next Fest. During this June's PC Gaming Show, we saw a huge surge in wishlists, making the weeks of hard work on Ale Abbey's trailer leading up to the event all the more rewarding.

All that attention significantly paid off in two ways: a) it gave us a lot of motivation to work on a demo version during an otherwise development-heavy period, and b) later in the year, during Steam's Next Fest in October, we found out that not only potential players but also content creators, already had Ale Abbey on their radars.

When the demo version was released for the Next Fest, we decided to keep it up until the eventual full release. We even threw a few patches at it to correct things picked up by the community and those who tried the demo. We were extremely happy with the entire process, as even negative feedback was utterly constructive and came with words of encouragement.


-- Things that will be good

And with all that feedback, we got our hands full with small and big corrections that needed to happen.

With the biggest (structural) changes coming in (what else?) UI and some reworking of the game's complexity. We also noticed that we had to lose the pixelated fonts to something a LOT more readable - a change that has already been made in the available demo. Other than that, tooltips were redesigned to provide more relevant information, UI Scenes were rebuilt, and the approach to Research was turned on its head to make it feel more structured and engaging.

The Old-ish Research Tab

vs the New-ish

And a small sample of the tooltips rework that has been experimented with behind the scenes more times than it'd ever be healthy to count...

-- ... and a February that is close!

With all that happening in real-time, we're just as excited as you to see how things will progress till Ale Abbey's imminent release this February. A short way from now till then... but nothing can stop what we're brewing for you!

Onwards to glory!


-- What's comin' homebrewin'?

And as expected this new year won't only bring Ale Abbey to you, but also certain new directions and trends for the homebrewing as a whole! A few things we managed to find:

• Rise of Low-ABV and Non-Alcoholic Beers: Yay or nay... with a growing health-conscious consumer base, there's an increasing demand for flavorful low-alcohol and non-alcoholic beer options
• Continued Innovation in IPA Styles: The evolution of IPAs is expected to persist (our lead Emiliano is in shambles...). Styles like Cold IPAs that utilize lager yeast in hoppy beer styles are gaining popularity for their crisp finish and pronounced hop character. There are - thankfully - a few other styles that are gaining popularity:
  

  • Sours and Wild Ales: Finally people started to acknowledge their unique tartness and complex flavor profiles...

  • Lagers: There's a resurgence in brewing lagers, appreciated for their clean and crisp character

• Embracing Technology: And this is two-fold... Not only about technology that will streamline the brewing process and digital tools that will enhance the efficiency of one's brews, but also a general shift towards sustainability and eco-friendly practices (think water conservation, energy-efficient equipment, and sustainable ingredient & packaging material sourcing)

With the possibilities being immeasurable, one can not know what alternative ingredients like fruits, spices, and herbs, homebrewers will experiment with next. And that's the exciting part! Soooo, apart from the focus on IPA this seems to be a great year to look forward to 😅 /s


That's all for this week! We'll let you enjoy this first Friday of the year with - hopefully - Ale Abbey's demo and get ourselves back to development! That February is getting closer by the minute ;) Enjoy your weekend responsibly, and remember to join us next year (peak comedy!) for some more Ale Abbey news!

-- Hammer & Ravens

Craving for more Ale Abbey? Maybe looking to chat with the team and our community? Follow:

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