CORNER CAFE
Corner Cafe is a cozy, narrative-driven co-op cafe sim set in a small 1990s seaside town. The project was conceived during a period of anticipatory grief following my cat’s terminal cancer diagnosis, and was intentionally designed as a counterpoint to conflict-driven games—no combat, no enemies, no failure states.
Instead, the experience focuses on routine, care, and community: building relationships with regulars, supporting neighbors, and becoming part of a town that feels dependable and human. That emotional foundation directly informed the pacing, mechanics, and tone, shaping a game about presence, connection, and small daily rituals.
GAMEPLAY
My level design emphasis was on interiors, town structure, and landscape composition—creating spaces that feel lived-in, readable, and comforting. The town layout prioritizes walkability, clear landmarks, and gentle spatial flow, encouraging exploration through curiosity instead of pressure.
Alongside environmental design, I developed supporting gameplay systems and technical tools to enable rapid iteration and narrative testing, including:
Interior and exterior spatial layouts
Item holding, storage, and interaction flow
Coffee making, baking, and bike traversal mechanics
Custom debug tools for item spawning, quest and narrative progression, and player teleportation
These systems allowed me to validate emotional pacing, player routes, and cooperative flow across the open town.
PLANNING
The setting draws from real-world coastal New England towns—particularly Maine and Massachusetts—using Google Maps, Earth, and photo reference to study scale, elevation, harbor placement, and lighthouse-adjacent communities.
The goal was a grounded seaside town with strong regional identity: compact but open, calm without feeling static, and designed to support both quiet solo moments and shared cooperative experiences.
Tools Used
Unreal Engine 5.5.4
Autodesk Maya 2024
Adobe Photoshop