Book of the Cafe

連縁（れんえん）カフェ BOOK of the CAFE
Title screen of the game
Developer	Trick Nostalgie
Publisher	Trick Nostalgie
Released	4 April 2020 (Alpha) 9 June 2021 (Beta) 2 June 2023 (Release)
Genre	Business Simulation Game
Platforms	Android
Download	From Google Play for Android
Len'en Series chronology
Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle Book of the Cafe Monochrome World

Len'en Cafe ~ Book of the Cafe (連縁カフェ　～ BOOK of the CAFE) is a business simulation game and the 00th game of the Len'en Project. It was revealed by JynX on their blog on 11 November 2017, the fourth anniversary of Len'en. Released on Android and planned to release iOS smartphones, this also makes it the first Len'en game to be released on platforms other than Windows, as well as the first game of the series to not be a shooting game. The full version was released on June 2nd, 2023.

Gameplay

Main articles: General Gameplay, Cafe Gameplay, Combat Gameplay, Combat Units, and Skills

The gameplay is how the genre is described: a business simulation. In the 5th anniversary video, it shows the whole scene in general. There are "Shop Assistants" who can interact with various components of the scene, such as a sink, a service table and a cooker (called "The Three Musketeers"). They have various statistics, so they can be better at one thing over another. Choosing to cook will also allow the player to select various dishes. Once cooked, the assistant can automatically take it to a customer. When that customer finished eating, an assistant can take the plate to a sink, which the player can then command an assistant to clean the dishes. JynX also aims to have the game run automatically to an extent when the game is closed.

The game also allows customisation to the layout, such as adding table and chairs, changing floor tiles, wall tiles, a new cooker, etc. The more the player plays the game, the bigger it gets. The player will also gain money, EXP, etc. along the way.

While originally a café management genre, the game was also revealed to have battle elements, having a resemblance to tactical role-play.

Notices

Main articles: α Version Notices, β Version Notices, and Release Version Notices

At the top of the left menu on the cafe screen, the notices section can be found, where the FAQ and update notes can be found, along with other messages from JynX.

Story

Main articles: Story and Characters

There are 2 different stories in Book of the Cafe, Main Story and Back Issue.

Main Story has NiLU work with Tom C. Zemlja to venture inside of NiLU's memories and try to recover NiLU's amnesia.

Back issue has NiLU and Tom research information about Mugenri.

Music

Main article: Music

As with previous instalments, the game features original tracks composed by JynX. Thus far, the alpha version has 3 themes with beta version adding one additional track that was featured in 7th anniversary video, plus 2 tracks featured only in trailers (in the fifth and sixth series anniversary videos, respectively). The game in its current state doesn't have a Music Room, so the songs do not yet include composer comments and their titles are taken from JynX's various FANBOX articles.

Development

Main article: Documentation

On 21 April 2017, JynX stated that they took an interest in trying to develop a "café management" game, and thus got themself into studying on how to develop such a system. By doing so, they pointed out that instead of it being a spin-off, it will still have major relevance to the story of the Len'en Project. After some time on 29 April, they (drunkenly) created an animation of Tsubakura that is likely to have relevance to Book of the Cafe.

Teaser images of BotC shown in JynX's blog post for Len'en's 4th anniversary

Eventually, JynX announced the game on their blog on 11 November 2017 as part of the fourth anniversary of Len'en, showing screenshots of the game and talking about various gameplay elements that they plan to implement. The screenshot confirmed Yabusame Houlen, Tsubakura Enraku and Shion's appearances, as well as some furniture implemented. Initially, BotC was planned to release as a beta sometime in 2018. On 9 March 2018, JynX released a video showing a battle stage in the alpha stages of development. The game was still in development as of 9 September 2018.

The game is currently developed for Android, but they might create an iOS version if the game gets enough popularity. They once stated that they wanted to make a game for iOS on 17 August 2015. On 11 November 2018, JynX revealed that they are halfway through development. Because of their inexperience in making games for mobile platforms, they had to work more on optimising memory usage, app size, etc. to make it run efficiently. Due to the amount of work to do, the intended beta release was pushed back indefinitely. However, they promised to improve the game's quality in the meantime. They also plan on re-working on character art already implemented.

On the Project's 6th anniversary, a trailer of the game was released, showcasing more of the game's mechanics, as well as showing an excerpt of dialogue featuring NiLU and Tom C. Zemlja. From November 2019 onwards, JynX started sharing detailed progress reports on the game on their Pixiv FANBOX. This would continue to be the source of almost all official development documentation through the alpha and beta stages of the game up to this day.

Finally, on 1 April 2020, the alpha version of the game (with only the cafe management part of the game included) was announced to release on April 10. However, it ended up releasing on the 4th, as Google verified the game much faster than JynX anticipated. The release of the iOS version was temporarily postponed until the game's development is further along, and remains indefinitely delayed as of 1 September 2023. JynX also announced a beta version with the combat system, initially expected to have released on 26 March 2021. An April Fools video confirmed the release date to be much later. On 30 May 2021, JynX finally confirmed the beta is completed with a few more problems left to fix, and had it published after Google Play verified it on 9 June 2021.

JynX continued to work towards the full version throughout 2022 and published monthly FANBOX pages showing progress. They even announced a release to happen sometime in winter (although they define winter as "when I'm still wearing long sleeves"). Eventually in January 2023, JynX revealed that they are becoming a streamer under the name of Kanae Tabinoki, and worked on the game's development during productive livestreams during weekdays, showing progress and other teasers every now and then. At one point, they even admitted that developing the game was incredibly challenging and much preferred developing Brilliant Pagoda or Haze Castle, and lost motivation numerous times due to constant bugs to fix, difficulties of implementing features and potential lack of profit to be gained. Nonetheless on 1st of April, JynX announced on YouTube that the full release was to be expected in May.

On 14 May 2023, JynX announced that they would be doing a series of marathon streams as Kanae over a period of 5 days from 15 to 19 May, where he worked intensely from around 7 AM until midnight, with a few intermittent breaks, until the game is finished. On 19 May, at the end of the marathon, he announces that the base game itself is complete at last and that he hoped to get it out within next week. On 28th of May, JynX finally finished the base game and had it submitted to Google Play for verification.

Old browser-based alpha and beta versions

During the development of the alpha and beta versions, BotC could also be played on a desktop browser (on the platform UnityRoom), however development of that particular version was halted before the full release of the game. JynX cited development difficulties in their decision to do so. In the browser-based version, one of the few meaningful differences was that the advertisement system was not implemented. In place of viewing an advertisement to receive ad points, waiting a certain amount of time was required, during which time an animation of Tom C. Zemlja "eating" an "advertisement" could be seen.

Additional Information

• In the provided screenshot of the initial reveal, haniwa could be seen as a reference to Sukune Katano, and dice could be seen referencing Xeno a.
• On one shelf are plushy versions of Yabusame and Tsubakura.
• In order to make the pop-up book animations of the various combat stages, JynX visited Meggendorfer, the only book store and workshop specialising in ppo-up books in Japan to study how pop-up books move.
• The anniversary of Len'en video has roads and buildings around the scene, suggesting that the current scene takes place in Devanagara.
• Book of the Cafe was originally numbered 4.5 while in development, but was changed to 0 when the first teaser for the game was released.
• The α and β Versions' Disclaimer features the silhouette of Tom C. Zemlja.
• The game was stated to release on may 33rd in fanbox, due to the final trailer stating the game would come out in may, however due to the time it took for it to be approved for google play it came out june 2nd

External Links

Official

• From Google Play for Android (release version)
• From Google Play for Android (beta version)
  • Online at unityroom.com (beta version, link dead)
• From Google Play for Android (alpha version)
  • Online at unityroom.com (alpha version, link dead)