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This is a game I’m currently developing, where players earn points by adding the correct toppings to each customer’s order. The goal is to streamline training process and increase employee engagement in a fun and engaging way.
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I’ve loved playing video games ever since I was a kid. After I started to learn programming in university, I developed a curiosity about how video games are actually made. Indie titles like Stardew Valley, Balatro, and Animal Well have always fascinated me because the quality of these games is phenomenal, when you consider the fact they were made (mostly) by a single person. This has motivated me to learn how to develop my own game.
I’ve been working part-time at a boba shop, and I’ve observed the challenges involved in training new employees. An idea came to mind one day: I could create an interactive resource to aid the training process in a fun and engaging way. My vision would be to design a fun and immersive virtual experience where trainees could practice related job skills. This would hopefully help them gain more confidence when working in the real-world setting of the store.
There has consistently been a high turnover rate within the store, and this has been a challenge for management and staff as it costs valuable time and resources. New employees often struggle with the difficult training process since there is a substantial amount of toppings, drinks, and recipes that need to be memorized within a strict timeframe. This often leads to frustration on both sides, therefore I wanted to find a way to alleviate these challenges and assist with the training process.
An arcade-style game simulating different areas of the store would provide a fun and interactive way to learn essential tasks while offering a nostalgic and gamified perspective. By making the parts of the training process more engaging and accessible, this approach could help reduce trainee frustration and potentially improve employee retention rates. To keep the project’s scope manageable as a beginner solo developer, I decided the game would simulate the topping station of our store, which is the first area new trainees learn. The main mechanic would be similar to that of Overcooked, in that drink orders come in continuously and the player must click and drag the correct toppings into the cup.
I initially identified three key points my game needed to achieve:
In order to get feedback on my idea, I sought opinions from current trainees as well as senior employees. The majority of responses were positive, with many expressing that they would have appreciated a similar resource when they were learning the job.