The world of Best Served Cold is stylish, exciting, sometimes violent. In the fictional European country of Tsara, Bukovie is a city packed with an eclectic mix of individuals from all walks of life - many of whom find their way to your underground speakeasy.
Bukovie is a city on the brink. Once thriving from industrial expansion, it now teeters between old-world tradition and rapid modernisation. As Europeans ourselves, we wanted to tell a story influenced by this diverse continent, but unbound by its well-established history. In creating the fictional country of Tsara, we were free to tell a unique story introducing new social dynamics and reimagining the pressures that shaped them.
A World Worth Savoring
The shadow of war lays heavily over the city. As a haphazard precaution, the government has imposed a prohibition, ostensibly a measure to ration grain. Best Served Cold puts you behind the bar of an illegal ‘speakeasy’, serving drinks and uncovering leads from people from all walks of life, now made equals by their search for quiet comforts. Old-money mourning prestige sits side-by-side with the working-class, scraping by in an attempt to eke out an existence against the whims of a capricious government. Just a few stools over are those who operate amongst the shadows, pushed into a life of crime they have trouble escaping. Conversations, clues and choices shape the gameplay.
There’s a new class too, a Nouveau Riche, entrepreneurs emerging from the age of expansion, all too familiar with what they have to lose. Their industriousness has opened a wave of workers behind them, many from neighboring countries who have all brought their own unique cultures and customs to the thriving city. We see some of this in the game with characters from immigrant backgrounds such as Detective Mertens, metalworker Bjorn and Feng Bai - proprietor of a tea house, all of whom share some of their attitudes towards family, community and duty.
History With a Twist
By opting for an alternative history, the game blends familiar with fantastical. Technology surprises, with computers (really telephone services with live operators) humming to life decades ahead of time; transportation is dominated by ‘radio carriages’, similar to cars; and the religion and politics of the world feels familiar, yet distinct – praise the goddess. Smaller innovations such as disposable lighters or specific medications act as anachronistic touches adding flavour and interest to the world - or in some cases, affect the plot in unexpected ways. Naturally, many of these elements have a gameplay aspect to them. Some, like the ‘computer’, provide us with new and interesting ways to let the player access information. Others, like developing our own type of poison, let us keep mysteries fresh even to the most seasoned murder mystery aficionado.
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