You've been running the whole lounge yourself. Now you can hire people.
You can hire a crew
Ten people are looking for work, each with their own name, face and wage. Every hire can do all ten jobs in the lounge. There are no locked roles, so what separates two people is their traits and the job board you hand them.
The board lists ten jobs in the order you put them, each with an on/off switch and that person's skill in that job. You can reorder it in the middle of a rush. Telling someone to stop bussing tables and get on the register is the kind of call an owner makes with a full room, so it isn't locked behind the build phase.
Skill grows per job. A hire who spends the night at the wash sink gets better at washing, not at everything.
And they actually work
Your crew carries bowls to the table with their hands full, hauls delivery boxes in from the van, waves when they greet a party, and leans in to take an order. At the prep counter, the wash sink, the tables and the coal station they work for as long as the job takes instead of standing frozen over it.
Right-click anyone on the floor to see what they're doing, what they've done today, and what's queued up behind it.
The health inspector
Word gets around a day or two before he arrives. Then he walks in unannounced and tours the room while service carries on around him. His grade is itemized and it goes straight onto your reputation. Keep the place clean and he'll leave you alone longer. Have a fire and he'll be back sooner.
Guests arrive by taxi, car and bus
Parties used to appear on the same patch of pavement out front. Now a taxi, sedan, hatchback or bus pulls up to the kerb, drops its party off and drives away. There's a bus shelter to wait under.
Tables you can book ahead
Parties call to reserve a table, and the promise is real. That table is held, nobody else gets seated at it, and a badge floats over it until they arrive. Keep the booking and a bonus lands on their bill. Miss it and the door tells you exactly what went wrong, whether that's no table free, their flavor out of stock, or the table still dirty.
Your regulars have faces
Regulars now have names, portraits, streaks and a lifetime spend total on their own board. Neglect one and you'll get a warning. A night later they're gone, the loss is named, and your reputation takes the hit. You can win them back, for a price.
Also new
- Fires. An unattended coal can spill, smoulder and catch. Grab the extinguisher.
- Owner Mode. With the right crew, a whole night can run without you touching a task. Do it and you unlock The Owner's Chair.
- Heat lenses. Paint the floor by foot traffic, atmosphere, mess or wait time to see what your layout is really doing.
- Prices talk back. Guests have budgets now. Push too hard and they'll trim their order, haggle, or walk out.
- The mood spreads. One guest storming out sours the room. One perfect table lifts the tables around it.
We have a website
hookahhousegame.com has clips, screenshots and a press kit, in eight languages.
Come hang out
Tell us what belongs in your dream lounge: discord.gg/uVThPXvWgN
If you haven't yet, add Hookah House to your wishlist. It's the single best way to support the game before launch.