Throw wide the gates and welcome all... Our Final Playtest begins!

This time, we’re bringing you one of the biggest updates yet: the most advanced UI improvements and the largest batch of new content so far, right before Steam Next Fest in October. Let’s see what awaits you in this final test phase. And also we're invited to Cozy Job Simulators Event starts at 13th September, visit other indies and raise your ale with them! 🍻

• Economy rebalancing: customer visits and consumption speed have been adjusted. With new rooms and upcoming outdoor buildings, upgrade costs and progression have also been fine-tuned.

• If your inn gets filthy, expect far fewer customers to show up. Better keep things tidy,  no one wants to sit around in a stinking hall, right?

• Several sound effects and texts have been refreshed. Don’t mind any strange noises… they can’t hurt you.

• Certain animation loops have been reworked.

• Fixed some UI layering errors.

• Issues in certain mini-games and in-game windows have been resolved.

• The interface has been redesigned to help you quickly find what you’re looking for. You can now filter items by room at the top of the menu, and easily spot newly unlocked items with indicators.

• Added bubble text for hover tooltips and quests.

• The decoration menu has been improved so you can clearly see what’s unlocked and what’s already purchased.

• Three new games are here to gamble your fortune (or ruin it): Dice Roll, Coin Flip, and a card game called Lower Deck.

• Even more items have arrived! Alongside new drinks, around 20 new decoration units are now available. (Note: not all of these will appear in the current playtest progression; some are reserved for the full version.)

• Dogs! Yes, dogs are now part of the inn life. Each player will adopt a completely random pup, meaning your companion might be different from someone else’s.

• More outdoor buildings to visit are on the way.

• The outside won’t stay empty for long — starting with the next major update, the town will feel more alive with new activities and interactions.

• A brand-new quest mechanic is being tested, introducing darker, riskier, but also more thrilling scenarios.

• The tutorial system will launch with the demo.

• You’ll soon be able to name the animals you bring into your inn.

• Save system is coming! Multiple saves will allow you to experiment with different play styles starting from the demo.

• New music and ambient sounds are being added to help your inn hum along in the background while you focus on other things.

• And of course, countless improvements and UI updates are on the horizon.
  
  Thank you for being part of our first game. Your feedback, bugs, and insights mean the world to us. Please don't hesitate to join us on our Discord server[discord.gg] and ask your questions to our dev team. And remember to add TIDEHAVEN: Ale & Trade to your wishlist! See you in the next post!

It’s time to swing open the doors once again. Playtest #2 has begun!
And this time, the doors open outward, too. You’ll now step beyond the walls of your inn to build your Stable, raising horses and unlocking a whole new way to grow your gold.

Let’s take a quick look at what’s new in this second testing phase:

• Fixed placement issues with several furniture items.

• Resolved wall placement bugs affecting a few decorations.

• Room layout problems have been corrected across multiple areas.

• Some text issues and typos erased from books.

• The world expands! The interior buildings are no longer the final frontier. You can now begin growing your business beyond your inn and into the town.

• The first of 9 upcoming outer buildings, the Stable, is now live! Raise real historical horse breeds and sell them to visiting customers for extra income. This is just the beginning, more rare, epic and legendary tier horse types and surprises are on the way!

• Sound effects have been completed and polished (Almost!). Your experience should now feel as rich as a cellar full of ale barrels.

• Economy balancing has been reworked, though we’ve still got a long road ahead. Prices and build times may continue to shift during testing.

• A full rework of the Warehouse system is live!
  → A new Warehouse NPC now helps manage your stock.
  → The more shelves and storage units you build, the more goods you can store.
  → The assistant will auto-purchase missing ingredients, keeping your kitchen running smoothly.

• New visitors! As your inn’s fame spreads, new guest types will begin to arrive, each new face is a clue toward mechanics we’re preparing to introduce soon.

Some of the promised features (like card and dice games) didn’t quite meet our standards just yet, so we’re moving them to the September demo release instead.

But we’re hard at work on:

• A detailed tutorial system

• Over 20 new decoration items

• New outdoor workplaces to expand your medieval economy

• Improved tooltips and more UI clarity

To the nearly 400 players who joined our first Playtest—thank you! And to those continuing with us into this new testing week, we send you barrels of gratitude for enduring the occasional (and mildly annoying) bugs and sharing your feedback.

See you at the stable or laid drunk in the bedroom.