Welcome to the Coffeemill Cafe

Sit down, relax, have a cup of joe, and catch up on the latest Coffeemill Games news.

General News, October 2024

Important Update: Launch Window Delay

Due to recent events in the U.S., it may become more difficult for us to launch Trader’s Journey in Spring 2025 like we had originally planned. Until January rolls around, there will just be too many unpredictable factors for us to try and calculate (with possible increased pricing for shipping, manufacturing, etc.). We still hope to launch in 2025, and will keep you guys updated on any future changes. Thank you!

Late October LLC

As the school year begins to speed up, work on Trader’s Journey and Coffeemill Games has begun to slow down, as expected. However, there are still some major things happening! Coffeemill Games is now officially recognized as an LLC, meaning we’ll be able to bring you the most games possible without any issue. In other news, Trader’s Journey is still in the process of being quoted by a few different manufacturers! Right now, we have our eyes on: Whatz Games and Panda Game Manufacturing. We’ll also be setting up some deals with fulfillment centers in the coming months.

Update: Coffemill Games on Social Media

Coffeemill Games can now be found on: TikTok (@coffeemill), Instagram (@coffeemillgames), Facebook (Coffeemill Games), Reddit (Ok-Faithlessness8120… we didn’t choose the name, lol), and BGG (in process). For BGG, we are currently working on getting some images sent in that accurately and professionally represent the game, so stay tuned!

TRADER'S JOURNEY OCTOBER 2024 UPDATE

Critters & Curses Mini Expansion

With the base game of Trader’s Journey just about wrapped up, our sights are now fully set on designing and creating artwork for our first mini-expansion: Critters & Curses!

In this bite-sized expansion, you’ll be able to ‘catch’ your own critters to fight for you against the new status effect, ‘CURSE,’ a unique status that forces players to roll a series of ‘unlucky’ dice depending on how cursed they are…but not every outcome is as unlucky as it seems!

Lean into the high risk, high reward gameplay of a curse-ridden trader, or fight back against the grueling new monsters of the land with all new cards of every type, including new journeys, dungeons, bosses, weapons, spells, and everything else in between!

And hey—if you want to reserve a copy of Critters & Curses for yourself, you can sign up to be a VIP Cafe Member for just $1, and get a list of other rewards as well!

Become VIP

An Armor System Spiced Up

A new layer of depth to a basic armor system! This newest addition to Trader’s Journey has armor cards becoming more than just "damage reducers." Now, equipping 3 armors of the same set will grant a player a bonus specific to that set. This both gives more value to the armor cards themselves, and further incentivizes trade with other players to get the cards you want. Some armors will remain how they were before with no special abilities, and these will be called "basic" armor cards. What are your thoughts? How do you feel about this new system? Let us know!

A Dedicated Solo Player Mode

Instead of simply going through the game alone, now you can fully immerse yourself in the world of Trader’s Journey by playing as an “Archivist,” a unique trader looking to document and piece together the many mysteries of the land of Arden. As an Archivist, you’ll use the Archivist Journal to jot down and keep track of your character (carried over multiple playthroughs), the enemies you’ve defeated, and the journeys you’ve completed.

When you finish a game, record your equipped cards in the journal or a separate sheet of paper--these will be kept. Then, gather the cards in your hand and combine the total prices of every card; these cards will be discarded, but the total will be how many coins your character starts the game with next playthrough.

What we’ve been doing…

After making a few posts to reddit asking for some critique on our designs, we got some really valuable feedback on where to push the game next. So, here’s a brief list of minor changes to Trader’s Journey:

All card text fonts modified AGAIN to mix both the pixelated fonts and serif fonts for a design that is both cohesive in theme, and more accessible. Fonts were also made larger across the board.

Journey cards are now less “wordy,” and offer more meaningful, lasting decisions and consequences. Some journeys have also been updated specifically with solo play in mind.
The “damage” sword icon has been slightly changed so that the pixels don’t need to be rotated.
Every card’s art piece will now be fixed to the backgrounds pixel grid and size, resulting in less mixed / rotated pixels, giving a more polished look and feel.
The game board was slightly modified to include a few unique trade rounds that incentivize different things, like spending or saving coins. Boss and final boss card cues have also been implemented.

Rules were slightly altered to suit the new armor card “set bonuses.”
Enemy, boss, and final boss cards got a color design upgrade.
Some enemies and bosses were replaced with new and more interesting designs. (Rest in peace: Cursed Bat, Tree Lurker, Wizard’s Goblin—there may be a place for you all down the line)
Various different tokens added to help keep track of turns, who’s attacking, and player actions.