The Fog & FlaskThe Fog & Flask

Old Orvin ran the Mistmire bar for as long as anyone can remember. Now he's gone. All he left was a key under the doorstep, a recipe book on the counter, a note that reads "Don't look for me. Look for the pages." and a debt to the Alchemists' Guild, which is now yours.

Open the shutters, light the candles and start pouring. The first guests are already at the door.

Every order is a layered potion, and every liquid has its own density. Pour too hard and the layers churn. Stop too early and the layer comes up short. Tilt the bottle, watch the stream and stop right on the mark.

• 74 recipes, from simple two-layer brews to six-layer showpieces like Northern Lights, including 14 secret ones
  

• Tall glasses, round flasks and wide goblets each fill differently
  

• Thin layers need a trickle, thick ones a steady hand
  

• Spill on the counter and your fussier guests will notice
  

A dwarf who wants it "just like back in the mountains". A Guild inspector who spots every wobble in a layer. A tarot-reading rabbit, a mushroom who never hurries, a moneylender who is very interested in your debts. Thirteen regulars, each with their own temper, taste and patience, and something they aren't telling you.

• Talk to guests between orders and choose what to say
  

• Pin what you learn to the evidence board and work out where Orvin went
  

• Follow his trail to the old mill, the boarded-up cellar and a garden buried under snow
  

Behind the counter is a whole workshop, and every station is its own small skill game:

• Mortar: strike the flickering crack. Three precise hits in a row and it goes Crunch!

• Board: chop mandrake root and red mushrooms before they go in the mortar
  

• Scales: tip out powder to the tenth of a gram
  

• Burner: keep the brew in its heat window without letting it boil over
  

• Hourglass: steep it for exactly as long as the recipe asks
  

• Still: distill rose and mint essences once spring comes
  

• Rag: keep the counter clean, because some guests care a lot
  

On some nights the fog comes for the shop. It seeps in through the windows and the door, and even rises from the cellar. Turn your lantern to meet each wave on the beat, keep the lamps burning and hold out until dawn. Murk, the voice in the fog, has a lot to say about your little lights.

• A rhythm game played on your own shop counter
  

• Waves from every side, with streaks that multiply your score
  

• Fog nights are turning points in the story
  

Spend an evening out on the bog. Charge a jump, land on a tussock and keep moving before it sinks. Gather amber, wild garlic and herbs, catch fireflies in mid-air, fend off will-o'-wisps with your lantern and make it back to shore before the oil runs out.

• Old tussocks crumble, bubbling ones sink and winter ones are covered in ice
  

• Gusts of wind push your jumps, so aim off or wait it out
  

• Nightly tasks: precise landings, no falls, reach the islet deep in the bog
  

• A streak of precise landings brings home more amber
  

The story runs through autumn, winter and spring, eight days each, and every season brings new recipes, guests and tools. Winter brings snow and Guild inspections. Spring opens Orvin's garden. Each evening, choose one outing (the swamp or Orvin's experiments), then go over your clues and stock up for tomorrow.

• Rent is due every evening. Run up a debt and you go back to the last checkpoint, not to the very beginning
  

• 12 upgrades, from a heavy pestle and a tip jar to a tiled stove for the winter months
  

• Once the story is over, the shop stays open for as long as you keep paying the rent
  

At a glance

• A cozy shopkeeping game with charming pixel art
  

• Layered potion pouring with real liquid physics
  

• 8 workshop stations, fog nights and swamp outings for variety
  

• A mystery told through 13 guests and a board full of clues
  

• Fully playable in English, Russian, German, French, Spanish and Simplified Chinese
  

In development: a relaxed Cozy mode and a Master mode with rising rent and a leaderboard. Details may change before release.