The articlegameplay, story, development, reception
Story
Caffeine is set in a universe where Earth has depleted its caffeine resources, prompting major corporations to invest in space mining expeditions for the substance. Players assume the role of a young boy with a severe caffeine addiction aboard one of these mining ships. Waking up with no recollection of his presence on the vessel, the protagonist begins exploring, running into multiple characters throughout his journey on the mostly abandoned ship.
Caffeine forgoes combat mechanics, focusing instead on the environments and scenery that the player must explore. The gameplay primarily involves navigating through empty corridors and solving puzzles to progress. These puzzles are predominantly environmental and memory-based, requiring players to explore and remember information to overcome obstacles. Caffeine includes lore scattered throughout the game, presented as sticky notes, audio logs, whiteboards, and more.
Development
Caffeine was developed by Incandescent Imaging, an indie video game developer company. As of 2019, their only two releases are the first episode of Caffeine and a mobile game called Boxed In. The game was developed mostly by the head of the company, Dylan Browne. He is the creative mind behind most of the game.
The composer, Adam Klingman, and sound designer, Jonathan Wachoru, were responsible for the game's sound and music. Over the years preceding its release, Caffeine made appearances on video game news sites, such as IGN and Kotaku. This culminated in excitement surrounding the release of the game, but it died out with a lackluster launch of the first episode, and no follow-up for further episodes.
