
Be Our Guest: Grand Opening
A downloadable game
Have you ever found yourself exhausted and confused by the hustle and bustle of corporate life in the big city?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there were a place you could just relax and unwind, maybe have a nice cup of coffee or a snack, in the company of a variety of attentive pink-feathered waterfowl (and also Kenneth)?
Need an opportunity to just hang out and be unafraid to be yourself?
If the answer to any of this is no, then it should be yes, and if the answer to any of this is yes, then you’re welcome to Be Our Guest at the Matinee Cabaret, a fun and inviting café, just a little off the beaten path, and with live entertainment too! Pop in for the grand opening in this charming visual mini-novel featuring original, dynamic spritework and colorful backgrounds for the various locations in the café, where you can meet and chat up the employees through their voice-acted branching dialogue trees. Order a drink, make a friend, solve a dilemma, and preview what the Matinee Cabaret has in store!
Check me out live! The Matinee Cabaret is REAL https://www.twitch.tv/morninchai
Follow my live updates here. https://bsky.app/profile/morninchai.bsky.social
Updated | 24 days ago |
Status | Released |
Rating | Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars (36 total ratings) |
Author | Chai |
Genre | Visual Novel |
Tags | 2D, First-Person, Furry, Hand-drawn, LGBTQIA, Queer, Short |
Download
Click download now to get access to the following files:
Development log
- What I'm doin till I get back into GAMES24 days ago
- V1.1 Game reupload update39 days ago
- small fixes since first post44 days ago
Comments
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im just letting you know could you put platform tags there is an itch launcher and if they dont have tags they cant download from them and also add linux to the pc file. linux can run windows via steam and/or vine and the steam deck has the ability to run it if its like that as well
Been meaning to get around to this one since release, and I finally did today! I think I located all the real endings. This is some really delightful work! Just a snippet profiling a moment in time with a colorful cast that's super fun, with some really delightful voice work to compliment the obviously suuuuper charming art. I'm so glad to see it!
Hey, question I think many would benefit from: seeing as you mention them in this, what stretches do you do to keep your wrist from hurting, and how often?
oh oh oh! okay so, I've been drawing most of my life and i play a lot of games too, so I've even had my share of tendonitis n such.
step one to any pain is sadly to stop completely. avoid what's causing the issue till its healed.
then stretches, there's many ways to stretch your hands and wrists, do them often, at-least hourly while working. and be gentle! work your way up
and finally what causes many issues (the ones that aren't genetic like some forms of arthritis) is simply the overworking of the tendons and muscles that pull said tendons in the arms and hands. just constant repetition is not good. so I've gotten not only grip strength devices to help work out these specific areas, but I started bouldering years ago and love it! I go to the gym 3 times a week and climb walls and its made it so easy to just draw aaaall day every day for me ;D
...Okay, this has given me an excuse to look for some rock climbing gym, and I love doing that. Thanks!
(That said that means I need to stop playing games, texting, drawing, and stitching. I'm gonna get addicted to reading like I'd feared qwq)
Can you tell me how to get all the ending?
so the EASIEST way to get all endings is: make sure you bump into a crying lil guy outside the cab, then talk to everyone completely, but do not do any of their endings quite yet. save a lot too, there are TWO people you can flirt with where one will BREAK the true ending (this was on purpose) and the other will give you an ending too hehe.
once you met the lil guy, talk to everyone, don't flirt with just two of em (you'll know who if you try them) then you can get the true kennding, as well as reload and talk to ANY character a second time, and "settling down" etc means ending the game with them.
one ending is also simply leaving the cab early, or not going in at all.
have fun!
Hello! I'm A Furry VN Enthusiast, always wanting to try New VNs that are out there and I seem to found one.
I accidentally found your VN. I was scrolling through and saw the colorful flamingo thumbnail & I was like, this seems interesting. I am glad I decided to give it a try :D
From what you have said, I think I did get all the endings. Kenneth one for sure is my favorite! Overall, even if your VN is short I really enjoyed every moment. The Art is AMAZING! I have never seen a VN with so many colors & representation of one's self. The pronouns feature is something welcoming & more VNs should have it!
Anyway, I found out about your VN from this FVN Community Discord Server as I was scrolling. Thought I'd let you know as your VN got shared & featured in their list [see pic below]
https://discord.gg/ED5ZKtCv65
If you're looking to promote/make more people aware/getting feedback, tips, discuss & networking on your VN or just hangout with other VN Creators, I recommend joining the community if you have discord.
Its a great place of resources for VN Developers. You can become a better developer as am sure the other VN Devs are willing to share their experiences & give you some advice.
You can also search for specific people with talents like artist/musician/proofreader/editor/programmer etc.
Overall, there's a lot of helpful people and a nice atmosphere. I hope you will enjoy the server & wishing you luck for the future of hopefully a full story of Be Our Guest!
The writing was enticing while matching the characters beautifully, I absolutely ADORE all of them but def have my faves (gonna have to play it to meet them all ;)
Full of little tittering laughs, and def a lot of of me fanning myself ngl. Gorgeous art as always, been a long time fan of your art style and how well you capture EVERY body shape and size.
Got all the endings now! I can't really pic a favorite one either but def some of them made me kind of wibble a bit with how kind and eloquent but relatable the characters were <3
I want to see MORE
I started playing and had to pause myself to come here and comment how absolutely beautiful the game is. Everything just meshes together so well giving me such a unique impression. I'm actually at a loss for words I like it so much.
Is there going an android version??
I'll look into it soon with my coder! I haven't tried that yet but I hope its easy :>
Okay:D
It's been a while since I've played a game and have been unable to pick a favorite character. Maybe I'm biased because I don't see a lot of games with this much trans representation, but experiencing a project like this makes me so happy. I can't wait to see more <3
Lovely, beautiful game, with really great characters!
Error game ;/ but what ver Ren'Py and joyplay can play this game?
I don't think I quite exported a droid version yet, i'll try to look into that asap!
As someone who followed the development of this game and its creator, it was nothing short of wonderful to see this Be Our Guest come to fruition.
I knew when "Grand Opening" launched I was going to support the work and give it a play. Here's the thing though, personal feelings aside, this is a seriously well made game. The art style is bright and full of character. The story is well written and easy to follow. And the CHARACTERS, they're nothing short of incredible.
Each member of the cabaret oozes with charm and personality. I particularly appreciated the diversity of gender representation, sexual orientation, and body types! Accompanying each of these characters is a unique music score, which made chatting with them an even more unique and engaging experience. What blew me away the most was how well acted each character was, props to the entire voice acting team and Chai for really bringing their all to this colorful cast.
You can tell that Be Our Guest was a labor of love, it's evident in every sprite, every score, and every line of dialogue. This game has heart, something sorely lacking from most modern releases, and for that reason alone I can't recommend it enough. Give it a play, get to know the cast (seeing every ending only took me a couple hours!), and I promise you'll be charmed by the experience.
Absolutely loved this! Cap is the BEST. Only a couple nitpicks:
I swear we learn from another character that the owner is serious about their pronouns, but when we stare at them after, we are forced to go down the misgendering route ^^; I really do want to see how they react to proper flirting, because WOW talk about charisma.
Also, I'd love a gallery feature so we can enjoy at least the endings without a text box popping up. (Emulating on Android so I can't hit the hide key :( )
Thank you and everyone else who's worked on this, and I look forward to a bigger story with this flock of fun flamingos!
Hmmm, might have seen another bug. Some event flags may well be permanently hit. SPOILER WARNING!
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On a different playthrough, I talked to the hosts before Cap. I still got the "I think about horses again" thing when I only encountered horses then. Ven also said it had mentioned board games when it hadn't yet while talking to it. Are these bugs?
not a bug! just a me going "should I make this only appear if you talked to cap? orr... ehh" and got lazy LOL I could totally make that a minor trigger flag that only appears after talking to Cap though :>
I has a feeling Chai was behind this when I saw all the flamingos. Definitely giving this a look!
Is there a way that you could make it playable on browser?
I can test it and try, but my coder said some of our functions we created might break in a browser version. Once I'm back in the coding room with him we'll see what we can try out :>
I won't say much but will say this: I want to hug them all!!
I've been following Chai's development on this visual novel for the past year and some change and to say that I'm impressed with the final product is an understatement! This visual novel just exudes charm in a way that's hard to put into words. Chai has taken her fantastic world of characters within the Cabaret and has turned it into a vibrant and lively game where you as the player get to explore and really engage one-on-one with anyone of your choosing.
I've laughed out loud multiple times, charmed by the Cabaret and the range of characters found within. (No exact spoilers, but Malbec's entrance and interactions is one of those moments, Cap being a close second for me). I love the representation within the Cabaret as well, from body types to pronouns, it all feels very inclusive to be able to experience as a player.
I'm also impressed with the amount of endings you can achieve, depending on who you talk to and in what order. It gives you a great amount of replay-ability, wondering how you'll get certain endings and what you'll learn about the Cabaret members.
I also LOVE the voice acting: each voice feels like it really fits the character its attached to. The quality is really good and really adds to the immersion of the game. Plus I also immensely enjoyed the background music - felt perfect for the ambience you would expect in an establishment like the Cabaret.
All-in-all, this is a great game to get lost in. This game is so obviously a labor of love and I can't wait to see how Chai expands upon this and the world she's creating, both within her stream as well as within this visual novel/gaming world. As someone who also enjoys making OCs and worlds for them, Chai's work has been a big inspiration of mine for some time. And it's beyond cool to see how all of her hard work has paid off in this project. Here's to whatever's next in the Plaza Promenade!
(Ok, little P.S. here, but I *just* got the Kenneth ending. SO GOOD!! Ah, I can't get over how charming this game is. Already can't wait for what comes next!)
How do you get it?
talk to everyone, and dont make a certain character or two mad, then try to explore eeeeverything! think of where you last saw him :>
I came into this as someone not versed much in Visual Novels, no expectations, no thoughts, head empty. I came out laughing, falling in love with the cast, one of which literally sounds like someone I'd be BEST FRIENDS WITH in real life (IF CAP WERE REAL SOBS), and a cherry on top with representation of an aspect of my own life and PRONOUNS!
The worldbuilding is short and sweet, you're thrown in in such a creative way, and you come out expecting to see more in the future - or at least I did!
The animation, art, and voice acting is all phenomenal, the music was just so fun to put on the background and vibe to, and a great experience to the eyes and ears! :)
P.S. Cap pls call me I miss you WAH
A proof of concept with characterisation. 🛋✨ Makes me curious about what's going to happen at the ending.
As for the animations, Voice acting and avocado-speak. With the music fitting each character being a neat-o idea package. Fab. 🛋🌈 The Emotes sparkling.
Liked looking at Malbec
You could consider self-publishing your zines here too, that's that going to take some preparation. That's self-publishing though, only so many places to plomf the artworks.
Those are moving. 🛋📖
An amazing way to introduce your characters to your stream and set in stone what vibes you like for your stream! the characters are fun, animations and drawings are cute and well made! watching this game be made on stream was also amazing, I usually don't like games in this style as it doesn't keep me engaged, however I was genuinely really glued to this one, the music is amazing too, omg everythings' great please play it
I loved this so much I didn’t want it to endddddd!
What a nice, cozy, and fun vn 💕
The voice acting is fantastic! The design work in the ui, scenes, and characters are all so stylish and beautiful and hot and oh my god is everyone and everything is so visually pleasing to the eyes!
The feeling of the characters and their voices feels so real. I loved talking and spending time with them all!!
Especially Cap omfg Cap.Everyone was so welcoming and charismatic! They’re all so diverse and have depth to them and it was fun to learn about them while leaving some parts as a mystery keeping me wanting to learn more.I liked how I was initially going for Cap’s ending and out of curiosity picked an option that led me to Kenneth’s ending! He’s so cute and I wish the best time for the bestest boy 🙏
It’s so very cool seeing how you have implemented the Matinee Caberet as an environment for streams and gave it some story, depth, and liveliness on top of how alive it already is. It feels so much more real now, if that makes any sense?
Overall, I’m so in love with this place and I am very very pleased in what you’ve accomplished with having it as a vn here! Bravo!
The level of finish on this visual novel is nothing short of phenomenal. It's a delightful three hours or so full of memorable characters and fantastic voice acting. The dialogue is very well written and comes straight from the creators heart, and the colour and designs of each character are sublime. In particular, I'm a big fan of the characterization of each member of the cast through their movements.
There's multiple endings and it's filled with SO much joy. Please consider giving a few bucks to this creator when you download this one - it's well worth it.
Went through the visual novel in a couple of hours. This was a lovely little experience, creating a vibrant and cozy little world to slip into. If possible I would love to visit the Matinee Cabaret and all its feathery (and furry) folks. Some audio mixing and voice clips are a bit out of order here and there, but with the VA work already in the game, you're able to fill in the gaps relatively easily.
By far my favorites were Cap, Ven and Malbec. The loud and unabashedly herself -- the quiet-er avian with much more going on behind those spectacles -- and the big boss themselves who definitely totally did not make me blush like hell when addressing Chai in a certain way lol.
I've been following this artist for many years since I entered the furry fandom, and playing through this, it's amazing to see just how far she's come. Play this and send a few bucks their way to show support.
And Chai, thanks for helping me discover more about myself across all these years. Here's to you.