Root Bear (Playdate)

When I first played Root Bear, it did seem like a bit of fun, but I wasn’t sure I was going spend much time with it since it seemed like the kind of game you understand in just a few playthroughs. However, after the round was over, the game presented a high score table, the leaderboards having some default entries including one left by Best Bear: 100 points. I hadn’t even achieved half of that score, it showing just how far my skills could go if I took it seriously, so I plunged in again and again, learning the ways of properly pouring root beer for bears, all because a smartly placed high score showed me the game involved a good deal more skill than what the deceptively simple high score chase initially presented.

 

Root Bear involves you being the person running the root beer tap for a bunch of thirsty bears, the bears presenting you with their drink glass that can range from a shot glass to a full pitcher in size and shape. The bears are oddly particular about how full they want their glasses, pointing at a dotted line on it that shows exactly how much root beer they desire that can range from barely a dribble to nearly overflowing. If you want to be properly paid for pouring their soft drinks, you’ll have to get close to this line if not spot on, but manning the tap involves careful use of the Playdate’s hand crank. The amount you’ve turned it will determine the filling speed and you’ll need to turn it back to close the tap and lock in the amount of root beer you want to add, but this isn’t as simple as you might first believe. The different size glasses fill at different speeds of course, but there is also the foam from the carbonated beverage to consider. You’ll see the actual drink and the fizz fill the glass at different rates depending on your speed, and if you simply stop the pouring right as the dark liquid hits the dotted line, that doesn’t account for the foam settling and revealing there was a bit more than you thought in the glass.

To pull off a proper pour, you must learn the nature of the foam and account for it when you close the tap. You do not necessarily need to be spot on, the bears aren’t jerks who will refuse to pay for a slightly off soda, but your score is represented by a tip jar and naturally the bears are happier when their orders are filled properly. As long as there is a little root beer in the glass you can usually get a dollar, but if you’re close enough you can often get closer to four bucks. Land right on the line though, and you’re often getting seven or eight dollars, there an appreciable gulf in the reward to motivate you to try and hit the perfect pour especially because Root Bear is an incredibly fast paced game with barely any time to rack up that high score.

 

You have sixty seconds total with no leeway even if you’re pouring that last drink as the timer hits zero, so even if a drink glass looks hard to hit the right spot on quickly, you probably can’t afford to just rush them through with a weak performance. If you want to beat Best Bear’s score, you have to master the crank turning and be adaptive since the drink amount is always changing. Since the goal is simple you can start to learn its ins and outs, and there are times where you might just settle for getting the small payout of being close enough when the timer’s nearly run out as you hope for a quick and easy drink to top it off. The best strategy is of course rapidly landing perfect pours again and again, but that is a task that takes practice to start nailing and yet not so much that you’ll get discouraged. You’ll be nearing Best Bear more and more as you get the feel for how the fizz works, how quickly you need to turn the crank, and how to stay consistent even under the time crunch.

What makes Root Bear perhaps more immediately appealing to a casual player though is the bears themselves. They are incredibly invested in you pouring their drinks properly. As you pour they start reacting with anticipation and then trepidation as you near the line, their hope for the perfectly poured drink delightfully overblown and silly. Fill the drink to the point it starts overflowing and the bears will react as if you had stomped on their foot, utterly mortified you dared to spill their precious root beer. Their ridiculous scream of anguish contrasts well with the reaction given when you fill the drink right to the line though, the screen filled with a Perfect Pour graphic where the bear seems to find your work utterly sublime.

 

The musical cue accompanying the Perfect Pour never loses its touch either, it always satisfying because of how you do often feel like you’re teetering on being just a bit off even though the game isn’t so difficult that getting constant Perfect Pours in a row feels impossible. In fact, that is why topping the leaderboard feels so achievable. The Perfect Pour reaction is a constant reinforcement that you can do this, you can hone your very specific crank-turning craft here, and when you do see bear after bear experiencing true bliss at your handiwork, it’s easy to feel like you truly have mastered the game’s simple but addictive drink-pouring mechanic. The range of exaggerated reactions from the bears does feel a little small, but at the same time, beyond the Perfect Pour, if you want those high scores you stop looking at the bears and can be usually pretty assured they aren’t doing anything new and amusing. They are a fun touch when you’re first starting out though, giving the game a bit more personality beyond it’s already strange concept.

THE VERDICT: Root Bear pulls you in with the silly reactions the cartoon bears have to your drink pouring, but once you see how high the leaderboards go, you learn there’s more going on than turning the crank to really get good at this addictive high score chase. It has elements like needing to manage the fizz so you fill exactly the right amount but such considerations are also the kind you can do quickly and without much thought once you understand them, the game turning into a blazing fast battle to try and clear as many orders as quickly and concisely as possible to prove you are the true Best Bear in the root beer game.

 

And so, I give Root Bear for Playdate…

A GOOD rating. Root Bear definitely feels like one of the games that deserved to come with the Playdate, its concept simple and appealing, its art giving it character, and the usage of the crank providing something that is easy to play but requires skill to master. Root Bear is a quick score chaser and one that benefits immensely from its hard 60 second timer. One easy idea to suggest would be some sort of infinite mode, but it seems the developer already attempted to implement it and likely found out why it doesn’t work so well in this format. Root Bear is enjoyable when you don’t have time to slowly pour out that drink, the lack of a time pressure meaning you could all too easily let the drink dribble in and cut it off without much fuss. Possibly a longer mode could work, something like a three or five minute run, but it could also implement new crazy disruptions like oddly shaped drink glasses that make it harder to know when to stop filling or you could even potentially have a bear request a float that could require you to accommodate the added ice cream when it comes to hitting the line. Root Bear doesn’t necessarily need complication or evolution though, it already enjoyable and keeping you on board longer by showing your initial few runs are only just the start of how well you can perform at the core play. One hundred dollars isn’t even necessarily the end goal if you can get truly masterful at speedy drink filling, but even if you don’t decide to try and top your system’s leaderboard, the goofy bear reactions still give you a little something to enjoy while you try and hit your personal best.

 

Root Bear really feels like a perfect example of a Playdate experience. It’s simple enough to pick up and play anytime so you can potentially play it in short bursts should you bring your little handheld game system with you somewhere. It makes solid use of the crank, your skills tested but the game never straining the control method because you never need to spin it too hard or strong. Even the precision element can come to you naturally since it’s not too touchy. Perhaps a bit of a bigger leaderboard would be nice to better give you room to mark your progress, but otherwise, Root Bear is as quick and sweet as a perfectly filled shot glass of root beer, and with the unusual expressions of the bear to give it an identity, it’s an easy game to love and keep at until you’ve shown Best Bear who’s boss.