Sunny Side Crossing is an upcoming story-rich restaurant management simulator, mixed with slice-of-life RPG elements. As a restaurant owner, there are a lot of responsibilities on your shoulders, from collecting ingredients, to restoring the spirit of the village, and participating in village festivals, you’ll breathe a new lease of life into the world through food.
There are so many layers to Sunny Side Crossing and we were lucky enough to speak with Ikadev Studio to learn more about their plans for the vibrant village and the part you’ll play in it.
Open for business
GameScout: I see that your studio is based in Indonesia. Are there any particular challenges you face being an indie studio operating in Indonesia?
Ikadev Studio: One of the biggest challenges we face is in publishing. We don’t have many game publishers in Indonesia that can help us publish games globally. So we need to look overseas to increase our chances, which adds another layer of difficulty in building trust as a new studio.
GameScout: What existing games is Sunny Side Crossing inspired by?
Ikadev Studio: In terms of gameplay, we are inspired by Dave the Diver. As for the story approach, we are inspired by other media such as TV series and novels. We’ve noticed that “adult” stories are gaining traction in other media, but there aren’t many games telling these kinds of stories.
Sunny Side Crossing is inspired by diverse cultures, from its characters, to the food. Although just a glimpse of this is shown in the demo, it appears that it’s going to be a huge task to represent such a variety of perspectives.
GameScout: How will you make sure different cultures are represented accurately in-game?
Ikadev Studio: It is actually quite challenging. The characters inside the game will come from different places with different backgrounds. However, we are building a fantasy world here. For example, there is no Indonesia, no Asia inside the Sunny Side Crossing world. So we can only infuse the elements without explicitly referring to specific cultures. Having said that, we will still try to reference diverse cultures. After all, it is part of our company mission to introduce the value of “Bhinneka Tunggal Ika” (Unity in Diversity.)
In Sunny Side Crossing, you take on the role of a newlywed couple who just inherited a restaurant. When I played the demo, I expected the couple to already be together, but instead, players are taken through a whistle-stop tour of their growing relationship. Additionally, the demo only allows you to play as one half of the couple, leading me to enquire more about how their relationship will work, gameplay wise.
GameScout: How will the relationship develop between the two main characters and how will it influence the narrative?
Ikadev Studio: To be honest, the “prologue” demo is actually more of a pitch for publishers. The story in the actual game will take place after the prologue, where our main couple will navigate life together.
GameScout: Your website says that you “divide responsibilities” with your spouse. Does this mean that players can play as both characters? Or perhaps manage what both characters do by assigning them tasks, for example?
Ikadev Studio: In Sunny Side Crossing, you will only play as the main character. Other characters, including your spouse, are non-playable. But as a family, you do share responsibilities with your spouse. In this case, every day players can choose whether the main character goes for ingredient gathering or manages the restaurant. If the main character goes for an adventure, the spouse needs to stay to cook in the restaurant. Vice versa, if the main character stays, the spouse can go on an expedition so we have ingredients for tomorrow.
In the demo, players get a chance to try out fishing and participate in a hunting festival. The hunting festival in particular grants hands-on experience with the game’s turn-based combat, which is how you’ll defeat monsters and animals to obtain fresh ingredients.
GameScout: How often will players participate in limited-time events such as the hunting festival?
Ikadev Studio: We have planned the main story to span two in-game years. So you can expect 3 to 4 events combined with lots of day-to-day life stories.
GameScout: How far will restaurant customisation go?
Ikadev Studio: We believe customisation is an important element. It can give a personal touch and also allow for more dynamic game progression. It is definitely beyond cosmetic and will introduce trade-offs for players to decide how the restaurant gameplay is going to be.
Despite the exploration and characters you get to meet in the demo, my favourite part was running the restaurant. The fast paced nature of the mini games that see you prepare dishes kept me busy, along with the opportunity to personalise the dishes on the menu. Those who could also see themselves sinking multiple hours into the restaurant alone are in luck.
GameScout: Are there any plans for an endless mode where you can just run the restaurant, or is it entirely story focused? If it’s entirely story focused, will players be able to continue to run the restaurant after completing the story?
Ikadev Studio: Yes, we plan to allow endless mode beyond the two-year story. There are plenty of side stories we want to tell as well, but this will depend on the development resources we have.
GameScout: Are you able to tell us a release date or when players can expect a release date to be announced?
Ikadev Studio: Since the conception of Sunny Side Crossing, we planned for a 2-3 year development. It has been one and a half years of development, and the release should be in the first half of 2026.
Sunny Side Crossing is available to wishlist now on Steam. Keep up with the development team leading up to its release by following Ikadev Studio on:
