@Gower What are your thoughts on using the cheats?
I used “A Spoonful of Sugar” which slightly increase my stats. Will it ruin the experience?
I don’t want my MC to be a God, but I want him to get a small advantage.
1 Like
I think this game is designed so that you cannot ruin your experience. Set the stats to whatever level you like, and enjoy. The only thing I would suggest is to try the cheats in the other direction too (lowering stats) so that you can experiences the adventures when you fail stat checks.
But I wouldn’t have put them in if they weren’t part of the fun! Enjoy!
12 Likes
BEST. CoG. EVER.
There are so many that I love, including Tally Ho, but I’ve never felt as strongly as I did with Cakes and Ale. The plot, subplots, characters, humour, moments, range of choices… this is a 11/10 in every possible way!
Kudos, Gower! You’ve done it again 
I can hardly wait for the sequels!
Now, I’m off to obsess over my best girl Vyv <3 she can paint me any day 
P.S. Inspector Ambrose is one of my favorite side characters in any fictional series, ever.
11 Likes
I replayed Tally Ho earlier after running through Jolly Good maybe half a dozen times (there’s just so much to discover!), and noticed that in the ending where the MC works for Rory from the US via postal service, one of Rory’s letters mentions “a freckled man/woman with a dimple.” I may have made a very unflattering noise upon reading it. Was… was that Fitzie? 
I also got the line about Fitzie viewing the Tally Ho MC as their nemesis (which is hilarious), but @Gower could you share what variable(s) trigger it? I seem to only get it when both Rory/Frankincense and Mopsie/Figs are married, yet judging by the dialogue (“foiled at every turn,” or some such) I’m just curious why it doesn’t happen when Rory and Frankincense aren’t married? Is the line dependent on something else?
Long, Wordy, Possibly Incomprehensible Gushing
Apologies in advance for the rambling. I’ve exhausted the goodwill of any family members willing to listen, so I’m putting some stray thoughts here.
The branching is insane! I’ve spent basically every free part of my day playing and replaying this, and I still feel like there’s so much I haven’t read. I really appreciate the save points because it means I can go through each chapter to my heart’s content, but with how many starting variables carry over to later chapters, I’ve still replayed from the beginning so, so many times. Gonna put forth every effort to enjoy every single one of those 1.2 million words.
Fitzie! Gosh. I saw a few other posts mentioning poor first impressions, and I was definitely in that camp too, but Fitzie really grew on me. I felt a genuine emotional shift between scandalised/appalled and friendly/fond during my first full playthrough. This affection was further solidified upon discovering that (female) Fitzie and I share a name… even though I’m 99% sure they started stealing from the club treasury after I made them VP. (I had to replay that section a couple of times to determine where the stat drop came from, and I’m now very afraid yet still woefully attached.)
Getting sick from the shopkeeper kinda horrified me, but passing on the cold to Vyv via a kiss almost made it worth it for the later sneezing dialogue around the clubhouse. Almost. Probably not gonna want to do that again. …Except, you know, once for Fitzie and Gilberto and Tabby each, once I figure out how. 
(Between Vyv in the clubhouse and Fitzie in the news office, I feel like my MCs so far have had a lot of romantic interludes in closets.)
I love all the cameos of the Tally Ho characters — or, at least, the ones I managed to run into. (Even Chef Beauregard and his French accent, which has somehow thickened over the course of one year spent in England.) Getting to see Rory so much was especially delightful!
The achievement at the end of chapter six that says something along the lines of “Nothing Exploded” has, of course, made me very determined to figure out how to get something to explode.
Also, the Noble Gases’ poor punchbowl has died a thousand deaths at this point. It never makes it to the end. I thought I was so close in my last playthough, but then I set the club on fire. Alas, I will have to make another go at it.
13 Likes
I managed to not get that achievement not visiting the newspaper office at all for the entirety of chapter 6. Not sure if there are other potential explosions in the midst, however.
3 Likes
So I don’t know if this considered a spoiler per se… but I had a question on how to get one achievement and I don’t know how to hide my statement if it is considered a spoiler… so apologies in advance.
Has anyone gotten the Inked achievement and if so… HOW??? T-T
Also lovely story 
I’ve played through like 20 times already when I probably should be doing homework ^-^ Keep up the amazing work!
2 Likes
I’m so glad you are enjoying it! May I humbly suggest you check out the “Pleasantly Tipsy” DLC–it has a full achievement guide, and will aid in your enjoyment for the next 20 playthroughs!
6 Likes
I forgot about the guide! Now I feel foolish… Bless you for dealing with my silliness XD
1 Like
I am really enjoying this story.
Finished my first play through and will try another play through later today.
I really love the replay-ability
1 Like
Hello Gower,
I just finished my first playthrough of Cakes & Ale, it took me 5 1/2 hours and I loved every minute of it. I played Tally Ho back in the day and I loved the prose and world you created. It was very wacky, a bit like Alice in Wonderland, but also very funny and clever. I’m not a native speaker and I confess I used a translator for some parts but that didn’t stop me from having a blast.
I liked the MC in Cakes & Ale better than the one from Tally Ho. It feels like I’m getting more freedom in decisions my character makes.
I played a bleeding heart with good intentions who just happened to get herself into one unfortunate mess after the other. Vyv was really adorable and as an art historian I really ‘clicked’ with her character.
I really liked the option to pick a background, my MC was ‘almost in love’ with Vyv and they’ve been pining after each other through the whole game.
I got inspired by Vyv’s artwork, I might try to replicate it in real life. There is actually an art style within the performance arts where the artist only describes the artwork on a piece of paper but never creates the image itself. It is up to the viewer/vistor to create the artwork in their head. I had this experience with the description of Vyv’s artwork with all the different colors and shapes overlapping, very interesting.
I liked the other characters as well, each one of them was very fleshed out but still had some mysteries left to be uncovered in future installments.
My favorite side character is Juniper from the Dormouses. She gave me the creeps, in a ‘I’m creeping out but I still want to see how this plays out’ kind of way. I hope she returns in the sequel, not sure if she would be a fitting love interest but a side story would be great. I wouldn’t mind the option to take MC’s clothes off again, for art😉
– This is where my random theory begins, feel free to skip this nonsense–
Random theory
For some strange reason my mind came up with the random notion that Juniper might be a vampire. I know this is not that kind of story (or is it?) but there where some parts which I found rather interesting.
-She shows a particular interest in the MC’s nape (neck), which is something vampires do as well, before they attack you and drink your blood😅.
-She is pleased when you remember the old customs (when you kiss her hand). You know who else tend to like old customs? Vampires!
-When you kiss her hand the MC notices that Juniper has cold hands. Vampires are cold too, because they’re undead.
-Juniper has this whole talk about ‘meeting in another life’ during her talk about botany. Honestly, I got some real Dracula/Mina vibes from that scene (could just be me though).
I might have finally lost my marbles but I’d love to see how my theory plays out in a possible sequel. Will there be strange meetings in the middle of the night? Will there be ‘tomato juice’ at the dinner table? Who knows, I’d love to find out😊
17 Likes
I love this so much! Every time I replay I find something new that makes me smile.
I especially love this line:
We must all be pleased that this narrative is presented in a wholly textual format, lest the images of this art sear our vulnerable minds and cause us to be unable to sleep for weeping at the pathetic disaster of these paintings.
6 Likes
I chalk this one up to this mc being a silver-spoon upper class aristocrat (and in my particular case a total pretty boy too. 
And let me add that my mc is eternally grateful to his late mother for marrying his father as it is clear from watching poor cousin Marmaduke that he is indeed fortunate that he inherited at least something potentially more precious than money from his late father. 
I agree Vyv is totally adorkable too. Gower has really surpassed his previous work here as I now have three male ro’s I can’t decide between.
One of my favourite scenes and certainly my favourite Vyv scene was the one where the mc can pose nude for Vyv
I do have a question about the age of the mc @Gower. As on the one hand the mc can tell Parsnip that they aren’t as far removed in age as she might think (putting the mc anywhere from late teens early 20’s). And from the Vyv demo scene with the law lecture I did personally put the mc around 20 years of age at the start of the game.
But on the other hand in the ball background we meet some of the mc’s old university buddies where one is already balding. Which would seem to put the mc around late 20’s. Unless the mc dropped out after only a year or so.
Also the mc seems to have been classmates with Vyv and Vyv makes a fairly young impression (again late teens to early 20’s) on me. 
3 Likes
it makes sense that he would be about 20 years old since the will of the mc’s parents stipulates that he has to grow up to manage his inheritance even though I personally believe that the mc is about 25 years old
1 Like
I still haven’t finish one playthrough because i constantly restart to see how choices make different scenario…
Thus far i realise Vyv not always is an option to pay for Johnny’s debt , and when running away from Johnny, i could visit the coffee shop my aunt want to invest and meet Tabby or meet Vyv in thd Law university, both encounters are heart warming which i couldn’t decide yet which perfect life choice i want to make… and apparently Jill could shift her focus to Vyv instead and trying to ruin her… because i want to save Vyv’s reputation , i had to pick a secret mission witj Tabby instead of joining the boxing myself or go to the opera with my aunt
@Gower could the inheritance of the Earl 's lordship shift to me instead of my cousin ?
1 Like
You can do more than one thing…
It takes 20 minutes to go from one event to another. So, I went to the opera and the boxing/dining competition both.
2 Likes
In additon I would like to note that If you romance neither Fitz nor Tabby in a particular playthrough then sending both of them to the newspaper office assures a favourable outcome and you won’t need to waste time on it. Saved me a bit of time on my Vyv and Gil romance runs
I also cannot decide between Colonel Firesnuff, aka the original Fifi Buttercup, or Haze as sponsors.
I’m not convinced, I think Fitzie is doing that mostly for himself as he did this with my mc when romancing either Gil or Vyv, which means the only way he doesn’t do this is if you try to romance him, in which case he tries to play hard to get by quoting a bunch of new Cadbury club rules at the mc. . So I think that’s just Fitzie being Fitzie.
4 Likes
Now i am a skeptic i am convinced the inner circle is moving their claws to me , i love it because now i can experience myself how a servant could screw the master…Lol. So Fitzie was trying to convince me that Vyv is betraying me and that Vyv set up everything herself , ahahaha i am not a fool , so the inner circle think me and Vyv are not meant to be together ? Well i am more clever than they thought … but Fitzie, please how could you betray me? I trusted you… now i understand how Rory would feel if he ever knows his servant betray him … but Fitzie really, the inner circle is more than my trust and friendship ?? 
@idonotlikeusernames you meant Fitzie is interested for MC ? By the way, did you won the gamble against Jack ? I think thr only way we could win is to have high observe
Getting pretty frustrated by this bug that causes the game to crash at the end of Chapter 5.
1 Like
Could you report it via email to support@choiceofgames.com? They might be able to help you with that. It’s something that the forum can’t help you with.
4 Likes
I don’t know if this is quite sudden but, what’s the indicative number in the relationship stat to know wheter a character likes or tolerate you ? Like for example :
0-19 = probably doesn’t like you/ have a weak relationship
20-40 = Neutral or lukewarm . May not have enough to make an opinion of you. They like you enough to invite you to an event but not enough to tell anything personal.
50-60= Like. They like you and are willing to spend personal time with you but still not a deep friendship.
70-79 = Good/close friends. Willing to tell any personal troubles and are happy to do anything for you
80-99 = (Romantically) emeshed. The day would start out so wrong without the usual morning pining ! The world looks diffrent with you around. Your smile brightens their day and all the troubles disappear with you here. If the feeling’s not mutual then it becomes pining or a one sided crush.
I ask this since whenever I play Tally Ho my relationship wit Rory is usually very high. Like the their highest number with me is 92 while the lowest number is 70 something. In a playthrough where I don’t romance them it’s usually 80 something. Intrestingly enough, whenever I romance Haze and ride with them in the fox hunt they would always ask me if I like Rory back and EVERY SINGLE TIME they wuld tell me that Rory’s emeshed with me and doubt me whenever I say I don’t like them back romantically.
And, if that’s a thing. Then would it be possible for the ROs to develop a crush to a PC character? especially if their relationship bar hits 80 and you haven’t locked yourself in a romance yet ? 
5 Likes