The Boba Teashop

- Reviewed on Switch 2 -

The Boba Teashop released on April 20th, 2025.

Developed and published by Mike Ten, this indie horror title completely caught me off guard. 

Going into this, I was expecting a simple, maybe slightly eerie management style game… but what I got instead was one of the creepiest experiences I’ve had in a long time. 

And yes, I mean that. This game genuinely shook me more than my last horror playthrough.

This review WILL have Major Spoilers so keep that in mind before continuing...

At its core The Boba Teashop starts off deceptively normal. You play as Risa. She is a woman who leaves behind a draining corporate life to start fresh with her own small boba tea shop. 

The opening moments feel peaceful. You are introduced to your workspace and basic tools. You are also introduced to the routine of serving customers across a seven-day cycle. At first glance it feels like a cozy management sim with a relaxing loop.

But very quickly that illusion starts to break.

As the days go on the story slowly begins to shift into something far more unsettling. 

Customers begin acting off. Some repeat visits across different nights but their behavior subtly changes each time. 

Dialogue starts to feel slightly wrong. Conversations feel like they are missing context or looping unnaturally. Even the shop itself begins to feel inconsistent. It starts to feel like reality is not fully stable inside it.

Back to the story side of things and this is where The Boba Teashop really shines. 

The game never fully explains what is going on. This makes everything more effective. 

Instead, you are left to piece things together through small changes in behavior and environmental shifts. You also notice strange interactions that build up over time.

There are two main interpretations of the story. 

One interpretation is that Risa is slowly losing her grip on reality after leaving her high stress life. The other interpretation is that something about the shop itself is actively distorting what she perceives. 

The game leans heavily into that ambiguity. It works really well because you are constantly questioning what is real and what is not. By the final night you are no longer looking for answers. You are just trying to survive the experience and understand what you have already seen.

Speaking of which the atmosphere is absolutely terrifying. The pixelated visuals seem simple at first. They actually enhance the uncanny feeling the game is going for. 

Characters feel slightly unnatural. Movements feel just a bit off. The environment begins to feel less like a shop and more like a trap you have stepped into without realizing it. 

The ambient sound design adds to this. The jumpscares hit hard because of it. I am not exaggerating when I say this was scarier than Resident Evil Requiem for me personally.

Now back to gameplay and this is where things are surprisingly solid. 

The core loop revolves around making boba tea drinks for customers across each shift. You combine ingredients. You follow recipes. You try to keep up with incoming orders. It is easy to understand but the horror tension constantly makes simple tasks feel stressful.

The UI is clean and minimal. This helps a lot during intense moments. Everything is easy to read and navigate. It never gets in the way of what you are doing. 

The controls on Switch 2 are also very responsive. I never felt like the game was fighting against me. This is important in a game where timing and accuracy matter.

What really makes the gameplay loop work is how it blends normal routine with growing unease. One moment you are preparing drinks like usual. The next moment you notice something slightly wrong in the background, and it makes you hesitate. That constant shift in tone carries the entire experience across the seven-day structure.

With that being said I did have a couple of issues. The biggest one for me was the boba recipes. Some drink combinations were difficult to remember. I found myself having to look them up at times. That did break immersion a bit especially during tense moments.

The other downside is the game length. It is fairly short. This makes sense given the price point and focused design. Even so I still wanted a bit more time in that world by the end.

Even with those issues The Boba Teashop delivers an incredibly strong and memorable experience. The mix of simple management gameplay with psychological horror is executed really well. The slowly unfolding story keeps you thinking long after you finish. It is one of those games that sticks with you because it makes something ordinary feel deeply wrong.

If you enjoy horror games that rely more on atmosphere and psychological tension than constant action this is absolutely worth playing. Just do not expect a relaxing tea making simulator. Because it very much is not that.

Pros: 

    - Extremely creepy and unsettling atmosphere

    - Strong psychological horror elements

    - Pixel art style enhances uncanny feeling

    - Clean and easy to use UI

    - Responsive controls on Switch 2

    - Simple but effective gameplay loop

    - Interesting ambiguous story that builds over time

Cons:

    - Short game length

    - Boba recipes can be hard to remember and break immersion at times

My Rating for The Boba Teashop (on Switch 2):

5 / 5

-----

Disclaimer

All Reviews, Ratings, Pros, Cons, and Opinions Shared on this Blog (Press A Reviews) are my (Connor Butler) own Thoughts and Feelings.