I'm not normally much of a drinker, but I'll be pouring a pint or several (hundred) this weekend, because monastic management sim Ale Abbey has staggered out of early access. The launch version spews a chunky 1.0 update all over the abbey's virtual cloisters, while wannabe brewmasters yet to sample its stout offering can dive in at a sizeable launch discount.
For those unfamiliar with the art of medieval beermaking, Ale Abbey tasks players with founding a monastery in a boozy slice of Middle-Ages Europe, transforming it into the finest monkish brewery in Christendom. Your Fermentine order is founded on familiar management-sim mechanics, like building new rooms for your monastery, recruiting new brothers and sisters, and maintaining their general health and happiness.
But Ale Abbey adds its own citrusy twist to this formula in the form of an elaborate brewing system. Instead of making pre-set beers, you create your own beverage through choosing a style of ale, picking what equipment you'll use to brew it, and adjusting variables like the quality and quantity of your grain, the temperature of your mash, and how long you choose to age it once barrelled.
The 1.0 update adds eight new ale styles for your order to experiment with, and four new markets to sell your bold new brews in, including the illustrious-sounding Grand Capital. The update also structures its brewing competitions in a full-blown league table, letting you go pate-to-pate with other monasteries to reach the top of the ale-making charts.
Elsewhere, the update adds new furniture for your monks and nuns to lounge around on, an expanded research tree with new items and technologies to discover, new world events to spice up your journey, and a new room type—the Contemplarium—where your monks can take a thoughtful load off (or ride out their hangovers).
To celebrate Ale Abbey's release, developer Hammer & Ravens is selling the brewing sim at a 35% launch discount. This brings the price down to $9.75 (£8.31), which is about the price of a pint in central London. The discount runs until September 29.
