Serving up Scares in Closing at 2

For whatever reason, there’s something very comforting about games that allow players to work in the service industry and listen to customers vent about their lives. VA-11 Hall-A and Coffee Talk are two popular examples of this trope that give the player a job as either a bartender or a barista, allowing them to form relationships with their quirky customers and find solace in resolving their problems. However, the reality of the service industry is often much more stressful. In the game Closing at 2, the developers inject an element of horror into this typically cozy genre, and the result is an unsettling experience that flips these familiar tropes right on their head.

As a bartender at Lakeside Inn, the protagonist of Closing at 2 is tasked with serving three regulars their favorite drinks. The drinks are made by dragging the ingredients to a shaker and playing a time-based minigame to shake them properly. As the night progresses, the regulars grow more frantic, with their features distorting and becoming more twisted. Blood drips from their eyes and spit foams from their mouth as they demand more complicated orders. All of the game’s elements work in a tight tandem to ensure that the horrific moments sprinkled throughout feel cohesive and frightening.

Since Closing at 2 is a visual novel mixed with gameplay elements, there is a lot of emphasis on the personalities and preferences of the customers. Each regular has a different favorite drink, and it’s up to the player to memorize them by the end of the night. It’s a kind of unexpected challenge that feels rewarding if you are able to memorize the drink orders by the third time around. A failed drink order could result in a jump scare, which only adds to the tension of serving drinks later in the evening. The stress of a potential scare later in the game, mixed with the unsettling music and graphics, makes everything feel a bit more difficult and ominous.

While many games of its ilk make serving the drinks properly feel like a reward, Closing at 2 makes it feel like a necessity. There’s an eerie sense of dread lurking at every corner, and the stress of messing up the regulars’ increasingly complicated orders starts to pile up on you. While the horror itself is chilling with the gruesome graphics and eerie music, the real anxiety comes from failing to do your job correctly. The way in which Closing at 2 executes this principle is what makes the game so effective. Doing the genre in a way that is familiar yet unique is a difficult task, but the developers of Closing at 2 pulled it off in a fun and visceral way.

While the current itch.io version is only a demo about ten minutes long, the developers have announced that a full version of the game is on the way. The ten-minute demo is a memorable experience on its own, but the idea of a full game with new characters and more lore about the bartender and the Lakeside Inn is an enticing prospect. However, even in its abbreviated state, the game manages to capture the chaos and camaraderie of a night at an unfamiliar bar. It can be hectic, warm, and sometimes scary, but at the end of the night, you know exactly what you signed up for. With its unique blend of horror and cozy gameplay, Closing at 2 is a bartender simulator that is well worth the hangover.