I went out on a limb and requested a key for this week’s game because I thought it was so unique, a cozy dress-making game. Wild. I was up to learning the gamified ins and outs of dressmaking if it meant that my wife could play a game too. I happily obliged.

This week is Dressmaker.

Dressmaker is a cozy dressmaking sim from Cozy Lives and published by Free Lives. The game was released on to the PC on September 21st and it has been confirmed a port to the Switch.

I want to give a huge shoutout to the developer, publisher and pressengine for the key. I am comfortable saying that I was excited when I was approved and when I installed the game.

Dressmaker doesn’t make the player sit around and learn the entirety of its story; people come in, and they give you a spiel about what is going on in the city/town of Twillford and the kind of dress they want for a specific occasion. In the beginning, I thought nothing of the pre-commission conversation, but I soon learned that I needed to stay for both conversations to get an idea of what they wanted the dress for. Some just wanted a new dress for work or for activities like gardening, others wanted dresses for funerals, marriages, to get a Duke to look at her, and even being on stage.

The characters in Dressmaker check all the boxes: You have a librarian, Rose, who favors a professional yet comfortable dress. Prudence, who insists that you close your business upon meeting her for the first time, enjoys an elegant dress, just not black, and Alice, a young woman who has taken in two spirits, Kroq (the angry one) and Selafie (the kind one), who likes a good mixture of gothic and romantic. The character illustrations are just so beautifully done, and the people that come in are so varied in dress and in looks. The customer gives the player what they want and a price point, and it is time to get to work.

Dressmaker’s characters are interesting and engaging with them, learning from their conversations about the things they like/dislike will help the player with designing a unique dress

Gameplay in Dressmaker can be boiled down to the most simplistic, gamified way of being a seamstress. Teaching the player the basics of dressmaking, like designing, measuring, sewing, trimming, cutting fabric, and draping. Dressmaker does a really good job of translating these basics into game mechanics that feel just right. Measuring is first to get an accurate size for the mannequin, and later on. Cash is king, and money can be made selling dresses “off the rack” to fund more extravagant dresses later on.

Designing a dress from a wide selection of types and fabrics can be scary at first, but the first step is always the sketchbook. Dresses come in all shapes and sizes, and Dressmaker keeps it simple with the types (like comfy, risqué, professional) on the side and starred so that the player remembers what the customers asked. Flick through the seemingly infinite tops, collars, sleeves, and skirts until you find something that you and the customer would like, and sketch it. The sketchbook was underutilized at first, but it swiftly became one of the treasured aspects of Dressmaker.

Once you’ve poured all that time into picking a dress and colors, drafting the dress lets the player cut the fabric and drape it. Fabric and accessories can be chosen from Emporium, and it has a starting selection that boggled my mind, and somehow it has even more now, it’s crazy. From silks, burlap and cotton to bows, jewels, feathers, trim, and flowers, the Emporium has everything and will intimidate the player at first glance.

The customer wants the best quality, and that means cutting correctly. Cutting is boiled down to placing pieces on fabric, turning them correctly (with the game telling you when it is perfect), selecting the scissor tool, and cutting away. I was lost at the beginning, as I did not know “Bodice” was the proper term for the top section of the dress, but Dressmaker made sure to include images showing where the piece would be placed during draping. While I was aimlessly looking around for colors to combine, I had my phone in hand searching the internet for colors that go well together.

Draping comes next; placing all of the pieces onto the mannequin to get a good look at the dress before sewing it and finishing all the little bits, and submitting it. I love watching the almost finished product come together piece by piece; it is bliss watching all that hard work be realized right before the other hard work starts, the sewing.

Sewing is the most involved section as players will be playing a mini-game to get the quality just right. Boiled down to “staying within the lines” is the best way to describe the sewing mini-game. There is a highlighted line, and the player follows it using a combination of the space bar, W, and S (to slow and speed up the sewing machine), and A and D to turn the fabric. There is a percentage indicator with a needle that continues to guide the player in making a directional correction, which helps a lot. Intimidating at first, but Dressmaker wants to help the player succeed, so a guiding hand is provided, so there is no real frustration.

Last but not least, the player can sew trim, and other accessories to the dress to maximize flair right before submitting the final product. Hitting all of the marks for the customer rewards the player with relationship experience, which, when leveled up, gives the player a star and a BOATLOAD of new materials, patterns, and accessories. The rate at which the player unlocks new stuff is daunting, so much so that I was overwhelmed with just how much of everything there is to offer, and it only ever gets larger.

The reward is assuredly worth the investment.

Dressmaker is just so colorful. The sun rises and stays bright, just shining into the front windows of the store, and the wide variety of people who come in for the player services are appreciated. The 2D storefront looks like a children’s book. It helps that the game looks so good, because it really helped me identify the differences among the seemingly infinite colors and fabric styles. Meydän does an absolutely fantastic job on sound design because I am still thinking about the jingle that plays when I am locking in, trying to see if this bird feather matches the trim that also matches the dress I am making for Edith.

I find Dressmaker it very soothing and incredibly fun. The game gives the player a steady stream of unlocks while including subtle obstacles to tackle, I really like the natural flow of more intricate dress that the player has to make, but will be comfortable doing. Gamplay, being boiled down to its most simplistic form, allowing for all gamers to participate (like my wife), is fun, engaging and rewarding especially when the customer says yes to the dress. Though choices can seem overwhelming at times, it is nice to remember that the game is a cozy game and the customer will like anything you make, good or questionable. Dressmaker is a masterclass of a unique premise that executes near-perfect, unique gameplay to create a truly memorable experience for anyone.

9/10