Wholesome Culinary Indie Otome, Sifting Thyme Coming to PC and Possible Console Release

Fresh off the release of their mature rom-com, Sweetcore Brews, woman founded and run indie studio Nochi Studios is returning to their roots, with exciting updates on the horizon for their wholesome culinary otome game, Sifting Thyme. The studio’s debut title was released in 2020 at the start of the pandemic for mobile devices, and now three years later the team is updating Sifting Thyme for PC! This update comes in the wake of planned console releases for their titles!

About Sifting Thyme

An otome visual novel with unforgettable characters and adventures in culinary school, and a perfectly delectable story for foodies across the globe.

You’re the newest transfer student at Lincoln Culinary Academy, a private culinary school to find your culinary calling and an unforgettable romance. Immerse yourself in your school adventures as you interact with four gorgeous guys with culinary skills of their own. As you spend time with these love interests, your experience at Lincoln turns to a delicious, romantic journey. Together, you will explore the world of food to forge relationships, engage new challenges, and aspire to make each other’s gourmet dreams come true.

Romanceable Characters in Sifting Thyme

“Sifting Thyme” is an anime, food-themed simulation game where the romanceable characters are a part of your culinary boarding school life. The way you interact with the characters will affect your relationship and intimacy with them. Enjoy a romantic school life with 4 attractive chefs!

Updates to Expect in Sifting Thyme

Nochi Studios is still working on releasing updates to Sweetcore Brews, but they are laying down the groundwork to jump into the console market next year. To test the waters a bit, the team is doing a complete overhaul of Sifting Thyme–rebuilding the entire game in Unity. By developing from ground zero on the new game engine, the team will be able to address the following issues from the original release:

Compatibility issues with Android: As of May 2023, Sifting Thyme ceased being compatible with Android devices, deterring new players. With the update to Unity, the team will be able to keep up to date with the ever changing mobile platforms.
New Skip Feature: The team will be implementing a skip feature for ease of replayability! Skipping is a must in most modern games and its absence in Sifting Thyme was noticeable.
Optimizing screen layout for PC players – Some of the phone screens and assets will be updated for better gameplay experience via the Steam platform. There will also be new steam achievements for PC players!
Preparing for Console release: By using Unity, Nochi will be able to prepare the game for console development later in 2024. The team plans to develop it for Nintendo and maybe even PlayStation!

Why Support the Kickstarter?

Because of the work needed to update the games, Nochi Studios will be running a Kickstarter on November 14th, 2023 to help raise funds for the re-make by developing a Windows/Mac version of the game that will be used as the starting point for console development.

Kickstarter Pre-Launch Page

Nochi Studios is re-releasing limited goods that new players have asked about prior but have been kept it “in the vault” to honor exclusivity for Kickstarter backers – including walkthrough guides!
Discounted game copy and discounted merch (including add-ons of merch from their other titles that can be accessed later as Kickstarter exclusive pricing)
Getting a copy through a Kickstarter pledge actually helps the studio even more than buying a copy on Steam later due to their developer fees and revenue cuts.
To coincide with the Kickstarter launch, a new demo for Sifting Thyme will be made available!