The Hidden Art of Innkeeping

About this game

After a disastrous stay at the only hotel by the beach, Elinor decides to convert an old farmhouse in a nearby village into an inn. However, renovating the inn doesn't come cheap, so she accepts a loan from a mysterious tycoon who demands payment by the end of the month.

Meet a colorful cast of characters as Elinor welcomes visitors to her new inn and recruits villagers and employees. Meanwhile, she discovers various treasures hidden around the village, and gradually learns more about the other villagers and the former owner of the farmhouse. Can Elinor uncover the secrets of the past, revive the fortunes of the struggling village, and turn the inn into a roaring success before the deadline?

Highlights

• Renovate the inn, and watch it transform from a dilapidated farmhouse to a luxurious inn!
  
• Meet unusual and fascinating guests, including biologists, adventurers, a pirate, and even a vampire - plus some familiar faces from The Lost Art of Innkeeping!
  
• Configure guest rooms, purchase amenities, hire employees, and upgrade the inn and its surroundings to keep your guests happy.
  
• Discover new areas, recruit new villagers, and unlock delicious dishes to be served to your guests.
  
• Find items and beautiful paintings that will be displayed at the inn, and that will help you uncover the mysterious background of the inn's former owner.
  
• Complete mini-quests such as getting seeds for the farmer, restoring a ruined monastery, helping kids build a sand castle, and more!
  
• Replay the game with a New Game+ and discover several exciting new items and guests, and experience different outcomes based on your choices and actions.
  
• Unlock achievements, master the art of innkeeping, and become the owner of a 5-star inn that caters even to royalty!

Playtime

About 7-12 hours for one playthrough (new game+ available with different outcomes depending on your choices).

Note

This game is a sequel to The Lost Art of Innkeeping, but can be played as a stand-alone game without knowing anything about the previous game.

Latest news

• Patch Notes·9 Sept 2024Official

  The Hidden Art of Innkeeping: Version 1.02

  Thanks so much to the players who are finding and reporting bugs! I know it's only been a day since the previous update, but a couple of the bugs that were recently reported can cause the game to crash or get stuck, so I wanted to make sure other players don't encounter them, Here's the changelog: Fixed a bug where pressing ENTER in the Letters menu when there are no letters yet caused the game to crash. Fixed a bug where the game would get stuck if you tried to examine a bookcase in the library while a certain guest was standing in front of it. Fixed a bug where you could reserve rooms for guests even if you didn’t have the allocatable amenity they needed. If you find any other bugs, please report them in this Steam discussion thread. Thanks!
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• Patch Notes·8 Sept 2024Official

  The Hidden Art of Innkeeping: Version 1.01

  Thanks to everyone for your help in reporting bugs! Here's the changelog: Fixed a graphical bug where Ying and May still appeared outside the inn after the introduction. Fixed a graphical bug where the wrong trophy appears when Paul wins second prize in the Chocolate Festival . Fixed a bug where fulfilling Sophie’s request and talking to her again would lead to infinite gold. Fixed a bug where reserving a room for Zara would cause the game to crash. Added a couple checks to prevent the situation where, on occasion, pressing the big red X in menus could cause the game to exit. Clarified that starting a new game plus from an NG+-enabled savefile carries over achievements from that savefile. Corrected some typos. If you find any other bugs, please report them in this Steam discussion thread. Thanks!
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• Announcements·31 Jul 2024Official

  Devlog #6: The game will be released on Sep 3, 2024!

  https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/44662014/635c7f64b6d270a74ed8241bc4a60d3bb681d3cb.png I'm excited to announce that The Hidden Art of Innkeeping will be released on Sep 3, 2024! It's been about three years since I started working on this game, and almost a year since I published the first devlog here. I had a lot of fun making this game - creating the story, coming up with new characters and writing the dialogue, designing the maps and menus, and thinking of different ways in which Elinor can solve problems or find things. I really appreciated getting feedback from people who played the first game, The Lost Art of Innkeeping, and the demo too. It was especially useful hearing which characters people liked in the first game and wanted to see again in the sequel - I had no idea that Johan was so popular! It was also a pleasure working with two artists: Fatti, who did the paintings, and hiddenone, who created a number of the pixel art characters and animations. We know that the hotel guests and villagers play an important role in the game, but you'll be interacting with a number of animals too! Consider this tiger... it's just a big cat, right? So what happens if you give it a box? https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/44662014/609457fe38aa58fa257b2b1c3d8d38d89396497f.gif Anyway, I hope you're as excited as I am about the upcoming release! I'll probably remove the demo when the game is released, so if you haven't tried it yet, you can get it here.
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• Announcements·25 May 2024Official

  Devlog #5: Activities for the guests

  It's been a while since my last devlog! It was great to get feedback from players of the demo (thanks to everyone who tried it out!), and I've been busy incorporating some of the suggestions. I recently completed the main storyline of the game, and am finishing up some of the side quests related to the guests and villagers. After that, I'll be playtesting - this usually takes longer than I think it's going to, because not only do I have to fix the bugs I find, I sometimes get ideas for more things to add! - and then I hope to send the game to other playtesters within the next month or so. In the meantime, I wanted to highlight some of the things you'll see your guests doing if they stay at the inn. This gives me the opportunity to showcase the work of hiddenone, a pixel artist who created a number of the cute sprites you see in the game, and who did a wonderful job animating them and providing useful suggestions for the game as well. If you can find a room for Arlecchino and his family, you can see them perform at the beach. They may be a little wobbly at first, since they've been out of practice, but if they stay multiple times, you can help them get better and watch their chest of tips grow! https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/44662014/0e3405532637a6f434f047cddd8006083e1c5d55.gif Meanwhile, at the inn itself, you can choose to build a gymnasium and watch some of your guests work out. Chin-ups are not easy, but Trenton here gets faster and higher over time if he gets the chance to practice! Hiddenone added a red flush to his face and some sweat drops to show what an exertion these chin-ups are. https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images/44662014/c2e45dcc62bdbfb5ed849216b094265b3c7565a9.gif That's all for now, but I'll post another update soon!
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• Announcements·5 Feb 2024Official

  Demo Livestream and Chat

  The Hidden Art of Innkeeping is participating in Steam Next Fest on Feb 5-12! This is the second livestream where I'll play the demo and answer any questions. The Hidden Art of Innkeeping is a cozy management game where you'll transform an old farmhouse in a seaside village into a luxurious inn. Meet interesting guests, unlock delicious dishes, discover new areas and hidden treasures, configure rooms and amenities, uncover secrets, and rejuvenate the struggling village! You can play the demo and wishlist the game now!
  Read full article on Community Announcements (SeaPhoenix)