Paddler

How to Play Paddler🧉 

Welcome to Paddler, a rhythm-typing bartending game set at a sizzling swim-up bar! Your goal? Serve up tropical drinks by typing their ingredients in rhythm to the music. 

Your Objective 🎯 

Serve each Patron the drink they’re craving before they float away!

Step-by-Step: Mixing Drinks 🧃 

1. Watch the Lanes

Patrons appear in lanes, each with a drink order.

On the left menu you’ll see:

The drink name (e.g., Mojito)

A list of ingredients (e.g., Rum, Mint, Sugar, Lime)

2. Type Ingredients

Type each ingredient one at a time, then press Enter to confirm.

✅ You must press Enter after each ingredient.

💡 Ingredient order doesn't matter.

❌ Typing them all in one go won't work!

Example: 

To make a Coco Cooler, type:

coconut → Enter

lime → Enter

mint → Enter

3. Automatic Serving

Once all correct ingredients are entered, the drink is automatically served and your mixer resets. ✨

Keep It in Rhythm! 🥁 

Every keystroke and Enter press is rhythm-tracked.

Type on beat = 🎵 Combo bonus + Tips

Type off beat = 😬 Lower score and missed rhythm

Miss enough beats, and your groove (and patience) may break...

Pro Bartender Tips ⌨️ 

Use Tab, Backspace, or Esc to reset your mixer manually.

Drinks are made from ingredient codes (e.g., RUM, LIME, ALMD). Master the short forms to go faster!

Can't type a weird character like ç? Use short codes like `BCU` for Blue Lagoon.

Current Drinks on the Menu 🍹 

Patrons may order any of these:

1. Bahama Mama
2. Hurricane
3. Kiwi Kiss
4. Tequila Sunrise
5. Coco Cooler
6. Sunset Spritz
7. Blue Lagoon
8. Daiquiri
9. Mai Tai
10. Mojito
11. Piña Colada

(You’ll see the recipe only when it’s ordered. Menu book coming soon!)

Rhythm Meets Chaos 🐚

The more drinks you serve:

The faster the music

The more lanes appear

The less time you have to think 🫠

Keyboard Shortcuts 🧠 

Enter Submit / Space current ingredient

Tab / Esc / Backspace Reset your mixer

F Toggle Fullscreen (Web Build)

 Known Issues ⚠️

Blue Lagoon ingredient ç can’t be typed — use BCU instead.

If a drink doesn’t serve, try resetting with Backspace and retyping.

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Recommended to play via the Windows Build. If you run into issues please contact me: https://forms.gle/z721GtyfaogebuXv5

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Paddler - Version 0.1.3 (Not Available via Web yet)

This update focuses on making rhythm feel tighter, scoring more legible, and controls more expressive while laying groundwork for future progression and persistence.

• New Drink Score System
  • Drinks now award points on successful serve, not just per keystroke.
  • Drink score is tracked separately and displayed in the UI.
  • Drink score resets appropriately on empty, wrong, or failed serves.
• Refined Rhythm Timing
  • Rhythm accuracy now properly checks beat subdivisions, making timing feel more consistent and fair.
  • On-beat typing is more reliably rewarded; off-beat input is clearer and more intentional.
• Score Logic Cleanup
  • Input, rhythm, patron, and score systems are now better integrated and less prone to desyncs.

Controls have been clarified and expanded to support faster play and recovery:

• Enter: Submit current ingredient
• Tab: Serve drink (can serve correct, wrong, or empty drinks)
• Esc: Clear current word (keeps drink score)
• Left Shift / Right Shift: Instant reset
• Clears current word
• Clears current drink
• Clears drink score

Added three synchronized beat cues:

• Bounce animation
• Progress bar pulse
• Pool glow shader

System & Architecture Updates

• Save System Added. Progress and relevant state now persist between sessions.
• Drink Recipe Fixes. Fixed recipe not updating correctly on the second patron.
• Updated to Unity 6.3.2f1
  

Big thanks to Brandon Bell and Evan Markle for their support on this update.

Paddler - Version 0.1.1

• Fixed resolution scaling
• DJ system and lifecycle issues fixed
• Fixed a couple of hard-lock bugs (like spaces in ingredients)
• Fixed broken pause screen soft lock

Paddler - Version 0.1.0 

No SFX yet, limited tutorial, and filler art!

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I made this in ~15 hours of effort during the 2nd Bezi Summer Rhythm Jam. I used Unity, Bezi, ChatGPT + DALLE, ChatGPT Codex, Gimp, JetBrains Rider, Github Co-Pilot,  and Pixabay for the music.

I really like this concept, so I'll be finding time to redo the art and flesh out the mechanics. Would love your feedback.

I am Zachary Kosma. I am creating a game studio with my brothers:

http://kosmaco.com/