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Game
Game2025
Best Served Cold
Developer Rogueside
Can you mix a cocktail while eye-to-eye with a criminal? Find out in Best Served Cold, a murder mystery set in a bustling speakeasy where you serve customers, make friends and enemies, and solve crimes. At the Nightcap bar, prohibition is a killer… and so are some of your customers! From the Steam store page
275 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Nov 1, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
189 positive · 14 negative
95% range 89–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 189 | 14 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 19 | 2 | 48 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
370 of 398 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
93% recommend · 186 yes, 14 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 200 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (664 of 754 positive).
Players praise the game's art, characters, and noir atmosphere. [1][2][3] Many find the drink-mixing and clue-combining mechanics repetitive. [1][4][5] Some reviewers note the romance and endings feel underdeveloped. [6][7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
This is not a bad game, but its also not a good game imho. Its one of those detective games where you have to mash stuff together on a board until you get something out of it. Pros: -Interesting mysteries with a few layers -Lots of fun characters and good art design -Good speakeasy vibes for alternative retro american fun -LGBT representation is good in that theyre included, but not particularly fleshed out Cons: …
- [1]
Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 598: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) Best Served Cold is a really lovely game with quite a few attractions. It boasts beautiful art, lovable characters, some great writing, jazz music, and quite a hefty playtime! It includes five cases, each one being sixteen days long, for about 16-18 hours. For the most part, I had a blast. However, it does have a significant …
- [10]
I really really enjoyed Best Served Cold, it's so up my alley with the mechanics of talking to people and influencing them to tell you about their secrets, then linking them together to produce new deductions and confront them about it later. A classic detective game with a wonderful noir feeling and backdrop; set in an illegal speakeasy during prohibition era where you're the bartender. The characters are well …
- [6]
This game is just marvellous. I seldom fall for offline games, but this one won my attention, beacause of the mystery. I am very forned of detectives as a genre of literature or movies. Now it is no exception considering PC games. I liked the alternative reality with so many references to the actual one, the topic itself as I'm currently bartending, but most of all I liked the detective story. I only got …
- [2]
I am unreasonably attached to this whole cast. The art is gorgeous. The vibes are stunning. I had way too much fun playing this and need to drag my friends into the pit now.
Summarised from 34 of the 266 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Best Served Cold sits at 93% positive across 203 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 275 · most liked firstThis is not a bad game, but its also not a good game imho. Its one of those detective games where you have to mash stuff together on a board until you get something out of it. Pros: -Interesting mysteries with a few layers -Lots of fun characters and good art design -Good speakeasy vibes for alternative retro american fun -LGBT representation is good in that theyre included, but not particularly fleshed out Cons: -Mechanics are boring and lackluster, you make the same drinks over and over…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game Night: Get Blackmailed by Prohibition-Era Cops in ‘Best Served Cold’ (Minus World Article) hard-drive.net/news-games/g...
neutral · AI labelView post →Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 598: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) Best Served Cold is a really lovely game with quite a few attractions. It boasts beautiful art, lovable characters, some great writing, jazz music, and quite a hefty playtime! It includes five cases, each one being sixteen days long, for about 16-18 hours. For the most part, I had a blast. However, it does have a significant flaw: the actual gameplay. The gameplay can be broken into two parts: the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I spent the couple of days playing Best Served Cold in between commission and I had fun! It's a mystery, drink-mixing game. The gameplay and the cases are pretty simple, but let's say I play it for Mr. Scar-on-the-Cheek and Mr. Awkward Gentleman here and the sexual tension is... really strong.
positive · AI labelView post →It's Friday, so I'm (belatedly) back at @hard-drive.net with my latest column on a recent indie game. This week, I picked up something that's been on my stack for a minute and played the Belgian murder mystery/visual novel BEST SERVED COLD. #indiegames
neutral · AI labelView post →Sigh…I like the presentation of this game a lot. I think the character designs are great. I love the sound effects of the bartending mini game. The soundtrack is good, but it needs a lot more. It gets repetitive way too fast. The Deduction game is also enjoyable. Mixing the perfect cocktails to elicit the right information from a witness/suspect works great. All the characters are interesting and I enjoyed talking to them and learning more about them throughout the course of the game.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty good game with a few half-baked elements. The drink mixing gets incredibly repetitive, I would have preferred an actual mixer minigame rather than just drawing a pattern as fast as you can over and over again. The endings are also incredibly brief and the romance is so tacked on it might as well not be there. Whoever you romance, it will not be a factor in any ending, nor will your bartender be in any ending at all. The endings essentially just show what happens to a couple of key…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My new game with @rogueside.bsky.social games, Best Served Cold, is out tomorrow! It's a bit cozy, a bit murdery and a bit boozy. Let me know if you plan to get it! store.steampowered.com/app/3218530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →“Delivers a nice cocktail of bartending, visual novel-styled conversation and light deduction work”- Greg Costikyan reviewed Best Served Cold for AGH adventuregamehotspot.com/review/7097/... #indiegame #adventuregame #visualnovel #pcgame
neutral · AI labelView post →My new game, Best Served Cold, is out! And 10% off too! store.steampowered.com/app/3218530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →It's a good game and a fun time. Best described as Ace Attorney-meets-VA-11 HALL-A (even if the mechanics are closer to Staffer Case), I had high expectations here due to my love for all the games mentioned. My expectations were met, although maybe not in the way I had expected. For a game that bills itself as a murder mystery, the murders (and their accompanying mysteries, if you can call them that) are handled acceptably. The twists are fairly easy to see coming, most of the culprits are…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →congratulations to best served cold for being the only game to have peter wagner
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Winding down a wonderful Pride month with June’s #promosky of things that made me happy this month! 🏳️🌈 🎸 Benson Boone 🍜 Ramen 🌈 LGBTQIA+ Pride 🐶 My puppy Lago 🍹 Best Served Cold 📚 Game of Thrones 🥘 Casseroles 🍒 Cherry beer 👩🌾 Stardew Valley 👩🍳 MasterChef 👊 Political activism 🧁 Cupcakes
neutral · AI labelView post →Sorry I had to cut it a bit short, am a little tired (and the people in this game are really pretentious...)! Thank you all for sleuthing and serving with us in Best Served Cold! Big love to @melwithac.bsky.social for the raid! We raided www.twitch.tv/inahasu playing Spiritfarer!
negative · AI labelView post →I wish they would serve me cold in this weather... Let's go sleuthing in the speakeasy in Best Served Cold! Catch you all for a quiet drink and a chat at 7 PM GMT+2 / 1 PM EDT! CAW! twitch.tv/jaybirbgames
neutral · AI labelView post →After a very promising demo, I regret having to say that I can't recommend this game. The concept is great and some of the mechanics and cases were really fun or just needed some polishing, but there are a few glaring issues specifically with the writing and worldbuilding that I cannot ignore. Unfortunately due to Steam's limitations I will have to focus only on those. In essence, my gripe with the game is the stark disconnect between what it is doing and saying versus what it seems to be…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’m trying to play more indie game demos on Steam this year! With Next Fest kicking off, I ripped the bandaid off and today I played: - Draculesti - Best Served Cold Both great choices, I love gay Dracula and flirting with the detective who is blackmailing me into solving crime
positive · AI labelView post →It's time to serve up some drinks again in the Nightcap - that homicide is not going to solve itself without us loosening some people up! See you in an hour in Best Served Cold! CAW! twitch.tv/jaybirbgames
neutral · AI labelView post →going live on YouTube to play Best Served Cold, a mystery detective game by @rogueside.bsky.social 🍸 Thank you JF Games for the keys! I will be doing a giveaway! (link below)
neutral · AI labelView post →🔥 Best Served Cold 🥶 is now on Steam! This fresh murder/bartender🍸 mystery by @rogueside.bsky.social (written in Arcweave) blends brilliant #narrative design with engaging game mechanics. Shake, stir & solve the case!🕵️♂️ Links in the comments👇 #gamedev #indiedev #gamedesign
neutral · AI labelView post →I'd like to start my review by thanking Peter Wagner for existing. Now that's out of the way; what you basically have here is a visual novel with simple gameplay mechanics. All you got to do is mix drinks by following the lines with your mouse before the evil pointer catches you, learn your customers favorite & liked drinks so you can change their mood and make them spill the tea. I've quite liked the setting - the alternative Europe - and the characters. Not all of them has a deep and fully…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Back to serving drinks (dronks?) in half an hour at 6 PM GMT+2 / 12 PM EDT in Best Served Cold! Can we crack the case today! CAW! twitch.tv/jaybirbgames
neutral · AI labelView post →Hi all, My apologies but I will be switching out Best Served Cold today for continuing the ATM9 Skyblock - I'm not doing so hot and don't think I'd do the game justice. I'll try fit it in later this week if I find the time!
neutral · AI labelView post →We couldn't be more proud to announce Linden A. Lewis's (lindenalewis.bsky.social ) standalone epic fantasy, HALFHEART, pitched as Hannah Kaner’s GODKILLER meets the video game DRAGON AGE with a dash of Joe Abercrombie’s BEST SERVED COLD and a whole lot of female rage.
neutral · AI labelView post →For more hot detective content, make sure to wishlist Best Served Cold on steam! o/ More seriously, I really hope you will like this game, I have the honour and pleasure to be part of the team behind this game and we've poured a lot of love, thought and efforts into it! #bestservedcoldgame
neutral · AI labelView post →The Bloody Nine (Joe Abercrombie First Law trilogy) Miles Vorkosigan (Lois Bujold) Faramir (Tolkien) Monza Murcatto (Abercrombie, Best Served Cold) Bremer dan Gorst (Abercrombie, First Law) Arya Stark (Game of Thrones)
neutral · AI labelView post →Nothing much to the game. Cases are predictable. I find it ridiculous how everyone just tells EVERYTHING to a bartender just because he serves good drinks? They continue to do it even though they knew he's leaking the info out.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →An absolutely outstanding game, in my opinion. Honestly I was unsure about it because the gameplay seemed a bit repetitive and tedious to me, and because people were saying that the romance aspect was unsatisfying (I strongly prefer VNs with romance aspects). But honestly, neither of these two elements bothered me. The gameplay isn't the most riveting when it comes to bartending, but it also isn't annoying - it's just an excuse for the detective story, and thus the fact it's not a whole…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There’s something deeply romantic about the idea of speakeasies. On the one hand, there’s a conscious understanding that they served as the fronts for mob empires through the 1920s, and that they were the fuel for engines built on suffering. On the other hand, when paired with the naive glamour of the same era - the short hair, shorter skirts, and knowledge that life would never be better than it was in that moment - the idea of people shyly shushing one another over the click of illicit…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →its just my personal view and most people probably wont have the same issue as me. I dont like the style.. in fact I think the game does not have a style and thats why I dont like it. Its noire detective in russia with half asian half LGBTQ artstyle of characaters. I just cant be immeresed into such chotic setting. to each his own.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Morning so far: Chai>> Insider Trading (indie game)>> watch highlights(LoL)>> Mewgenics>> Start Deserts of Khrak soundtrack>> Read Mahabharat>> Read Best Served Cold>> Draw out mech-game character sheet>> Write some rules
neutral · AI labelView post →Police raided my neighbor's house while I was playing this; 10/10 game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I’ve finished the game, and while there are some genuine highlights, the overall experience left me more frustrated than engaged. The game has a cozy atmosphere, looks nice, and the mystery setup is interesting, but it becomes repetitive very quickly. Much of the game is spent waiting for the right person to show up at the bar, repeating the same dialogue, greetings, and drink-serving interactions over and over again. With only one drink per guest per day and limited ways to interact, the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We managed to crack the case and pin it on the right version yippee! And then immediately get thrown in the slammer... Thank you for joining in for Best Served Cold everyone! We raided out to @cloversong.bsky.social playing Spiritfarer! CAW! www.twitch.tv/cloversong
positive · AI labelView post →Best. Achievement. Ever. #BestServedCold
neutral · AI labelView post →Our latest game, Best Served Cold, just got announced! As a bartender in an alt-history Europe, a young detective has forcefully recruited you to help solve a murder. Mix drinks to loosen tongues, build (or betray) friendships, find clues, and uncover the culprit. www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOHz...
neutral · AI labelView post →My Best Friend Peter Wagner
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →but what if we had a dating dlc...
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Spent a good two weeks solving these cases and we had so much fun! When we found out you could romance someone, we said 'hell no!'. Then Peter walked in, and that turned into 'hell-o!' very quickly. Whoops. Still waiting for that cut scene of him showing up at the window :(
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Aww nice. My game Best Served Cold on a "best games of 2025" list by NPR! www.npr.org/2025/12/03/n...
neutral · AI labelView post →Our Visiting Lecturer in Interactive Digital Narrative has a new game coming out! Congratulations Thomas! Best Served Cold, out tomorrow! @calmdowntom.bsky.social and @rogueside.bsky.social
neutral · AI labelView post →"53: Revenge was Almost a Dish Best Served Cold" is live! theloonybinpod.com/episode/53-r... We look back at the #MNUFC game against the #LAGalaxy that was almost sweet revenge, we get ready to BOO an #RSL player again, and we're talking about our Loons during this international break.
neutral · AI labelView post →Best Served Cold announced - a bartending/murder mystery adventure game, coming to consoles + PC: www.gematsu.com/2024/10/bart...
neutral · AI labelView post →I am being very bias that I don't like this game because I like the main character in the demo, and I established some good relationship with my customer, and the suddenly when the official drop, BOMB it is a completely new different person I am role playing now. It really hurts my passion into this game. Secondly I think the game guide is not that straight forward, the hints are too abstract to link together, but the actual myth behind the case is too simple, and didn't need all that previous…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really really enjoyed Best Served Cold, it's so up my alley with the mechanics of talking to people and influencing them to tell you about their secrets, then linking them together to produce new deductions and confront them about it later. A classic detective game with a wonderful noir feeling and backdrop; set in an illegal speakeasy during prohibition era where you're the bartender. The characters are well thought out and there are some in particular that grow on you throughout the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought the concept was very cool and the way you serve drinks was very fun. I didn’t finish the game but I got a kick out of the romance subplots with lonely mobster and a sad detective. I wouldn’t have been able to choose anyway if I got to the ending The drink serving mechanic got tedious real fast, but I could live with it. My breaking point was the game showing you different people on different days while you have a limited number of days to solve your case. They really should’ve…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I loved this game, it became addicting and now I'm not sure what to do with myself. I wish there was a sequel so I could keep interacting with the characters. I'm gonna miss Peter Wagner and Detective Hugo Mertens :')
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My game Best Served Cold is part of the Steam Detective Fest! I loved writing these characters. Grab it cheap! store.steampowered.com/app/3218530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →I am unreasonably attached to this whole cast. The art is gorgeous. The vibes are stunning. I had way too much fun playing this and need to drag my friends into the pit now.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BLOPS 7 MP is fine, campaign is definitely dogshit. BF6 is probably the better game, but I'm too goddamn old to keep track of that chaos, so COD will remain my go-to for getting my ass kicked. Other than that, been reading Best Served Cold (great) and playing Division 2 (still fun as hell)
neutral · AI labelView post →Woo! #BestServedCold got an update today that fixed an achievement bug. Loading my end game save kicked over the achievements I was missing!
positive · AI labelView post →Reply the game + platform you want to win on the YouTube video. Deck of Haunts (Steam) Best Served Cold (Steam) Spreadcheat (Steam) Copycat (Steam, Xbox or PS5) Void Sails (Steam) Please, Touch the Artwork 2 (Switch) Wall Town Wonders (Steam VR, Quest 3 or PSVR2) youtu.be/k5M9j038CDE?...
neutral · AI labelView post →A game I worked on as Soundtrack Composer "Best Served Cold" is #2 in New and Trending on Steam! Rogueside Games definitely nailed it with this one🍸 Solve crime and listen to Jazz Noir whilst making some cocktails behind the bar 🧐 #gamedev
positive · AI labelView post →Play my new game and tell me who is your favourite character! I've loved working on this with @rogueside.bsky.social . Go serve drinks, catch murderers and tell me what you think of Best Served Cold so far! Which character do you think I liked writing most? store.steampowered.com/app/3218530/...
neutral · AI labelView post →Bartending murder mystery game Best Served Cold announced for PS5, Xbox Series, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC www.gematsu.com/2024/10/bart...
neutral · AI labelView post →A fun point & click murder mystery that I overall do recommend. I really enjoyed the dialogue with the different characters and I liked that there were romanceable characters not just for the player, but people that the player could set up with one another. It was fun and kept me playing each case past the day I'd solved it just to get each person's meter as full as I could. That said, there were two things that I feel held me back in this game and that I hope the devs will improve for their…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I loved it, it's Coffee Talk meeting some Noire fiction like Raymond Chandler's books ; the ending was so great, didn't see it coming ! and I loved the fact the characters grows over the chapters, gives them more depth and background. Looking forward to play their next game, already wishlisted !
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →what a fantastically crafted narrative. i enjoy the writing, characters and plot pacing. i, to be honest, do not really like Sandra, but that's all. a bit bland, that one. to be honest, it could have been better if we spent more time playing as her in the beginning. and also, if the romance was deeper, having that tie between peter and her and the current bartender would have been beautiful i think every case is interesting, and the character development feels organic, which I always…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I finished Best Served Cold!! What a great game, I enjoyed it a whole lot!! Love the fact that it takes place in an Earth-like world in the 1920s, with fictional countries that resemble the real ones! My only critique is that there's no epilogue to the story and it really needs one imho.
positive · AI labelView post →The world is kind of funny. I randomly came across an ad for this game (Twitter or Reddit, I don't remember), but I remember getting hooked on the premise right away. Prohibition era speakeasy murder mystery visual novel? HECK YEAH! GIMME! The art style and overall aesthetics were gorgeous too and only helped to draw me in further. + The art style and the aesthetics of the game are wonderful and suit the Prohibition Era vibes extremely well. I have nothing but praise for the art team, and they…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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