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Last Tea Shop Classic

by Spring Villager

Released July 24, 2026
Pay What You Want
A quiet game about running a tea shop on the border of the living and the dead.

Player Count

Solo

Format

A4
Get This Game
RPGTrader

About This Game

You run a tea shop on the border of the living and the dead. The recently deceased visit for one last hot drink before their long journey into the Great Beyond.

Time is strange here. Days and memories blur. Nobody visited yesterday—you are sure of that. Someone passed last week, but you can't recall their face.

The fog thins. A figure approaches. You stoke the fire. 

Last Tea Shop Classic is a one-page solo game about tea and conversation. Set up your stall and wait for visitors to emerge out of the mist. Over a cup of tea, chat to the visitor about their life and help prepare them for their trip into the Lands of the Dead. Record their thoughts, fears, dreams and hopes in your journal for posterity.

You will need:

  • An hour or so of quiet time

  • Pen and paper

  • One or two six-sided dice

  • Tea (optional, but recommended)

Actual play

Tim from Old Dog Games illustrated a game of Last Tea Shop. See Tim's complete playthrough at Old Dog Games.

Example of play

I roll against the tea SUPPLIES table and find that my cupboards hold a quartz crystal, feather moss and a bright gumdrop. I note these ingredients on my character sheet.

I roll for how many DAYS have passed and get a 4. Checking the VISITORS table and find my first customer is a sailor. I roll for WEATHER and get a 3. The sailor arrives scared, surrounded by shadow mists.

I prepare a Draft of Recall, crossing quartz crystal from the SUPPLIES section of my character sheet. I ask the sailor about her life and her journey to the teashop.

She drinks the tea and I ask about her earliest memory. She tells me about a turtle in a rockpool. She bids me farewell, walking into the mists a little lighter.

I roll again for how many more DAYS pass before the next customer and get a 3. Adding this to my DAYS total, I get a 7. A beekeeper is coming to visit. The beekeeper knew the sailor...

Two-player variant

Last Tea Shop was written with solo play in mind, but it works well with two players. Instead of a journalling game, play it out as a series of conversations. One player takes the role of the tea shop owner. The second person plays the various visitors.  

Here are a few tips for running a duet game.

  • Death is a theme in the game. Have a conversation about tone before play. Use safety tools (e.g. X-Card, Lines and Veils) to ensure the story stays safe for all players.

  • The tea shop owner controls timing and pace. You can linger on one part of a customer's life, encouraging more detail, or advance to the next step in the question ritual. If in doubt, move the ritual forward.

  • As tea shop owner, if you're unsure how to move to the next question, try leading with, "So, tell me...".

  • As tea shop owner, remember to ask customers how they knew the previous visitor. This is key to building an overarching story.

  • Each visitor should briefly describe their appearance and approach to the tea shop. Incorporate emotional state into the description.

  • Some emotional states are can be challenging to play as a visitor. Whatever happens, keep the story flowing—even if it's in small steps. For example, if you are confused, instead of saying "I don't remember anything" try "I can only remember fragments..."

  • Foraging  only involve the tea shop ownerin the game guide. Consider adapting the rules so that a visitorhelps collect supplies.

Tea shop playlist

Quiet songs to conjure mists and rain.

Credits

License

Game textis © 2021 by Spring Villager. Game format is open for hacking + remixing under a CC-BY 4.0 license. Hacks and reimaginings encouraged; word-for-word reprints are not.