Early game
Goals for this beat
Shop Opening is your onboarding beat: learn where commissions, sketchbook, fabric, cutting, sewing, and delivery live, then finish starter orders without burning the tiny budget. Success here is not a ball gown. It is clean grain cuts, one steady sew, and enough leftover cloth or coins to take the next simple job. Treat every tutorial prompt as a checklist rather than a race.
- Finish the tutorial dress with green grain outlines on every piece.
- Deliver at least one commission without restarting the sewing seam mid-panic.
- Reuse leftover fabric on the next simple order when tags allow.
How to play through it
- 1. Learn the shop loop on the first card
Read the opening commission fully: occasion, style tags, and budget. Walk the stations in order so you always know what comes next. If a prompt appears, finish it before improvising. Early confusion usually comes from skipping a station, not from missing a hidden mechanic.
- 2. Design for the tags, not for fashion week
In the sketchbook, clear the starter tags with simple parts. Resist fancy sleeves that add panels you are not ready to sew. A plain silhouette with correct tags beats a complex look that fails grain or budget.
- 3. Buy cheap metres and cut only on green
Spend carefully in the shop. Prefer inexpensive bolts while you practice. On the cutting table, rotate every piece until grain arrows sit horizontal and the outline turns green. One rushed cut on a starter dress teaches a bad habit that follows you into harder commissions.
- 4. Sew calmly, deliver, then check leftovers
Hold Space for feed, use A/D for small corrections, and pause before corners. Enable Sewing Assist if steering feels unstable. After delivery, note leftover metres so the next order can spend less. That leftover habit is the real Shop Opening graduation requirement.
Hard spots
- Rushing cutting before the outline turns green because the tutorial feels slow.
- Buying silk or long rolls on a starter budget meant for practice fabric.
- Blaming the sewing machine when a single non-green panel capped quality.
- Ignoring leftovers and treating every new commission as a full Emporium restock.