Tap Quest

Pour perfect pints before the crowd turns on you! Tap Quest is our very own arcade game – designed and built entirely in-house, from the code to the controller – and like everything else at SideQuest, it's free to play. No coins, no cards, just walk up and pull a tap.

How to Play

Four colored taps, a thirsty crowd, and no clock to save you. Customers queue up at the taps, and it's your job to serve whoever's at the front:

Hold a tap's handle to pour, release to serve.
Stop short and the glass is too light; hold too long and it overflows – both cost you points.
Land the pour in the gold zone at the top of the glass for a perfect pour.
Keep an eye on your customers' patience – if too many storm out angry, your shift is over.
Chain clean pours to build a combo and multiply your score.

There's a single endless mode: no timer, just a rush that gradually gets tougher the longer you last. Easy to pick up, hard to master – exactly how an arcade game should be.

High Scores & Leaderboards

Your shift ends, but your legend lives on: the game now saves high scores to a leaderboard. Pour a great round, put your name up, and see how long you can hold the top spot – bragging rights officially survive the night.

Need a target? Look for EDI on the leaderboard – that's Edit, who playtests every build – and try to beat her score.

From Whisky Box to Arcade Cabinet

The first prototype was as simple as it gets: four joysticks mounted on a wooden whisky box we had lying around in the basement. It proved the idea worked, and it became the base for the next prototype – a full arcade cabinet.

That cabinet is the current prototype stage. It's standing in the bar, ready to be played – and, as you can see, it's still a work in progress. That's on purpose: we want you to be able to watch this project evolve as we work on it, play with it and share your feedback with us.

Over the coming weeks we'll keep improving the cabinet: we might adjust its shape and components, and it's going to get painted. The game itself will also get a number of updates, aiming to make it more fun to play. The current graphics are temporary placeholder assets – the final version will have a pixel art look, and the art is being worked on by Abner "knifeself" Cruz.

The Inspiration

Tap Quest is inspired by Perfect Pour, an arcade game made by DSM Arcade. We wanted one here, but they only sell in the US – so we made our own! If you ever come across one of their original cabinets, go pull those taps too!

The People Behind It

Direction, vision, game development, electronics and software: SideQuest co-owner Rafael Keramidas.
Woodwork and assembly: Szilvánusz Zsütó and Rafael Keramidas, with the help of Laszlo Kovacs and Antonis Gkiokas.
Art: Abner "knifeself" Cruz (art not in the game yet, coming soon!).
Playtesting: Edit Lakatos, who tests each build before release.

The project wouldn't have been possible without everyone above – nor without the bar staff and their amazing work, which makes it possible for projects like this to happen here.