The craft beer game, called Beer Money Inc, puts players in the shoes of Tiny Rebel founders Bradley Cummings and Gareth Williams, selling beer from a garage in Newport. Players are encouraged to grow and expand the business by negotiating ingredient contracts, hiring new staff and upgrading the brewery equipment.
Family affair
The game replicates Tiny Rebel’s journey from a small start up to owners of a £2.6m brewery, selling and exporting beer across the world.
It was inspired by Cummings’ favourite video game Drugwars – a drug empire simulation, and the final level involves brewing Tiny Rebel’s sixth anniversary beers, which were released to the public last week.
Beer Money Inc was designed by Cummings’ brother Lee and sister-in-law Susan, who run Tiny Rebel Studios, best known for producing the Doctor Who mobile games, while the artwork was designed by Tiny Rebel’s in-house designer Taz.
Interactive and free
Speaking about the decision to release a game, Tiny Rebel’s marketing manager Niall Thomas said: “We take a lot of inspiration from video games, and our sister company [or brother company?] makes games. It was a no-brainer.
“Brad and Lee have been talking about it for a couple of years so they put a team together and a few months of hard work, with all the writing and design being done in-house, has resulted in something that gives you a feel for Tiny Rebel better than any sales pitch or core value statement ever could.
“It's interactive, it's based on our actual history and it's free. No ads, in-app purchases. Nothing. We've done it just for fun.”
Beer Money Inc is free to download on Google Play and the App Store now.