Review: Maid Cafe on Electric Street Offers a Calmer Life

If you think about a maid cafe, what do you expect? If you’ve only heard about them from games, something like Nekopara, Steins;Gate, or Akiba’s Trip might come to mind. Which might mean a vision of something bright, colorful, poppy, filled with energy, and with employees that are precise idol-types. Maid Cafe on Electric Street is an adventure game that feels like it offers another, more realistic take while also giving people a chance to experience a potentially quieter daily life in Japan.

Maid Cafe on Electric Street begins with an identifiable situation. A young man is working for a company that counts every second he is or isn’t on the clock. Taking a few minutes too long in a bathroom or getting to work due to delays, and there are threats about docking pay and serious repercussions. After saying no more, he walks out. However, that also means knowing he loses company housing. While walking the streets of Nipponbashi, looking for a place that is hiring, he happens upon the small Fuwa Fuwa Cafe. It’s a maid cafe with only one employee left, Shiro, who almost doesn’t serve him out of intimidation. A quick talk reveals it is on the verge of closing, needs a manager, and offers a place to stay above the restaurant, which means an opportunity for a new type of life.

While you are the Fuwa Fuwa Cafe manager in Maid Cafe on Electric Street, you will be serving up customers and engaging in some very light management tasks, and making some decisions, this isn’t really a management game. It’s more of a visual novel (with multiple endings) that’s about getting close to the women working as maids, and enjoying life in Japan. Shiro, Favna, Honoka, and Miyu could be flesh out a little bit more as individuals, but they’re pleasant people who I enjoyed meeting and working alongside. You make choices as you work alongside them, go about your day, and spend some time after work. 

It’s that pairing that does mean there’s an element of Maid Cafe on Electric Street that can get a bit tiring. Because there is the light management and daily life element to it, it can get a little tedious as you go through the motions. Developments can be broken up by needing to get back to work at the cafe by picking out what coffee to serve. I was fine with it and enjoyed the experience, but do wish the pace picked up a little.

I also appreciated the effort in Maid Cafe on Electric Street to recreate the experience of exploring Japan. Especially after visiting Japan, walking down shopping streets in areas like Dotonburi and Shinsaibaishi, and seeing locations where there are actual maid cafes. There are actual Japanese business referenced here. And, if you visit gachapon machines, you’ll see capsule toys based on real indie games. It’s immersive.

Especially since Maid Cafe on Electric Street is an exceptionally pretty pixel-art game. Everything is presented from a side-scrolling sort of perspective, where we’re looking at it all as though we’re watching a drama presented on a screen. The sprite-work is fantastic, especially when it comes to environments. It is really good at setting a move and building ambiance.

Maid Cafe on Electric Street feels like it is designed to recreate the experience of living in Japan, being in a maid cafe environment, and going through your day-to-day life. However, it’s done in a way where it isn’t exactly idealized, due to the fact that there are still moments that remind you that real-life isn’t always happy and fun, and being at a maid cafe wouldn’t be an easy life with everyone excited, energetic, and a perfect idol-type. I appreciated its quieter moments and simplicity, and how it let me gradually work toward a better tomorrow.

Maid Cafe on Electric Street is available for PCs via Steam.