Dressmaker
raithza · Simulation, Management
RELEASE MILESTONES
Dates from IGDB release data
Overview
Become a dressmaker! Choose fabric, cut out patterns, and sew them all together to satisfy (or sabotage!) townsfolk in this cozy crafting game inspired by real dressmaking.
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Choose fabric, arrange and cut out patterns, sew garments and add decorations. Dressmaker is a cozy simulation game where every part of making a dress is under your control.
Whether your pattern is aligned to the grain or cut on bias, how you choose to arrange and cut out your fabric is what appears on the final dress. Take full control over what fabric to use for each panel of your garment.
Feed your fabric through the sewing machine to stitch it together.
Decorate your dress with buttons, bows and appliqué. Add lace trims and other accessories wherever you like with complete creative freedom.
Meet a whole town of people hoping to fill their wardrobes with custom-made dresses tailored specially to important events and their individual tastes. Create dresses to impress them, or display your own designs in your shop window and sell pre-made dresses off of the rack.
Buy from a wide range of fabrics, including cotton, linen, wool, silk and velvet.
Design and colour your dress in your sketchbook, adding fabric samples and appliqué.
Arrange and cut out your dress pattern, preview them on a mannequin and sew them together.
Turn in your dresses to your customers to gain both reputation and coin.
Pet the kitty.
From the game's Steam store page.
THE GAMEQ VERDICT6,007 reviews analyzed
What players are actually saying
1. Summary
Dressmaker is a game about designing and sewing dresses for the clients of a small, gossipy town: you sketch a dress from mix-and-match bodices, skirts, sleeves and collars, buy fabric, lay out and cut pattern pieces with the grain, sew them on a vintage machine, and then pin on lace, buttons and trims. Players love it with unusual intensity. The reviews return again and again to the freedom to make almost any dress inside a loose client brief, to fabrics that catch the light like real silk and velvet, and to a cast of clients whose small stories turned out funnier and more affecting than people expected from a sewing game. Many describe losing whole evenings to "just one more dress", and many call it the grown-up version of the flash and DS dress-up games they played as children. People who sew in real life praise how much of the actual process survives the translation.
The frustrations are specific and mostly about polish. Placing lace, trim and piping draws the most complaints about a single tool (about 240 reviews mention it), and the mannequin camera, zoom and measuring each come up in about 100. Launch week brought softlocks, vanishing pattern pieces, a disappearing cursor and some overheating and crashes, and nearly half of the 88 negative reviews cite bugs of some kind. The most requested additions are a true sandbox mode without a budget, suits and trousers, and a way to see the finished dress worn by the client. There is no real split on whether the game is good; where players disagree is on how hard the economy should be and how much of the sewing should be simulated.
2. What keeps coming up
What players praise
Freedom to design almost any dressHigh
About a fifth of reviews talk about creative freedom. Commissions set a few style targets ("cute", "gothic", "glamorous") and a budget, then leave the cut, fabric and decoration to you. Reviewers keep comparing notes with friends and finding that the same brief produced completely different dresses. "Off the rack" dresses, unlocked after the first few clients, let players make whatever they want and sell it, which many treat as a near-sandbox between story commissions. One reviewer summed up the low pressure: "the only way to fail is by not taking your time." The unlock pace also gets credit; new patterns, fabrics and accessories arrive often enough that the options keep expanding through the story. The main reservation is that everything is built from preset pattern pieces; a few want to draft their own shapes, remove the waist seam, or drape fabric freely.
Fabrics, trims and the look of the materialsHigh
The fabric shop is a highlight in its own right. Players describe silks that change colour with the light, velvets that read as velvet, and patterned cloth that keeps exactly the portion of print you cut, so motifs can end up upside down just as they would in real life. "And whoever made the fabric rendering: you understood the assignment," wrote one long-time player. The size of the catalogue, hundreds of fabrics plus lace, beads, feathers, bows and brooches, is a frequent reason people give for expecting to keep playing after the story. Wish lists here are about additions, chiefly sheer fabrics such as tulle, chiffon and organza, faux fur and leather.
Charming clients and a gossipy storyHigh
Many reviewers expected a bare sewing sim and found a cast they got attached to: a librarian, a social climber who wants a colourful dress for a duke's funeral, a vampire, a girl haunted by spirits, a pigeon lady, and their intertwined small-town drama, reported afterwards in a Bridgerton-style gossip paper. "The writing is also much sharper and funnier than I expected," wrote one player, and several who finished the story say the ending moved them. Each client has her own music theme and her own style, which pushes players into designs they would not choose for themselves. Players also enjoy the queer romances in the background. Criticism of the writing exists but is a minority view (see the split section).
Cozy, and hard to put downHigh
"Cozy" appears in 618 reviews and "relaxing" in 322, often paired with stories of time disappearing: people starting at 9pm and finishing at 2am, playing through a whole day off, or sinking ten hours into the first session. Players like that there are no timers or deadlines, that you can save mid-dress, and that the steps are repetitive in a soothing way that suits an audiobook or a show in the background. Several mention playing through chronic illness, injury or a hard week and finding it calming.
The dress-up game they wanted as kidsMedium
About 9% of reviews frame the game through nostalgia: Barbie Fashion Show and Barbie Fashion Designer, GirlsGoGames and Stardoll flash games, Style Savvy and Imagine Fashion Designer on the DS. "This is what I wish the dress up/fashion games had been like when I was a kid," reads one representative line. These reviews often add that the game finally treats a "girly" interest with depth rather than as a children's toy, and that it is not a gacha or mobile game with microtransactions. A visible number of men joke about being surprised how much they enjoy it.
A sewing process that real sewists recogniseMedium
Players who sew, from hobbyists to professional seamstresses, are some of the most enthusiastic reviewers. They point to measuring the client, sizing the mannequin, laying pieces on the grain and on the bias to save fabric, and slowing the machine down on curves. One sewist called it "the closest a video game has ever gotten to simulating what it is like to sew," and several say it is teaching them how garments go together or pushing them to dust off a real machine. Several also appreciate what was left out: no ironing, hemming, seam finishing, bobbins or broken needles. A minority of experienced sewists find it too simplified (see the split section).
Sewing assist and forgiving mistakesMedium
The optional sewing assist, which turns the fabric for you while you control speed, comes up as both a comfort and an accessibility feature. "My hands shake and so holding steady lines was very difficult on my own," wrote one player who thanked the developers for it; others mention wrist pain, joint conditions and playing one-handed. Players also value that cut pieces can be recycled back into the bolt and seams ripped out. Some note the assist veers on corners and fine points, so it still needs attention.
Developers who patch fastMedium
Within the first week many reviews were edited to note fixes: a hover preview showing where each pattern piece sits on the dress, thread colour options, multiple-copy accessories and bug patches. "Day 2, QOL update," wrote one player after listing the quality-of-life wishes from day one. This responsiveness is a reason several players give for recommending the game despite bugs.
Price and valueMedium
At around $13 to $15 with a launch discount, reviewers repeatedly call it underpriced for 20 to 40 hours of story plus open-ended design. "Best 14 dollars I have ever spent!" is a typical line, and several say they would pay for DLC.
Varied bodies among the clientsLow
Players appreciate that clients have different measurements and builds, so the mannequin and the cut change from dress to dress. The flip side, raised by a few, is that the mannequin's sliders do not go large enough for genuinely plus-size measurements.
The cat, the pigeon and small touchesLow
The shop cat, who runs off if petted too much, and the pigeon that carries side commissions turn up in about 95 reviews as part of the charm. A few wish they could do more with them.
Where players are split
Money, budgets and client criteriaMedium
Players disagree about how hard the economy is. One group runs out of coins early, usually after buying the wrong fabric or too much of an expensive one, and finds no easy way back: purchases cannot be returned, restarting a dress does not refund the fabric, and some restarted their whole save. "If i screw up i shouldn't have to start the entire game over," wrote one. The other group finds money trivial after the first few clients; one player who finished the story said "I finished the game with about $100,000, so clearly the business side isn't much of a challenge," and others ask for harder budgets or pickier customers. Client scoring splits players the same way: some like that any dress hitting the numbers passes, while others dislike that stats beat taste ("There's also no real evaluation of whether a garment actually suits the client") or find maximum limits too strict, like the player who missed one category by three points and got a reaction as if "i handed her an old potato sack."
How much sewing simulation is enoughMedium
Many players enjoy the cutting and sewing steps, and a smaller group (179 reviews call parts of the game repetitive or tedious) finds them a chore. "It feels like only 10% of the game is about having fun and being creative, while 90% of the game is monotonous clicking," wrote one negative reviewer who wanted to skip straight to design. Rotating every pattern piece and resizing the mannequin for each repeat client are the most cited tedious steps. From the opposite side, some experienced sewists want more: "This isn't even 20% of the process and the stitching is just the equivalent of staystitching," wrote one with a fashion design degree, and others ask for a hard mode with thread tension, pressing and real pattern drafting.
Story and dialogueLow
The writing is widely liked, but a few players skip it as too long, and several object to the player character's lines. One negative reviewer said "you're locked into one response 90% of the time, and a lot of it is invasive, cruel, nosy, and downright mean," and others wished for kinder or more varied responses. Two reviewers objected to the haunted client's storyline, one of them over how it portrays dissociative identity disorder.
Performance on modest hardwareLow
Many players report it running smoothly on old laptops and MacBooks. A smaller group reports the opposite: laptops overheating, fans running at full speed, an FPS cap that does not hold, lag when adding lots of trim, and in a few cases crashes that took down the whole PC. One negative reviewer wrote "The game crashes my entire PC if i play for maybe more than 30 miniutes at a time."
Steam Deck and controllersLow
Some play happily on Steam Deck with a community or custom layout. Others found the trackpads tiring for precise work and could not zoom without remapping keys; "I'd recommend this game ONLY IF you're not playing on the Steam Deck!" wrote one who refunded. There is no full controller support, which several players ask for.
What frustrates players
Launch bugs and softlocksMedium
Bugs are the most common reason for a negative review: 47% of the 88 negative reviews (41) mention bugs, glitches, crashes, softlocks or the cursor. Reports include a cursor that vanished during the tutorial, cut pieces disappearing until a reload, a measurement panel that shakes up and down, commissions that vanished after starting an off-the-rack dress, clients whose money never arrived, and progress-blocking softlocks such as a bust measurement that would not register. "This game is glitch city," wrote one player after 28 hours. Most positive reviewers who hit bugs say a save-and-reload fixed them, and the share of all reviews mentioning bugs fell from 6.1% in launch week to 3.9% in the second week.
Placing lace, trim and accessoriesMedium
About 240 reviews raise trim placement, and 224 of them still recommend the game. Lace and piping float above the fabric, clip through it, flip direction or will not follow a curve, especially around sleeves, cuffs and necklines; placed pieces are hard to select again; and there is no undo, mirror or symmetry tool. "Trimming a collar turns into a test of patience not skill," wrote one player, and another put it more bluntly: "please fix the lace mechanic its actually evil." Requests include snap-to-seam trim, a symmetry tool, grid lines, bulk select and an undo button.
No true sandbox modeMedium
Off-the-rack dresses still cost fabric money, so a steady stream of players asks for a creative mode with everything unlocked and no budget, often as a reward for finishing the story or as a New Game+. "DROP A SANDBOX UPDATE AND MY LIFE IS YOURS!" wrote one. Some players who finished the story also want post-story commissions with new requests.
Only dresses, for nowMedium
Suits, trousers, jackets, hats, shoes and menswear are frequent requests (suits or menswear alone come up in 122 reviews), often offered as paid DLC. The most upvoted review in the export is a joke that ends with a plea for "a DLC for suits," and a 26-hour player wrote "And please give me trousers. And jackets. And real buttons." Others want pockets, children's clothes or other eras.
Mannequin camera and zoomLow
About 100 reviews describe struggling with the camera when assembling and decorating: zoom that does not respond or will not zoom back out, limited rotation that makes the shoulder area hard to reach, and controls that change when zoomed in. "The zoom function appears especially underbaked," wrote one long reviewer, asking for 3D-modelling style controls. Others want rebindable keys and a sensitivity setting for the sewing machine and mannequin dials.
Repetitive measuring and mannequin setupLow
Measuring each client and dialling the mannequin to her size is charming the first time and a chore by the third for a number of players. "I personally find the measuring tape and the mindless clicking for the mannequin unbelievably annoying," wrote one; others ask for the mannequin to remember repeat clients' sizes or for scroll-wheel adjustment, partly because of wrist strain.
Never seeing the dress wornLow
Because the clients are 2D portraits and the dresses are 3D, finished work only ever appears on the mannequin, and that disappoints a steady group. "fail to see the appeal of making dresses if no one wears them," wrote one negative reviewer; a positive one said the first finished dress lacked the payoff of "seeing the result on a person instead of the mannequin." Suggestions range from a newspaper illustration to a showroom or gallery for favourite designs.
Telling pattern pieces apartLow
Before the hover preview was added, players often cut pieces in the wrong fabric because names like "back back right" were hard to map onto the dress, and the sketchbook shows only the front. "my kingdom for a way to number (automatically or manually, idc) each pattern piece in-game," wrote one before editing to thank the developers for the fix. A back view in the sketchbook is still a common request.
Flashing, auto-zoom and eye strainLow
A smaller but serious group finds the moving striped sewing guide, the auto zoom in and out while sewing and the photo flash uncomfortable; some report dizziness, migraines and strain, and one highly upvoted negative review warned photosensitive players about strobe-like effects with no option to turn them off. One player described the guide line as "often hard to look at once the sewing machine is in mid to high speed."
3. The player conversation
The tone is overwhelmingly warm, often effusive, with a heavy layer of in-jokes: "I feel bonita", Rarity from My Little Pony, "crack" comparisons, and men announcing they are straight and still love it. The most upvoted reviews are mostly jokes of that kind (a boyfriend "testing" the game for four hours, the lack of pockets as realism), so they say little about specific features, but they reflect the same affection as the detailed reviews. Underneath sits a large group of long, constructive reviews, usually positive, that list quality-of-life wishes in detail; the lace, camera, sandbox and back-view requests come mostly from people who recommend the game.
Who raises what follows players' backgrounds. Negative reviews from people who quit within the first couple of hours and from those who played longer both cite bugs, controls or tedium; few object to the concept itself. Real sewists split between delight at the accuracy and a minority who find it too simplified, while players with hand, wrist or eye conditions are the ones raising sewing assist (as praise) and the flashing guide and mouse-heavy controls (as problems). Players who finished the 20 to 40 hour story are the ones asking for New Game+, post-story commissions and harder economics.
Over the first two weeks the mood held steady: 98.4% of reviews written in launch week recommend the game and 98.8% of those from the second week do. Bug mentions declined as patches landed, and many early complaints were edited into thanks once the developers added the pattern-piece preview and other fixes.
4. What the developers could do
- Hunt down the remaining softlocks and vanishing-state bugs. Bugs are the most common reason for a negative review, and the worst of them, commissions or clients that disappear and measurements that will not register, forced some players to restart their saves.
- Rework lace, trim and accessory placement. Snap-to-seam trims, a symmetry or mirror tool, grid lines, bulk selection and an undo button would answer about 240 reviews, nearly all from players who otherwise love the game.
- Add a sandbox or post-story creative mode. A steady stream of players wants everything unlocked with no budget, either from the start or as a reward for finishing, plus New Game+ for replaying commissions.
- Give players a way back from money and fabric mistakes. Refunding fabric on a restarted dress, selling back unused stock, restarting a single commission and multiple save slots would stop the early-game spirals that made some players restart from scratch.
- Fix the mannequin camera and add control options. Reliable zoom in and out, freer rotation around shoulders and sleeves, rebindable keys and sensitivity settings came up repeatedly, including from Steam Deck players who need them to play at all.
- Add comfort toggles for the sewing screen and photo mode. Options to make the sewing guide solid, stop the auto zoom and disable the camera flash would answer the players reporting dizziness, migraines and photosensitivity concerns.
- Reduce GPU load and honour the frame cap. Reports of overheating laptops, full-speed fans and lag with heavy trim suggest the FPS limiter and rendering cost need attention, especially for the many players on older laptops.
- Plan content around the most requested additions. Showing finished dresses worn by clients or in a showroom, a back view in the sketchbook, sheer fabrics, and suits or trousers as DLC are all repeated requests, and several players say they would pay for them.
