The Coachman
A restaurant in Rockvil located off Main and Wicker, The Coachman is one of the game’s most potent symbols of social stratification and decline. Its trajectory across the decades — from a well-known public restaurant to a Church-elite establishment to a burned-out ruin — mirrors the city’s collapse in miniature.
Location
The Coachman sits at Main and Wicker, near the river and the Main Street Bridge. It shares the area with a Foodville supermarket and the cemetery. In 2041, the area is a functioning commercial district; by 2081, it is post-apocalyptic rubble.
Description by Decade
2041–2051
“You are in a large, well-known restaurant. The car lot and street lie to the northwest.”
In the early decades, The Coachman is a standard restaurant. Perry can enter, be seated by a maître d’, order from a menu, and eat a meal. The waiter brings a credit card machine for payment. It’s expensive but accessible. Perry frequently eats here with his son Mitchell (the restaurant is referenced alongside SIMONS — the Simm family — in the save/restore routines and meal-tracking code).
2061 (Score event 43, 1 point)
“You are in a large, well-known restaurant, a favorite of wealthy Churchmen.”
By 2061, The Coachman has become associated with the Church elite. The wealthy Churchmen who frequent it represent the new ruling class. The restaurant still functions, but it has shifted from a public establishment to a gathering place for the powerful.
2071 (Score events 42 and 44)
“You are in a large, well-known restaurant, opulent in the extreme, and known to be restricted to the highest ecclesiastics of the Church.”
The Coachman is now explicitly restricted to the Church hierarchy. When Perry enters in 2071, he is not welcomed — he is ejected with contempt:
“The maitre d’ spots you, and gestures a velvet-swathed arm toward a bouncer waiting in the shadows. ‘Throw this animal back out on the street,’ he sniffs. The bouncer grabs your collar, and shoves you through the doorway.”
This ejection (score event 42, 3 points: “The Coachman off limits to ‘animals’”) is one of the game’s most brutal moments. Perry — a citizen, a former customer — is now an “animal” to the Church elite. The restaurant that once served his family now physically throws him into the street.
2081 (Score event 41, 3 points)
“This burned-out shell of a building was once a famous restaurant back in the civilized days. The blackened timbers shiver as you walk through the ashes.”
The Coachman has burned to the ground. The timbers are unstable — touching them causes the roof to collapse and kill the player. There is no meal, no menu, no maître d’. Only ash and the memory of civilization.
The Meal System
In the early decades (2041–2061), The Coachman uses a detailed meal-tracking system. The MEAL-STATUS variable tracks the dining sequence: being seated, ordering, receiving food, eating, paying. A maître d’ and waiter manage the service. The WAITER-COUNTER tracks interactions. Perry pays with a credit card, which the waiter takes away and returns.
When restored from a save game while at The Coachman, the game carefully reconstructs the meal state, preserving which course Perry was on.
The Arc as Social Commentary
The Coachman’s trajectory is a complete arc of societal collapse:
- 2041: Public restaurant → community space
- 2051: Still public → early signs of stratification
- 2061: Elite hangout → “favorite of wealthy Churchmen”
- 2071: Restricted to Church hierarchy → Perry ejected as an “animal”
- 2081: Burned to the ground → the “civilized days” are a memory
The ejection in 2071 is particularly significant: it’s not that The Coachman declined in quality — it became more opulent. The problem is that Perry was excluded from it. The restaurant didn’t fail; society failed Perry.
Related Pages
- Rockvil — the city whose decline The Coachman mirrors
- Dunbar’s — another establishment that shifts from public to Church-elite
- Main & Kennedy — the nearby commercial district
- Church of God’s Word Building — the Church whose members take over The Coachman
- City Hall — the crumbling seat of government, contemporaneous with The Coachman’s decay