LFGryph

This…might be a short post since coincidentally I’m trying to get Adulting Stuff done so I can stream this game later today. (https://www.twitch.tv/darkgryphon42) But I already have the post written, so we’re going for it!

Cat Cafe Manager is one of the games I picked up in the Whimsy and Wonder: A Cozy Games Collection Humble Bundle. I was looking at the bundle already when a friend mentioned she very much enjoyed some of the games on it. That was just enough of a push despite my already massive game backlog.

Cat Cafe Manager is a cute little building and management type game. Build yourself a cat cafe, decorate it as you like, get new recipes, serve your customers, make some friends…and of course, collect and/or adopt out as many cats as possible!

I am super digging the forgiveness in the building and design mechanic. At any time, I can go into the building screen and move some walls around to make more space or rearrange. This is SO nice, especially on a first playthrough while I’m still learning how best to place my tables, chairs, cat furniture, and cooking implements. I’ve redone my cafe multiple times and I never have to worry I’ve redone things “wrong.”

The actual controls feel a little wonky to me at times. I am not 100% sure that isn’t just me, but I seem to have trouble getting hung up on corners more often than I would expect to. It also took some time for me to get used to having to walk to the thing I want to do, click the action with my mouse, and then walk to the next step. That part *IS* likely just me as it’s been a minute since I played a building/management game and I don’t think that control scheme is anything out of the ordinary for this type of game.

The artwork is lovely and I very much like the variety I’ve seen so far in the cats. The storylines I’ve seen have been charming and interesting enough to keep me entertained. I’m curious about the story behind the cat shrine, which is a nice added motivation to increase my stats and hear more story content from the mystery cat who lives there.

I also like the way the game has a variety of currencies for different purchases. This means I don’t have to argue with myself over spending more on food than decorations, for example – those are two different currencies. I can see where some folks might find that overly complicated, but it allows me to compartmentalize my spending plans in a way that streamlines the game for my own brain.

Progress in the game seems to be balanced pretty well so far. I got a lot of dopamine dings over leveling early on, and it’s gradually leveling out while at the same time giving me more flexibility to focus on the parts of the game that interest me. The game play itself is satisfying and there’s a healthy dose of, “Oh, I want to run one more shift and see what happens with the changes I just made!”

I do want to run some Cat Cafe Manager on stream pretty soon here [EDIT: I mean, well, today if I can manage it!]. I think I’m glad with this one that I tested it out first, just to get a better idea of what I’m doing when I can focus better instead of bumbling around while live. Ymmv. I like experiencing things for the first time while onstream, but sometimes my brain doesn’t like Learning Something New at the same time as Trying to Have An Entertaining Livestream.

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