Cat Cafe Manager Purrfectly Relaxing

 *Note: I received a free game code from Stride PR to review the game on Nintendo Switch.  

Cat Cafe Manager is exactly like it sounds. You get to run a cat cafe in the small town of Caterwaul. Setting up the game is fairly straightforward with designing your character with a small variety of hair styles and colors. You also have the opportunity to give your cat cafe a name. After that you get to choose a cat to be your starting companion and mascot for the cafe. Each cat has a trait that benefits you and your cafe. 

Choosing a cat for the cafe.

The major aspect of the game is you need to build your cafe. There's not really much of a tutorial and the game kind of throws you in the deep end to figure it out. It does have a codex that tells you the game controls and what each item does, but that's pretty much it. I had to build and rebuild and just figure things out with a lot of trial and error. There are six different types of customers who pay with their own form of currency. For example, witches pay you in nectar which is used to buy recipes and food while fisherman pay in fish which is used to buy cat food and lures for strays. As you level up, so do your cats and you can expand the cafe and buy better furniture which increase customer patience. You also can buy new recipes and add to your cafe's menu. 

Working on expanding the cafe. 

As the game progresses, you can adopt more stray cats with lures. Different lures attract different types of cats that can be placed in a bowl outside the cafe. You have to build up trust with the stray cats. You can choose a cat to pet and when the trust meter is full, you can choose one to foster in your cafe. The entire point is to take care of the cats until you can get them adopted to a forever home. There is a bulletin board that shows all the different people who are looking to adopt and the kind of cat they're looking for. You can choose which cat fits that description and have them adopted and the people who adopt them will give you rewards that help you and your cats. 

Building up trust with stray cats. 

Another cool thing is you have regulars that you can call on that will come to the cafe and as you level up your friendship with them you get an extra bit of dialogue with them learning about their personalities and some of their backstory. You also learn that they're not happy with the big business corporation that is trying to move in and take over the town. The story is a bit light, but you get the idea and the regulars are charming, funny, and interesting. I definitely had my favorites like Finley who really opened up about her passion for writing and creating music. 

Finley is the best.

Later on in the game, you meet the Grimalkin, a mystical creature that looks very much like a cat who introduces you to the cat shrine. It directs you to restore the shrine and help to save the town and all the cats in it. 

Meeting the grimalkin. 

The cat shrine basically acts like your skill tree. On top of the currency they use, customers will also pay you in delight which looks like happy little hearts. Delight allows you to restore the cat shrine. The cat shrine unlocks things like being able to hire extra staff for the cafe, expanding your menu, and adding more cats as well as items for the cats. 

Restoring the cat shrine. 

Where the game really shines is the cats and regulars. Adopting as many adorable cats as possible is fun and the art style of the game is the perfect amount of cute and whimsical. The game itself is relaxing and you can play for a short burst or as long as you like. The game lets you go at your own pace which is quite nice. There were some technical issues that hinder the game experience a bit. On the Switch there would be short lag and freeze issues. The game also crashed hard a couple of times. I'm happy to say a recent patch update to the game from the developers helped those issues immensely and the game runs great now. I love that there's no goals to meet, there's no rush, and it's just a game that wants you to enjoy cute cats, charming characters, and celebrate all the joy it brings. 

Cute cats everywhere!

*Cat Cafe Manager is available on the following platforms: Steam, Nintendo Switch

*Join our community on Twitch as we play games and discuss mental health: https://www.twitch.tv/mothergamer