Review: Critter Cafe is a game you’re going to want to put an order in for

Critter Cafe is an incredibly cozy game that lets you collect 35 different critters by solving puzzles. When you’re not out saving these guys, you can decorate and run your cafe by way of four different mini-games.

This game was “on sight” for me. I saw it, I needed it. First impressions matter and Critter Cafe had me hooked instantly. There are two things I can’t resist; silly little guys and anime hair. 

Critter Cafe: Serving up some puzzle exploration with a side of adorable

In Critter Cafe, you get a wide range of control over how things look. Not only do you get a lot of options in creating an avatar, but there are a ton of items and color schemes to decorate your cafe in. Also, the critters can be leveled up to unlock new colors for them as well!

There are two main parts to Critter Cafe. You have your cafe management and you have critter rescue. These two portions work entirely differently, but they fit seamlessly together since you can use your critters in your cafe.

For your cafe, you start with a standard shop that has base-level items to decorate with. You don’t have to worry about saving up coins, however. You’re free to decorate with any item and add as many of that item as you want. By leveling up your cafe, you’ll unlock more furniture and decorations.

Every single item that you unlock will be available in every color, so if you like a particular object, you’re not pigeonholed by worrying about it matching your current decor. And, since there’s no currency, this means that you can change up your cafe on a whim.

Leveling up your cafe is simple and it happens often. You’ll find that at the end of every day, you’ve generally leveled something up and earned a reward. All you need is experience gained by accommodating your customers.

There are two ways to earn experience; passively and actively. Passively is done by booking small parties and meeting certain conditions. When you go to book a party, you’ll see a request for a color, a party type, and a critter trait.

Where is the option to book a party with all 35 critters? I’m so serious.

You don’t have to match all three categories to get experience, but the more you can match, the better the payout. However, even with all of these conditions met, you’re making about a third less in experience than the other way that requires more attention.

For the most experience, you’re going to want to attend to your customers one-on-one. That means taking and fulfilling their orders. There are four different orders your customer can make and each of these requires a mini-game to succeed.

You pour coffee, slice cake, memorize orders, and create latte art. With pouring coffee, it’s just filling it up to the perfect height. With slicing, you have to drop the knife down on the dotted line as the cake spins. Latte art is about hitting the right button at the right time. And, memorizing orders is just a slight memory game where you’re shown the order and then have to select the correct items you were shown.

These are fairly forgiving, especially the cake slicer. Even if you get it wrong, you’ll 40 exp while doing it perfectly nets you 50. So, even when you’re not doing your best, you’re not lagging behind.

As you upgrade your shop, your mini-games will adjust as well. Some orders may be bigger than others requiring you to cut multiple pieces of cake or use even more buttons on the latte art. These orders are great because a bigger order adjusts the experience gained to 60 and 50 instead of 50 and 40.

Having your critters run around the store while you work will net them experience as well! When they level up, they get new traits and new color schemes. Each critter can be leveled up five times at which point they cap out and you become best friends. 

Stop, it’s too cute. I’m going to be best friends with all of them.

So, how do you get these helpful cuties? As you progress, you’ll get mysterious letters with a potion attached that asks you to use the potion on a rift located in one of three areas. When you do so, you turn that rift into a portal. Jumping in takes you to a place known as the “Otherworld”. This is a place that is overflowing with interesting fauna. Each portal is different and may look totally different from the ones before.

In Otherworld, you’ll notice that there is a set path. However, that path is obscured in multiple ways. Initially, you only need to move the blocks around to create a set path, but as you get more critters, you’ll be gifted with new items as well.

You’ll receive a hammer that you can use to break amber crystals that block paths or obscure moveable blocks. Then, you’ll get a boomerang that you can use to hit specified totems that will move walls or platforms. Lastly, you’ll receive wing clips. These clips will allow you to jump farther, but only on specified blocks. These blocks have an arrow that point in the direction that you’ll jump and sometimes they’re pointing the wrong way, so you can then use your hammer to change the direction. You’ll get upgrades to these items later.

If this is sounding very Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass / Breath of the Wild, then I can report that it feels like it too! These puzzles are the one thing that kept the repetitive nature of the game from feeling like a slog.

The gameplay is very simple, you either run your cafe or you get new critters. If it was just the cafe and the mini-games constantly, it’d likely burn me out. But, I was motivated to see what new, fantastical critter would be at the end of each portal puzzle. 

Not to be dramatic, but I’d die for these critters.

I mentioned earlier that there are three areas. You immediately get access to the first one and it’ll take some time to open up the other two. It’s not really important what they look like because you’re basically just running in and going straight to a rift.

The only time this differs is the first time you enter this new area. Hidden around these zones are 10 blueprints. These blueprints could be of clothing, furniture, or decorations. It’s an easy, free way to add even more customization to your game.

The last thing I wanna talk a bit about is the critter’s habitat. This is a small island that pops up where several different biomes exist to accommodate all the types of critters you collect. Not only will you be able to decorate this area, but you can take care of your critters here too!

You’ll be able to play with them, wash and brush them, give them treats, and even customize their looks in this area.

I had a lot of fun with Critter Cafe and didn’t really want to put it down. If you’re looking for something mindless and cozy that will reward you in spades, you should head over to Steam or Nintendo Switch and grab Critter Cafe for $19.99.

If this isn’t your cup of tea, you can check out the latest review we did on Galaxy Burger.