@@tatertot6781 It did way back before I deleted it, and I assume it still does, but they're all crap and super low effort. They just beg you to pour money into them for no reward and they all feel empty and soulless.
I feel like a lot of game companies are trying to capitalize on cozy gaming and take advantage of cozy gamers, but aren't putting in the effort to make quality games. So many new releases this year (both early access and full) have been disappointments.
Considering 2023 wasn't all that much better (my library is littered with a few ill-advised Early Access purchases from the 2023 Steam summer sale), these are dark times for cozy gaming. The corpo rats have crawled out of their sewer, and a lot of indie devs think they're Eric Barone when they don't have 0.01 percent of Barone's ability and talent.
FR I hate how these devs just think "cozy/low stress/slow life = low effort or content padding" without knowing nor caring about what makes a cozy game good
it's because people turned cozy into a genre rather than "this game makes me happy and is a comfort game". genre-fying cozy is leading to this crapton of terrible games because everyone keeps dumping the same few games with cute art and farming into the cozy category and looking at you like you're crazy if anything outside of that is cozy to you, so in turn cheap devs who just want quick money rather than to put out a quality product are churning out another farming game or sim/management game as quickly as they can to get their money in while they can. and people who also just run to the first game with the cozy label slapped on it rather than be critical because they want the next stardew valley just feed this trend and these "devs" pockets. it's not gonna stop any time soon because people just can't help buying every game labeled cozy by the devs and advertising them all over social media as the next new cozy thing to play. and it's why everyone should really start being way more critical of games calling themselves cozy and every synonym without even trying to explain why they should be worth your time.
@@SimuLord Hey hey now, 2023 had My Time at Sandrock which is way better than anything we saw in the last 5 years. I even like it more than Stardew Valley
oh rip that backfired on the publishers haha I think it's great that you're being super honest though! I doesn't matter how cute or charming a game looks, if it's boring, it's boring
I never thought about that concept before, but you're right that we should be suspicious of games that have "cozy" or "wholesome" in their title or description. Show, don't tell...
That is a huge problem with cozy games imo they try to make it so relaxing that there’s no challenge so the gameplay loop falls through. Tavern Keeper is a really good mangement sim but it has the exact opposite problem with it having so many gameplay mechanics that it can get almost stressful at times
Same feeling here. Love the aesthetic, and love the room customization in theory, but wasn't expecting that bad of a reception. Will probably save my money.
Maybe its because I'm autistic, but for me the 'mindless' and not challenge-game loop is exactly what I need, because I'm always overstimulated and I need such games. But you are right, there are better Games. And I thank you for your honest review. Maybe I wait a bit before buying. And watch Lets plays and other reviews so I can decide better.
I'm autistic too and I love games where not much effort is needed and I prefer repetitive games. I also want games that look super cute. I feel like this game is perfect for me.
I’m not autistic, but have crazy anxiety. I played the demo and thought this game was perfect for those days where I need a distraction. I can see where others would find this quite boring. 😹
@@FingerboardingchickI often prefer repetitive, mindless games that still feel satisfying too. I’m not sure if you two would be interested in these sorts of games, but there are two mobile games I gravitate to. One is a hexa sort game and the one I’ve been addicted to more recently is a solitaire word game. The ads are annoying but that’s mobile games for ya. The solitaire one isn’t so bad, you only have to watch full ads to get extra bonus stuff like coins and powerups otherwise you can just exit out of the ads early.
As always Josh, I appreciate your honest reviews. I have bought way too many games at release because of hype just to wish I hadn’t wasted my money. Side note, I did end up buying sos friends of the great kingdom after watching you stream this weekend! Currently 70% off on Nintendo eshop!
I played the demo of this which evidently went up to the point where the game told you the tutorial is over and now it's "free play," I'm honestly flabbergasted that the game doesn't have any meaningful content for the cafe after that point and you're just going through the motions to unlock more rift puzzles. The game's style is incredibly cute but that's really all it has going for it.
@@Requiem2040 I made the mistake to try farmer first and it was a HUGE mistake. treasure hunter was nicer, but by that point my will to live had been sucked out tbh
To be fair, "gives a passive bonus" is probably most accurate as a description for how pets would "help you run a cafe". Like cat cafes being just cats hanging out and it attracts more customers. 4:40 The rift info saying "Others might not find it as easy to navigate as you" Well, duh, none of them can walk! So of course you'd be miles ahead of them. :D
Cat Café Manager had the cats interacting with cat furniture, customers got cats sitting on their laps and pet them, and different cats gave different bonuses and perks. It was a fun game despite the gameplay being a bit repetitive.
I'm actually really enjoying this game. It's perfect for when you just want to play mindlessly. There is no time pressure, no money and you can't loose anything. Plus the characters and everything is very cute. I does make me low key sad to see it getting so many bad reviews but I can totally see how it isn't for everybody.
this game doesn't look bad at all, but it feels more like a mindless mobile game... even kairosoft games have more fleshed out and complicated mechanics than this. i can't see this capturing my attention at any other time except when i'm deathly bored waiting for a doctor's appointment
I feel like Cat Cafe Manager does better at the "cafe sim with cute pets"...it doesn't have the puzzle, cooking minigames, or exploration aspects but it's still low-stress enough for a cafe management game but has some decent challenges (mainly how you manage your resources) without insulting your intelligence 😅 Also extreme respect for you Josh for posting a "not-recommended" verdict review 24 hours *before* the game is out, usually content creators are embargo'ed to post after a day or two of release to avoid unwishlists/cancelled preorders 😂
I was hoping for better from this, I wanted the critters to help around the cafe and have traits and thought maybe the demo from Next Fest just didn't have that orz
i really love the honesty in your reviews. you don't just critique without a point for the sake of views- you actually want these games to be good and you give really thoughtful suggestions about what you feel is missing, how it could be better. i'm glad the publishers sending you a key wasn't enough to buy your approval, and i hope that there are plans in place to make critter cafe more engaging down the line.
Honestly, I enjoy this game. For me, it's a game that I can play while on the train, watching tv, etc. that doesn't require a lot of brainpower. I think the creature collecting is cute, and the mindless loop of making coffee, cutting cake, and taking orders relaxing. There's not a lot to it, and that's fine. Would I pay full price? No. Is it worth it on sale? Yes, as a time waster.
My urge to get new games has been going down this year. Partially because I want to finish games I already have but this is another reason, most games that reach my eyeball, cozy or not, just aren't really apealing to me. Even when they do it's often not enough to even stay on my radar for long. I have a roughly 25 game wishlist right now. 5 games are in early access and I'm gonna wait until full release and either the moment I want to play them or when there's a solid discount to buy them. A couple have been released but I want to complete some games in the same genre before I get more. 1 is slated for release this year and the rest has either an indicated timeframe for release or just a "coming soon". There's also a couple of sequels (like 5) that I put on my follow list until I finish the first/previous game just to be sure I actually want it. All in all, Josh, this review makes it clear that what uncertainty I felt about this game when I watched Payton stream the demo definitely turned out to be the case. Thanks for your review of this. I wasn't considering putting this on my radar, but now I'll not even consider this for my brother's kids. They are a bit young to game right now. But I can't see this being fun for them later on either. They're too smart for this. I'd rather handmake them a wooden jigsaw puzzle because that sounds like fun for all of us.
I'm glad I don't have to feel like I'm missing anything when I play Medieval Dynasty's new Autumn Update over Thanksgiving weekend. That one's coming out on Wednesday, just in time for a lazy four days! Thanks as always for the valuable public service you provide, Josh. You save people money (even if you're also dangerous to people's wallets by playing hidden gems!)
The critters is what interested me since I like animals but this game seems very shallow and empty. Very curious to how it'll run on the Switch, I'll avoid it for now haha. It's kinda giving me Chill Town vibes
I've got to thank you, I've been looking into getting a new sim/management game and this was one of the ones I was looking into. I hadn't seen any reviews on it and was about to go looking for them when I saw this pop up in my feed. I've been watching you for a while and even picked up some games based on your recommendations so I know you're pretty honest with your reviews. After seeing this I'm disappointed to say that I won't be getting this game. It's a shame that devs seem to think "cozy" equals "make it exceedingly easy and low effort and call it a day." Thanks for helping me dodge a bullet.
This game looks cute, maybe with more updates it will become more interesting? I only recently came to this channel but I really like these videos, I can learn so much about game design, like the Always Run option, yesterday I added this to my project because of one of these videos. I'm also developing a simple cozy game alone that mixes Mother and Harvest Moon style, and I'll spend another 2 years developing it until it becomes super interesting for me. Well, somewhat 2026 I'll be close to the release, I'll give you a key if you want to give your impressions about it too
Inventory management is always a huge issues in cozy games. Very few get it right. No one wants to spend hours organizing. Out pull and sort features r a must
It always feels like a super bold move for the devs of these lazy mobile-tier soulless cash-grabs to provide codes to reviewers who actually say what they think of the game lol
There are two reasons this game is precisely for me and I'm going to love it: For the gameplay side, it DOES take away all the stressful 'thinking' involved in other restaurant/cafe/etc sims, which makes it very relaxing. I love the simple puzzle rooms, and the decorating being free and not something where I have to have an ugly starter area and work my way up to having something pretty. As well, I'm a creature collector fanatic so just the objective of collecting them all and adoring them/taking care of them is enough of a goal for me. I do wish the NPCs moved around, but I don't mind that aspect so much. The second aspect is a bit niche, but I happen to LOVE chibi art and anime art, and am learning to draw at the moment. I believe the character creation screen alone, alongside screenshots, will help me as references to learn about proportions, clothing styles, etc. So in addition to being adorable and befitting for my playstyle needs, it'll act as an actual educational tool for my purposes.
Yeah I'm with ya there, I have so many games that have all of the thinkings, plannings, and a lot to do that u have to plan what day to do this, what day to do that, etc, so I'm definitely on the hunt for a relaxing and mindless games, I got Luma Island, and I'm interested in getting this game too, I love puzzle, and collecting creatures too, like u. I don't like super hectic cafe management games so I like more of a chill.
Your vids have saved me so much time and money, I appreciate it. For decorating and Animal Crossing, the paid DLC (which you get access to with certain Nintendo Online subscriptions) Happy Home Paradise is exactly that. You design vacation homes for guests on this new island along with setting up facilities like a clothing shop and cafe. I have SO MUCH fun with that as it's all decorating with an unlimited budget but working within what the client is asking for.
I'll be honest that while having a style where you don't have to think or grapple with overly-complicated gameplay can be very rewarding and appeal to a lot of people, this feels like a few steps away from being shovelware.
Yeah I tried the demo myself and I hadn't even gotten to the rifts before stopping out of disappointment. What potential there could've been honestly just isn't there
Amazing thorough review ❤ thank you for your honesty and transparency it’s much needed with so many games out there with tons of hype that you end up buying then end up disappointed
Thank you for reviewing these games coming out so we can hear the truth of what they're really like! The trailer for this caught my attetion cause I thought the critters were cute, but this is not something I'd be into at all. (I am seeing some folks in the comments who say this is exactly their cup of tea, and that makes me even happier, because this video is helping people see whether or not they would enjoy it.)
whilst I do like the grind and repetition of shop management games like travellers rest, I didn't feel the need to want to grind in this game. I tried the demo and it didn't feel as rewarding as a game like traveller rest to me. Tis a no buy for me, thank you for the review & honest thoughts!
Thank you so much for your review Josh ! It's always so interesting to listen to you. I played the demo and I sensed that there was something wrong because I didn't have fun. But just like you said, I told myself that it would be better to wait and have a better view in playing the game for more. So I was hesitant to buy it. Now I know I won't xD. Thank you for the sacrifie ^^ ! Have a great day =)
What's up with recent games lately with creatures that don't serve any purpose?! For a game called Critter Café, there's nothing much to do with the critters, and the cafe part is so bare bones! Also, they probably don't talk to you because you don't speak their language 9:24 👶👶👶!
"This fantastical tale of travel captured your childhood imagination." Thanks for telling me. If the customers teleport, why am I running to get their coffee?
This looks like a great first game for a small child. It reminds me of those browser games we would play in grade school during computer class or library time. Not so good for anyone else. I think the concept is so cute, but execution is... well, it's browser game level. :)
The mini games feel like they’re ripped right out of Cooking Mama, but at least there they have a purpose. I’m honestly so tired of devs thinking they can just slap words like cozy or wholesome in their title or description and that people will just buy them. Not only is it scummy but it also gives actual cozy games a bad reputation.
Man, I was so looking forward to this! Between this and Luma Island I was so hype, but after playin Luma for a little and watching these, it's not as great as I thought. Praying that Infinity Nikki comes and saves us next week lol!!
I feel the same. I am concerned that infinity nikki won't be great cuz of all the micro transactions. I'd much rather just pay for the game in full out the door
While I think the criticism is valid I found this entire review holier than thou and unpleasant. You have a go at the game more than once for trivial nonsense instead of actual issues, and I did not appreciate the comment of "bad games like this" making it into the script right at the start of the review when you'd barely seen any of the game. I appreciate that the script was probably made after you'd finished your two hours of gameplay, but it left a very sour taste in my mouth that early in the review.
Honestly, the game feels more like a demo than finished game. Price is very high for what they offer. I don't think a patch or one update going to do much. Need a lot of work.
I had an iffy feeling about this one from the first time I saw it. The art style alone looks so.. unimaginative and cheap, there's no personality. Glad I can definitively cross it off my wish list.
I was attracted to its Fae Farm aesthetics but well, thank you Josh that I can save and opt for Potionomics (we have a localised version here coming out on 28 Nov).
I think it is really great that you're being so honest about all the flaws of this game. This gives you so much credibility. This game could have been so great, but the developers don't seem to have put too much thought into this. A missed opportunity, as some ideas are kind of interesting but have not been fleshed out.
Aw man. I was really hoping this would be good. I've been looking forward to it. I still have quite a few games in my backlog, so I've got plenty to spend time on, but I really wanted this to be worthwhile because of the cute critters. I did just get Cozy Grove from one of the recent Switch Eshop sales, so I have that toblook forward to. Thank you for the honest review. You saved me some money.
@franplants I'm loving it so far! I got an hour in and bought the dlc. LoL It's so pretty, and the bears are adorable. I love my little spirit crow. It's so relaxing. Someone told me you can get a ghost cat, and I'm so excited about that. 🩷🩷🩷
Kids nowadays play Roblox on iPad super smoothly, type crazy fast, and knows how to play well. Feels like this game is bringing us back to caveman era!
I'm a huge virtual pet fan and there's so much potential to a Cafe sim with vpet functionality :c This looks like another case where they focused more on the art and visuals than the core gameplay loop, which is an easy trap to fall into if you're an artist who wants to make a game (like me xD).
You know what I will be devil's advocate, not everything needs explanation in game or be realistic. It reminds me to some degree old flash games where you're running restaurants etc. A lot of times these games make no sense either compared to real life but that doesn't make them less enjoyable, people still wanted to play them. On top of that... _Game is over 15$ on sale_ Ok never mind
It doesn't need to be realistic, but even old restaurant flash games had some sort of progression or rewarding gameplay loop... Diner Dash for example (not exactly flash), it's quite old and still so much better than this!
@@JoshGamingGarden Yeah and they didn't cost 15 bucks to play, that's honestly the biggest insult. Imo as soon as you, as developer, demand money for product you actually need some gemplay. I would be much more forgiving if it was free
In general, the word wholesome in and of itself has become a red flag for me due to general internet culture =w= this could easily be so cute but instead it’s a disappointment
The first thing I thought after seeing the characters is ‘bobble head’ rather than ‘chibi,’ and that’s not a good thing. Chibi characters are cute and adorable, bobble heads are wonky, disproportioned, and ugly. Might just be me, but that’s the vibe I get.
Thanks for being honest with your opinion. Maybe there are people who will enjoy the game but its good to be honest about your opinions whether they are positive or negative, both is valuable.
Dang, first Luma Island, now Critter Cafe... suddenly I don't feel so alone 😂 I played the demos for both games during the last Next Fest, and hated both of them. I've seen so many people hyped about these games that I felt like I had missed something somewhere. Critter Cafe's art style isn't appealing to me, so I wasn't that interested in it, and I played the demo solely because of all the hype around it. And it was... yeah, pretty much everything you stated. I literally LOL'd when you moved all the chairs next to the kitchen to save time 🤣 I honestly thought I'd missed what the critters were supposed to do when they follow you around the cafe, so to hear that they still don't do anything even in the full game... oof. I thought that was one of the selling points - rescuing critters so they help you out??? What's the point of rescuing them then? (I know, the point is "cute critters = profit"). Thank you for once again sacrificing your time/energy/sanity so we don't have to 😂
A lot of people in the comments are defending this game by saying they like these sorts of repetitive gameplay loops and genuinely find them relaxing. If that's you, you deserve better than slop like this. You deserve games that put in the effort to animate the NPCs instead of just having them teleport all over the place. You deserve games that treat you with the dignity and intelligence instead of assuming you need to be reminded which key to press every time you perform the same action. There are plenty of games on the market that are similar to this but treat you with the respect you deserve; buy those games instead.
I played the demo for about an hour (spent a while making the character and decorating the cafe) and I just found it boring. Which was pretty sad since it looked very cute + I usually love cafe/restaurant/cooking sims. But it was so simple, easy and meaningless, like you said in the video. Btw, I appreciate it so much that even for games you got free keys to, you keep your opinion 100% honest!
Oh noooo..! I was hoping this won't be a let down. Oh well.. I was holding back the whole November because there were so many releases and I thought critter cafe has a nice premise. At least that means now I can choose the best game among all the released ones in "cozy November" to spend my money one
@JoshGamingGarden I want something new, something weird. Like dark souls but make it a fishing game. Either the monsters are the fish or the fishing is excruciating, just to have something new
I really genuinely want to like cosy games, I bought a bunch this year, I had this wishlisted. This seems like this wouldn't even be worth a try. Thank you for the review.
Thank you for the honest review!! The game looks super cute, but I also would be bored in no time by these mechanics and the ones in the café are really weird on top of that.
I would love to hear what you have to say about the game Calico, where you run a cat cafe, but really you spend all your time running around because the cafe doesn't seem to matter in the slightest. It's cute but vapid in my opinion
Feels like a game you'd find on Facebook.
one of those bootleg facebook game trying to copy animal crossing..
It’s almost an exact copy of a Pokémon cafe mobile game I played.
@@DustyHoneyNo, the pokemon Cafe game is 10 times better and free.
facebook has games?
@@tatertot6781 It did way back before I deleted it, and I assume it still does, but they're all crap and super low effort. They just beg you to pour money into them for no reward and they all feel empty and soulless.
I feel like a lot of game companies are trying to capitalize on cozy gaming and take advantage of cozy gamers, but aren't putting in the effort to make quality games. So many new releases this year (both early access and full) have been disappointments.
Considering 2023 wasn't all that much better (my library is littered with a few ill-advised Early Access purchases from the 2023 Steam summer sale), these are dark times for cozy gaming. The corpo rats have crawled out of their sewer, and a lot of indie devs think they're Eric Barone when they don't have 0.01 percent of Barone's ability and talent.
FR I hate how these devs just think "cozy/low stress/slow life = low effort or content padding" without knowing nor caring about what makes a cozy game good
yup yup! some would straight up just add farming and call it a day 😂
it's because people turned cozy into a genre rather than "this game makes me happy and is a comfort game". genre-fying cozy is leading to this crapton of terrible games because everyone keeps dumping the same few games with cute art and farming into the cozy category and looking at you like you're crazy if anything outside of that is cozy to you, so in turn cheap devs who just want quick money rather than to put out a quality product are churning out another farming game or sim/management game as quickly as they can to get their money in while they can. and people who also just run to the first game with the cozy label slapped on it rather than be critical because they want the next stardew valley just feed this trend and these "devs" pockets.
it's not gonna stop any time soon because people just can't help buying every game labeled cozy by the devs and advertising them all over social media as the next new cozy thing to play. and it's why everyone should really start being way more critical of games calling themselves cozy and every synonym without even trying to explain why they should be worth your time.
@@SimuLord Hey hey now, 2023 had My Time at Sandrock which is way better than anything we saw in the last 5 years. I even like it more than Stardew Valley
“Here’s how my customer reacted to my latte art”
“…”
Yeah sounds about right for customer service 😂
Really?😭 Do people not say thank you where you live?
Honestly u can tell its made to be super easy by that cake game. You got two perfects despite missing the slice mark
Right? My cake cutting was far from perfect 😂
The npc noises at the end of the video sent me into oblivion LOL 😂
I'd love to see what their recording sessions looked like 😂
hmmm to be honest, this looks more like a free-to-play mobile game with microtransaction in it ... thank you so much for the review, Josh!
oh rip that backfired on the publishers haha I think it's great that you're being super honest though! I doesn't matter how cute or charming a game looks, if it's boring, it's boring
Yeah, I was gonna say. Even my 7-year-old self would be bored by such a shallow gameplay loop.
I never thought about that concept before, but you're right that we should be suspicious of games that have "cozy" or "wholesome" in their title or description. Show, don't tell...
It looks so cute though. I hate that it seems to be boring.
Right
That is a huge problem with cozy games imo they try to make it so relaxing that there’s no challenge so the gameplay loop falls through. Tavern Keeper is a really good mangement sim but it has the exact opposite problem with it having so many gameplay mechanics that it can get almost stressful at times
@@lmao2703 there almost nothing to do
What's worse is that we finally would have had a new chill game that's not farming related.
Same feeling here. Love the aesthetic, and love the room customization in theory, but wasn't expecting that bad of a reception. Will probably save my money.
Maybe its because I'm autistic, but for me the 'mindless' and not challenge-game loop is exactly what I need, because I'm always overstimulated and I need such games. But you are right, there are better Games. And I thank you for your honest review. Maybe I wait a bit before buying. And watch Lets plays and other reviews so I can decide better.
I'm autistic too and I love games where not much effort is needed and I prefer repetitive games. I also want games that look super cute. I feel like this game is perfect for me.
This game with ADHD tho☠️...
I’m not autistic, but have crazy anxiety. I played the demo and thought this game was perfect for those days where I need a distraction. I can see where others would find this quite boring. 😹
I highly recommend Yonder if you like exploration games with low stakes. It has very light farming elements but that's a small part of it
@@FingerboardingchickI often prefer repetitive, mindless games that still feel satisfying too. I’m not sure if you two would be interested in these sorts of games, but there are two mobile games I gravitate to. One is a hexa sort game and the one I’ve been addicted to more recently is a solitaire word game. The ads are annoying but that’s mobile games for ya. The solitaire one isn’t so bad, you only have to watch full ads to get extra bonus stuff like coins and powerups otherwise you can just exit out of the ads early.
As always Josh, I appreciate your honest reviews. I have bought way too many games at release because of hype just to wish I hadn’t wasted my money. Side note, I did end up buying sos friends of the great kingdom after watching you stream this weekend! Currently 70% off on Nintendo eshop!
3:39 I love the sarcarm lol. The way you narrate your experience always makes me laugh
I played the demo of this which evidently went up to the point where the game told you the tutorial is over and now it's "free play," I'm honestly flabbergasted that the game doesn't have any meaningful content for the cafe after that point and you're just going through the motions to unlock more rift puzzles. The game's style is incredibly cute but that's really all it has going for it.
[sighs and removes game from wishlist]
I've already messed up once this month with Luma Island, thanks for saving me this time!
is Luma Island that bad?
@@louderthenvisual the temple kinda fun tho, it's challenging at first but of course it will get boring later.
Luma Island is a little bit better. I started as a pirate and seconded archaeology. It's an ok game, but I won't recommend it to anyone.
@@Requiem2040 I made the mistake to try farmer first and it was a HUGE mistake. treasure hunter was nicer, but by that point my will to live had been sucked out tbh
People are obsessed with Luma island, everyone is playing it but it doesn’t interest me at all. I knew as soon as I saw gameplay I wouldn’t want it.
To be fair, "gives a passive bonus" is probably most accurate as a description for how pets would "help you run a cafe". Like cat cafes being just cats hanging out and it attracts more customers.
4:40 The rift info saying "Others might not find it as easy to navigate as you"
Well, duh, none of them can walk! So of course you'd be miles ahead of them. :D
Cat Café Manager had the cats interacting with cat furniture, customers got cats sitting on their laps and pet them, and different cats gave different bonuses and perks. It was a fun game despite the gameplay being a bit repetitive.
@@Priscabc that sounds cute!
I'm actually really enjoying this game. It's perfect for when you just want to play mindlessly. There is no time pressure, no money and you can't loose anything. Plus the characters and everything is very cute. I does make me low key sad to see it getting so many bad reviews but I can totally see how it isn't for everybody.
It's not a case of it not being for everyone. It's because it's rubbish shovelware. Your low standards doesn't mean people are wrong.
Thanks for your honesty. Removing from my wishlist .
this game doesn't look bad at all, but it feels more like a mindless mobile game... even kairosoft games have more fleshed out and complicated mechanics than this. i can't see this capturing my attention at any other time except when i'm deathly bored waiting for a doctor's appointment
I feel like Cat Cafe Manager does better at the "cafe sim with cute pets"...it doesn't have the puzzle, cooking minigames, or exploration aspects but it's still low-stress enough for a cafe management game but has some decent challenges (mainly how you manage your resources) without insulting your intelligence 😅
Also extreme respect for you Josh for posting a "not-recommended" verdict review 24 hours *before* the game is out, usually content creators are embargo'ed to post after a day or two of release to avoid unwishlists/cancelled preorders 😂
I was hoping for better from this, I wanted the critters to help around the cafe and have traits and thought maybe the demo from Next Fest just didn't have that orz
i really love the honesty in your reviews. you don't just critique without a point for the sake of views- you actually want these games to be good and you give really thoughtful suggestions about what you feel is missing, how it could be better. i'm glad the publishers sending you a key wasn't enough to buy your approval, and i hope that there are plans in place to make critter cafe more engaging down the line.
Honestly, I enjoy this game. For me, it's a game that I can play while on the train, watching tv, etc. that doesn't require a lot of brainpower. I think the creature collecting is cute, and the mindless loop of making coffee, cutting cake, and taking orders relaxing. There's not a lot to it, and that's fine. Would I pay full price? No. Is it worth it on sale? Yes, as a time waster.
My urge to get new games has been going down this year. Partially because I want to finish games I already have but this is another reason, most games that reach my eyeball, cozy or not, just aren't really apealing to me. Even when they do it's often not enough to even stay on my radar for long. I have a roughly 25 game wishlist right now.
5 games are in early access and I'm gonna wait until full release and either the moment I want to play them or when there's a solid discount to buy them.
A couple have been released but I want to complete some games in the same genre before I get more.
1 is slated for release this year
and the rest has either an indicated timeframe for release or just a "coming soon".
There's also a couple of sequels (like 5) that I put on my follow list until I finish the first/previous game just to be sure I actually want it.
All in all, Josh, this review makes it clear that what uncertainty I felt about this game when I watched Payton stream the demo definitely turned out to be the case. Thanks for your review of this. I wasn't considering putting this on my radar, but now I'll not even consider this for my brother's kids. They are a bit young to game right now. But I can't see this being fun for them later on either. They're too smart for this. I'd rather handmake them a wooden jigsaw puzzle because that sounds like fun for all of us.
"Nothing makes sense here and nothing is really fun" LOL.
I'm glad I don't have to feel like I'm missing anything when I play Medieval Dynasty's new Autumn Update over Thanksgiving weekend. That one's coming out on Wednesday, just in time for a lazy four days!
Thanks as always for the valuable public service you provide, Josh. You save people money (even if you're also dangerous to people's wallets by playing hidden gems!)
The critters is what interested me since I like animals but this game seems very shallow and empty. Very curious to how it'll run on the Switch, I'll avoid it for now haha. It's kinda giving me Chill Town vibes
The characters are so similar to the Chill Town ones 😭
You may enjoy calico if you haven't played it yet.
I've got to thank you, I've been looking into getting a new sim/management game and this was one of the ones I was looking into. I hadn't seen any reviews on it and was about to go looking for them when I saw this pop up in my feed. I've been watching you for a while and even picked up some games based on your recommendations so I know you're pretty honest with your reviews. After seeing this I'm disappointed to say that I won't be getting this game. It's a shame that devs seem to think "cozy" equals "make it exceedingly easy and low effort and call it a day." Thanks for helping me dodge a bullet.
This game looks cute, maybe with more updates it will become more interesting? I only recently came to this channel but I really like these videos, I can learn so much about game design, like the Always Run option, yesterday I added this to my project because of one of these videos.
I'm also developing a simple cozy game alone that mixes Mother and Harvest Moon style, and I'll spend another 2 years developing it until it becomes super interesting for me. Well, somewhat 2026 I'll be close to the release, I'll give you a key if you want to give your impressions about it too
Inventory management is always a huge issues in cozy games. Very few get it right. No one wants to spend hours organizing. Out pull and sort features r a must
"I find it a red flag when a game has cozy in the description, or worse, the title" *glances over at I Am Future*
It feels like they forgot to put any actual gameplay in their game? It's like they made all the assets and then called it a day.
It always feels like a super bold move for the devs of these lazy mobile-tier soulless cash-grabs to provide codes to reviewers who actually say what they think of the game lol
There are two reasons this game is precisely for me and I'm going to love it: For the gameplay side, it DOES take away all the stressful 'thinking' involved in other restaurant/cafe/etc sims, which makes it very relaxing. I love the simple puzzle rooms, and the decorating being free and not something where I have to have an ugly starter area and work my way up to having something pretty. As well, I'm a creature collector fanatic so just the objective of collecting them all and adoring them/taking care of them is enough of a goal for me. I do wish the NPCs moved around, but I don't mind that aspect so much.
The second aspect is a bit niche, but I happen to LOVE chibi art and anime art, and am learning to draw at the moment. I believe the character creation screen alone, alongside screenshots, will help me as references to learn about proportions, clothing styles, etc. So in addition to being adorable and befitting for my playstyle needs, it'll act as an actual educational tool for my purposes.
Yeah I'm with ya there, I have so many games that have all of the thinkings, plannings, and a lot to do that u have to plan what day to do this, what day to do that, etc, so I'm definitely on the hunt for a relaxing and mindless games, I got Luma Island, and I'm interested in getting this game too, I love puzzle, and collecting creatures too, like u. I don't like super hectic cafe management games so I like more of a chill.
I agree, I'm excited for just a chill game, love the critters and decorating. No stress
Just some simple fun
Very nice!!
You're the perfect consumer for this slop.
A lot of these games should just be released as affordable mobile games instead.
Your vids have saved me so much time and money, I appreciate it. For decorating and Animal Crossing, the paid DLC (which you get access to with certain Nintendo Online subscriptions) Happy Home Paradise is exactly that. You design vacation homes for guests on this new island along with setting up facilities like a clothing shop and cafe. I have SO MUCH fun with that as it's all decorating with an unlimited budget but working within what the client is asking for.
I'll be honest that while having a style where you don't have to think or grapple with overly-complicated gameplay can be very rewarding and appeal to a lot of people, this feels like a few steps away from being shovelware.
Yeah I tried the demo myself and I hadn't even gotten to the rifts before stopping out of disappointment. What potential there could've been honestly just isn't there
Amazing thorough review ❤ thank you for your honesty and transparency it’s much needed with so many games out there with tons of hype that you end up buying then end up disappointed
Anyone else thought this was gonna be a Josh Strife Hayes video?
I love the editing and dry humor in these videos XD thanks for the helpful and honest critiques!
"You're the only person who can walk. Everyone else just teleports all the time." I think we're the only person who *chose* to walk. 😭
The cafe game play looks worse than those cafe managing mobile games
I am finding it quite enjoyable. I have around 6 hours in and am having a lot of fun. Its super cozy and relaxing.
Thank you for reviewing these games coming out so we can hear the truth of what they're really like! The trailer for this caught my attetion cause I thought the critters were cute, but this is not something I'd be into at all. (I am seeing some folks in the comments who say this is exactly their cup of tea, and that makes me even happier, because this video is helping people see whether or not they would enjoy it.)
Sir I wanted the candy&sandwich
Yes yes I wanted the cookies.
Josh: sorry all I saw are note pads no other icons.
It looks like they have two unfinished projects and they just combined them randomly and claimed it's a completed game :0
whilst I do like the grind and repetition of shop management games like travellers rest, I didn't feel the need to want to grind in this game. I tried the demo and it didn't feel as rewarding as a game like traveller rest to me. Tis a no buy for me, thank you for the review & honest thoughts!
Thank you so much for your review Josh ! It's always so interesting to listen to you. I played the demo and I sensed that there was something wrong because I didn't have fun. But just like you said, I told myself that it would be better to wait and have a better view in playing the game for more. So I was hesitant to buy it. Now I know I won't xD. Thank you for the sacrifie ^^ ! Have a great day =)
I'm loosing hope on new games being good, there's to many cash grabs...
What's up with recent games lately with creatures that don't serve any purpose?! For a game called Critter Café, there's nothing much to do with the critters, and the cafe part is so bare bones! Also, they probably don't talk to you because you don't speak their language 9:24 👶👶👶!
Looks like you’re saving me money again lol. Great video!
"This fantastical tale of travel captured your childhood imagination." Thanks for telling me. If the customers teleport, why am I running to get their coffee?
This looks like a great first game for a small child. It reminds me of those browser games we would play in grade school during computer class or library time. Not so good for anyone else. I think the concept is so cute, but execution is... well, it's browser game level. :)
I always love your humor. It makes the review video better and makes me giggle.
its more of a young kids game, very cute. but its sad that costumers doe not walk around or pet the critters who are walking around.
I hate how the critters' eyes are just black dots too big for their bodies.
My life is way too busy and stimulating so a cozy game that FEELs cozy is exactly what I need. I’m enjoying it personally
meanwhile I'm like ... this looks great and easy on my brain to relax and play while high lol
It does look cute but a bit uncanny cute. And yeah, this game might be for small children. And what is with the Naruto run??
Honestly, even small children deserve better games 😓
Maybe toddlers learning to read are the target audience?
The mini games feel like they’re ripped right out of Cooking Mama, but at least there they have a purpose.
I’m honestly so tired of devs thinking they can just slap words like cozy or wholesome in their title or description and that people will just buy them. Not only is it scummy but it also gives actual cozy games a bad reputation.
Man, I was so looking forward to this! Between this and Luma Island I was so hype, but after playin Luma for a little and watching these, it's not as great as I thought. Praying that Infinity Nikki comes and saves us next week lol!!
I feel the same. I am concerned that infinity nikki won't be great cuz of all the micro transactions. I'd much rather just pay for the game in full out the door
@@rilstrup83 From what i've seen the micro transactions seem purely optional, hoping it stays that way
While I think the criticism is valid I found this entire review holier than thou and unpleasant. You have a go at the game more than once for trivial nonsense instead of actual issues, and I did not appreciate the comment of "bad games like this" making it into the script right at the start of the review when you'd barely seen any of the game. I appreciate that the script was probably made after you'd finished your two hours of gameplay, but it left a very sour taste in my mouth that early in the review.
Honestly, the game feels more like a demo than finished game. Price is very high for what they offer. I don't think a patch or one update going to do much. Need a lot of work.
I had an iffy feeling about this one from the first time I saw it. The art style alone looks so.. unimaginative and cheap, there's no personality. Glad I can definitively cross it off my wish list.
Aw man. I liked the demo but was worried about this. Thanks for the review! Youve definitely saved me money over the last couple months
I was attracted to its Fae Farm aesthetics but well, thank you Josh that I can save and opt for Potionomics (we have a localised version here coming out on 28 Nov).
I have been playing it and I’m enjoying it so much! It’s my type of game! I’m sorry it wasn’t for you :( but at least you gave it a try!
I was excited for this, but the demo did not impress me and sadly this solidified my feelings 😔 that's sad that it's so shallow.
I think it is really great that you're being so honest about all the flaws of this game. This gives you so much credibility. This game could have been so great, but the developers don't seem to have put too much thought into this. A missed opportunity, as some ideas are kind of interesting but have not been fleshed out.
Ty for this! I appreciate you!
Nooo! I was hoping this one would be good as it looked so cute.
I love the sarcasm 😅 Thanks for saving me money.
The characters look like Rugrats
Aw man. I was really hoping this would be good. I've been looking forward to it. I still have quite a few games in my backlog, so I've got plenty to spend time on, but I really wanted this to be worthwhile because of the cute critters. I did just get Cozy Grove from one of the recent Switch Eshop sales, so I have that toblook forward to.
Thank you for the honest review. You saved me some money.
I love cozy grove! Hope you enjoy it😊
@franplants I'm loving it so far! I got an hour in and bought the dlc. LoL It's so pretty, and the bears are adorable. I love my little spirit crow. It's so relaxing. Someone told me you can get a ghost cat, and I'm so excited about that. 🩷🩷🩷
Thanks for your sacrifice Josh!
Something about this game spoke to me and said: "Nope!"
you're like sooo good at that matching game
I did my best, thank you
Kids nowadays play Roblox on iPad super smoothly, type crazy fast, and knows how to play well. Feels like this game is bringing us back to caveman era!
I really appreciate you giving honest feedback despite the game having been given to you for free.
I had my doubts. Thank you for confirming them :)
I'm a huge virtual pet fan and there's so much potential to a Cafe sim with vpet functionality :c This looks like another case where they focused more on the art and visuals than the core gameplay loop, which is an easy trap to fall into if you're an artist who wants to make a game (like me xD).
You know what I will be devil's advocate, not everything needs explanation in game or be realistic. It reminds me to some degree old flash games where you're running restaurants etc. A lot of times these games make no sense either compared to real life but that doesn't make them less enjoyable, people still wanted to play them. On top of that...
_Game is over 15$ on sale_
Ok never mind
It doesn't need to be realistic, but even old restaurant flash games had some sort of progression or rewarding gameplay loop... Diner Dash for example (not exactly flash), it's quite old and still so much better than this!
@@JoshGamingGarden Yeah and they didn't cost 15 bucks to play, that's honestly the biggest insult. Imo as soon as you, as developer, demand money for product you actually need some gemplay. I would be much more forgiving if it was free
In general, the word wholesome in and of itself has become a red flag for me due to general internet culture =w= this could easily be so cute but instead it’s a disappointment
The first thing I thought after seeing the characters is ‘bobble head’ rather than ‘chibi,’ and that’s not a good thing.
Chibi characters are cute and adorable, bobble heads are wonky, disproportioned, and ugly.
Might just be me, but that’s the vibe I get.
Thanks for being honest with your opinion. Maybe there are people who will enjoy the game but its good to be honest about your opinions whether they are positive or negative, both is valuable.
They don't even bother making animations for the customers? Damn. Thank you for your sacrifice.
Dang, first Luma Island, now Critter Cafe... suddenly I don't feel so alone 😂 I played the demos for both games during the last Next Fest, and hated both of them. I've seen so many people hyped about these games that I felt like I had missed something somewhere. Critter Cafe's art style isn't appealing to me, so I wasn't that interested in it, and I played the demo solely because of all the hype around it. And it was... yeah, pretty much everything you stated. I literally LOL'd when you moved all the chairs next to the kitchen to save time 🤣 I honestly thought I'd missed what the critters were supposed to do when they follow you around the cafe, so to hear that they still don't do anything even in the full game... oof. I thought that was one of the selling points - rescuing critters so they help you out??? What's the point of rescuing them then? (I know, the point is "cute critters = profit"). Thank you for once again sacrificing your time/energy/sanity so we don't have to 😂
A lot of people in the comments are defending this game by saying they like these sorts of repetitive gameplay loops and genuinely find them relaxing. If that's you, you deserve better than slop like this. You deserve games that put in the effort to animate the NPCs instead of just having them teleport all over the place. You deserve games that treat you with the dignity and intelligence instead of assuming you need to be reminded which key to press every time you perform the same action. There are plenty of games on the market that are similar to this but treat you with the respect you deserve; buy those games instead.
I played the demo for about an hour (spent a while making the character and decorating the cafe) and I just found it boring. Which was pretty sad since it looked very cute + I usually love cafe/restaurant/cooking sims. But it was so simple, easy and meaningless, like you said in the video.
Btw, I appreciate it so much that even for games you got free keys to, you keep your opinion 100% honest!
Oh noooo..! I was hoping this won't be a let down. Oh well.. I was holding back the whole November because there were so many releases and I thought critter cafe has a nice premise. At least that means now I can choose the best game among all the released ones in "cozy November" to spend my money one
Omg I played it a few days ago and I wish I had waited for you to play it so that I didn't have to
Honestly at this point "cozy game" means nothing to me.
Like, it's the same vibe as just putting an "organic" sticker on random products to sell more
exactly, it's nothing but a sales tactic 😭
@JoshGamingGarden I want something new, something weird. Like dark souls but make it a fishing game. Either the monsters are the fish or the fishing is excruciating, just to have something new
Doesn't even have to be good I just need something that isn't "stardew/harvest/seasons copy but worse or without another type of identity"
same publisher as wobbledogs btw
I really genuinely want to like cosy games, I bought a bunch this year, I had this wishlisted. This seems like this wouldn't even be worth a try. Thank you for the review.
This is a full release?? What’s the point of this game?
I was looking forward to this game, that's a bummer, still good to know though, thank you.
A cozy game should have more than twelve hours of gameplay
This reminds me soooo much of the little games my six year old likes on his Amazon kids tablet
Thank you for the honest review!! The game looks super cute, but I also would be bored in no time by these mechanics and the ones in the café are really weird on top of that.
I would love to hear what you have to say about the game Calico, where you run a cat cafe, but really you spend all your time running around because the cafe doesn't seem to matter in the slightest. It's cute but vapid in my opinion
The game looks cute, but without any challenge it will be boring for any player, regardless of age.
What a shame!