Not to be confused with Quilts & Cats of Calico, Calico is a cute, cozy, and magical café game. It’s available almost everywhere right now, with one noticeable gap: PlayStation. This will be remedied later this year, as the game plus updates (known as Calico: Pawsome Edition) will be coming to PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 “soon.” Rebuild a town’s cat café and fill it up with cuddly creatures, cute furniture, fun decorations, and yummy pastries.
Calico is best described as a day-in-the-life community sim. Think Cat Café Manager, but more 3D and a bit more community-driven. It’s meant to make players feel all warm and fuzzy inside, with its laidback gameplay and low-stress environment. It all begins with a character creator; more clothing gets added the further into the game you get, and by the end you’ll be looking the snazziest you’ve ever looked. There are many animals in the world that can be befriended and added to a party or sent to the café. They can all be interacted with: dance with them, pet them, cuddle them, carry them, lounge with them, and play with them.
The goal of the game is to bring the town back to life. Bringing in cats is part of that, but so is decorating the café. That means both the interior and exterior can be customized to your liking. Collect and arrange furniture and toys for both humans and animals. That means cat trees, scratching posts, and dog beds are must-haves.
Compared to the first release of Calico, the Pawsome Edition includes new animals to befriend, a UI and visual overhaul to make for a more pleasant playing experience (I love the game but this was big for me), and the ability to customize wallpaper and floors while in the café. The cooking is better than ever, with each recipe coming with its own series of minigames to perform in the kitchen. Time and accuracy will awards with a gold, silver, or bronze star, which provides bonuses to sale prices. Once customers have bought all the fresh food, star bonuses disappear until that recipe is played again.
There is even a hint of magic in the game. Magic potions break the rules of what is possible to find the most fun imaginable. For example, the More-to-pet Potion turns a single animal into a giant-sized one! If you’ve ever wanted to ride a giant domestic cat, now is your chance.
Developed by Peachy Keen Games and published by Whitethorn Games, Calico will be released for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 later this year. It is currently available for PC via Steam/Epic/Humble/itch.io/Game Jolt, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series, and Xbox One.
