Game: Catizens
Genre: Indie, Simulation, Strategy, Early Access
System: Steam (Windows & macOS)
Developer|Publisher: Bad Optics | HeroCraft PC
Controller Support: No, Mouse & Keyboard
Price: UK £13.99 | US $17.77 | EU € 17,77
Release Date: August 17th, 2022
Review code provided with many thanks to HeroCraft PC.
First off, I owe the readers of this blog an apology. If you’ve been wondering what we thought of Catizens and how come we hadn’t reviewed it yet, that’s my fault. School hit me like a ton of bricks this semester, so I didn’t get to sit down and review this game in the timely manner to which you are accustomed. With apologies out of the way, let’s dig in!
Story
Catizens is the tale of a cat kingdom that is being threatened by the eruption of a volcano. The queen of this kingdom sends out a couple of her subjects to try and stop the volcano from erupting. This quest sets up the campaign aspect of the game. As you progress through the volcanic island, more cats join you in your journey to avoid a CATastrophe.
Gameplay
This is a colony manager-style game that was partially inspired by The Sims. At each stage of the campaign mode, you must build up a colony of cats and meet certain objectives. As you progress, you’ll be offered the chance to invite more cats with a variety of personality quirks and skills to join your colony. The cats will harvest wood, build homes, kill enemies that attack from the surrounding lands, and grow/catch food., among other tasks.
I should probably warn you all: This game does allow the death of the cats from enemies. For some people, this would be a hard pass. Just be informed.
More on Gameplay
In campaign mode you’ll build a series of colonies, moving progressively closer to the volcano. Each level has several objectives to meet before moving to the next level. These objectives can be such things as lands to find, a number of resident requests to fill, or structures to build.
As you build your colony, other cats will ask to join. Do your best to match the cats to the tasks you need to be done. For instance, only some cats can fish. Some cats have green thumbs and will be good at gardening, and others are very smart and will be unhappy if they aren’t apprenticed to learn a trade such as being an architect.
There is also a sandbox mode for more relaxed play.
Graphics, Customization, and Music
I think the cats are adorable! The lands are bright and colorful, while still being within the realm of realistic colors. It’s a nice balance.
The music is repetitive but pretty. It’s exactly the sort of background music I would like to listen to while studying. I’m really enjoying it. The initial two cats have a lot of customization features, but beyond those two you get standard cats that join your colony.
I normally write about glitches or control issues I had, but since I hardly ever play Steam games, I don’t consider myself knowledgeable enough to know what is a game glitch and what is just me fighting with my trackpad. So, no comments on that today.
Conclusion
A friend of mine described this game as an RTS game where you’re managing a bunch of Tamagotchis. Honestly, this is a very good description. The cats will take up a lot of your attention in treating their fleas, making sure they stay happy, and just general cat maintenance. However, it’s also a lot of fun to build up the colony and watch them go about their days. If you’re looking for a relaxing game to play between batches of homework, check this one out!
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot
