Game: Critter Café
Genre: Simulation, Puzzle, Platformer
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows))
Developer | Publisher: Sumo Newcastle | Secret Mode
Age Rating: US Everyone | EU 3+
Price: US $19.99 | UK £15.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: November 26th, 2024
A review code was used, with many thanks to Secret Mode.
Critter Café was officially announced during Wholesome Direct back in June 2024. Originating from an idea at their own game jam event, Sumo Newcastle has created a cute, whimsical game about managing a café, but interspersed with rescuing critters from mysterious portals. What’s not to like?!
Who’s the Critter Café Manager?
After a short narrative about a witch who discovers her passion for helping critters and is now somewhat of a child’s fairy tale, you get to customise your character in Critter Café.
And gosh, there are a lot of options! Eyes, eyebrows and lashes, skin tone, hairstyles, clothes and accessories, each with a choice of colours. You can also alter your look during the game by using the hat stand in the corner of Critter Café.
You then find yourself transported to Gold Leaf Isle at the request of your friend Jessica, who suggests you run the local café. Critter Café guides you through the controls with on-screen instructions (which are stored in your journal should you need to refer to them again).
The first task is to customise the café. I spent quite a while trying to work out how to open the packages left on the floor until I decided that I just had to delete all the current items and start fresh. There is a limited starting selection of tables, chairs and accessories, but as you level up the café and explore the three surrounding areas, you will find more decorations.
Serving Customers in Critter Café
Customers magically appear in Critter Café, and will raise their hand when ready to order. If you don’t get there in time, then the request circle will go red, and eventually, the customer will leave. However, you are given plenty of time to get to your customers, and there is no penalty if they do leave.
Initially, customers will only order filter coffee. Jessica will then acquire a latte machine for you, so your café menu will increase. In total, there are four mini-games to fulfil customer orders: filter coffee, where you have to stop pouring on the line; latte art, where you press the appropriate button at the right time; cake, where you cut the cake at the slice markings; and food order, a memory game.
As the reputation level of Critter Café increases, the complexity of the mini-game increases, but only slightly, for example the food order will increase from two items, to three and then to four. However, you will not always get four items to memorise once you’ve unlocked that level; it will vary. Points to increase the reputation level are awarded based on how accurately the order is completed.
Instead of running around the café serving customers, you can choose to host a themed booking. Each booking will have three requirements: a colour, theme, and critter characteristic. This is totally independent of how you have set up your café and is purely based on what furniture and themes you have unlocked and which critters you have rescued.
Once you’ve made your selection, the booking will take place as a cut scene. As with the general service, you will be awarded points based on whether you met the booking criteria or not. It wasn’t always easy to pick the correct critter, as my definition of criteria varied somewhat, but it was a quick and easy way to gain some points.
Where Are the Critters in Critter Café?
Soon into your adventure, you will receive a strange letter from ‘A Friend’. The letter will explain that a rift has appeared in a specified location, and you must go there. When you get to the location and find the rift, a cut scene will take over, opening the portal to the Otherlands.
You will need to solve several puzzles to clear the way to get to the critter. The puzzles are generally sokoban-style or timing-based platforms, but they aren’t overly complicated. As you progress, you will gain tools and abilities to help you solve the puzzles. When you reach the critter, a cut scene takes over and shows you, encouraging the critter to jump back through the portal.
When you first rescue a critter, it will be frightened, so you need to care for it before it will help in Critter Café. The critters all live in the Habitat, a large area which can be decorated with items you unlock as you progress through the game. There are several ways to care for your critters: you can give your critter a brush, a wash, or play catch with it.
As the critter levels up, by helping in Critter Café, you will unlock different skins for it and a trait. Generally, critters only have one stamina point, so they can only help once a day. However, there are treats available, which will restore stamina or give bonus points whilst managing the café.
Gameplay
Critter Café plays well in both docked and handheld modes, although there is no touchscreen functionality. Along with the standard language and sound settings, there is an extensive selection of graphic settings for colour blindness.
There are three game save slots and Critter Café autosaves at the end of the morning and afternoon shifts, as well as after any customisation. A shift consists of either serving customers via a general service or a booking or rescuing a critter. Customisation and visiting your critters can be done at any time.
It takes around 10-15 hours to rescue all 35 critters, depending on how much customisation is done in the café and habitat, which type of café session is selected and how long it takes to solve the portal puzzles.
Conclusion
Critter Café is a heartwarming, wholesome game. Its straightforward approach to café management and puzzling makes neither activity overly complicated. The artwork is beautiful, and with no time pressures or penalties for missing service, it’s a delightful game to play.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot 
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