Kitty Power's Matchmaker Deluxe Review (Switch)

Game: Kitty Power’s Matchmaker Deluxe
Genre: Simulation System: Nintendo Switch (also on iOS, Android, Windows, Playstation and Xbox) Developers|Publishers: Magic Notion | Magic Notion
Price: US$ 14.99|AU$ $21.49| CA$ 19.94||€ 13,29|£ 11.99
Age Rating: US T| EU 12+
Release Date: 7 February 2020

Review code used, with many thanks to Magic Notion

When you’re starting a new business, it’s a good idea to have an excellent mentor. And when it comes to running your own matchmaking agency, the best mentor you could ever ask for is Kitty Powers.

Kitty Power’s Matchmaker Deluxe is a hilarious, campy, very (very!) British dating simulator game, where you run your own matchmaking agency under the watchful eye of drag queen extraordinaire, Kitty Powers.

You might have already had a run in with Kitty – the game was originally released in 2014 on mobile and PC, but the Deluxe version is a brand new Switch exclusive that’s well worth playing.

First Day On The Job

As the game starts you are Kitty Power’s first hire to help her run the new branch of her dating agency. As a matchmaker, it’s your job to find your clients the perfect partner.

I have a confession to make – I’ve never played a dating simulator before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. But Kitty helps you set up a profile and guides you through your first date experience, showing you how to pick a date for your client, how to run the conversation and how to make your couple fall in love.

After that first date, you’re on your own. Kitty takes off the training wheels, and it’s up to you to improve your reputation and get more clients to their happily ever after.

They’re Definitely A Glam Type

The first element of the game is to set your client up with the right person. You determine this based on a few criteria: gender, horoscope, physical qualities (hair and eye colour) and hobbies. Over the course of the game, as you become promoted, you gain access to more information about your clients such as activity levels, ‘spiciness’ and traditional values.

Once you’ve learned a little bit about your client, it’s time to open up Kitty’s little black book, filled with singles waiting to be matched.

When you’re first starting out this process seems totally random, and the game gives you very little guidance. Sometimes dates that I were sure would be fine turned out to be total disasters, and other times I was taken by surprise. After a few hours gameplay, you begin to get the hang of it and you also get access to more information to help you out.

One of the most important things is the way people are categorised in this town. Glam types, hipsters, sporty and edgy clients will all come through your door.

And in Kitty’s world opposites do not attract. Try and pair your clients with the same type of partner otherwise you’re in for an explosive date.

I’ll Have The Beer Can Chicken

Speaking of dates, dating is the bread and butter of this game.

You are guiding your client, via an earpiece, to be their most charming self. Get it right and watch the pink hearts fly. Get it wrong and you’re on your way to being dumped.

Like any good date, it starts with picking the right restaurant. Each of the games restaurant is based on a country (I got a really good laugh out of the Australian themed restaurant cheekily called Mother’s Tucker) and they vary in difficulty.

You pick your restaurant through a minigame – each country’s flag goes in an envelope and gets shuffled around. After the first date however, make sure you’re keeping an eye on the envelopes. There’s nothing a date hates more than going to the same restaurant twice!

The date unfolds through two main mechanisms – conversation and mini games.

The conversational element is a little mini-game all by itself. Firstly you need to order for your date and they’ll give you a vague instruction like ‘something cold with white meat’. Brush up on your international cuisines kids – sometimes you’ll be at an Ethiopian restaurant and you will have no idea what to order! In those cases you can always ask the water what is in each dish – but it will cost you!

The restaurants are hilariously themed – from the tongue in cheek names, to the decor, to the nationally appropriate music playing in the background. As you progress through the game you’ll unlock more restaurants that become increasingly difficult to impress your date at.

Pick A Card, Any Card

The other element of each date is a series of randomised mini-games that ensures you’re always on your toes.

Mini-games include having to memorise a series of adjectives that describe the meal you just had, picking out what your date has changed about their appearance or picking a card to help your client keep a fart in (seriously).

You also have to remember things about your date’s profile – their interests, their personality types and their horoscopes are all things you might be quizzed on over the course of the conversation and you do not want to get those things wrong.

These mini-games were hard! I don’t consider myself an inexperienced gamer, but there were quite a few minigames I failed at over and over again. Memorising a string of desserts? Recalling what the weather was like in the flash I saw before the date started? Trying to guess totally randomly what outfit my date is going to like?

Needless to say I got dumped, a lot.

Let’s Take It To The Next Level

As your date comes to an end, you and your boo linger at the taxi rank. Depending on how you performed during the minigames, you’ll receive the option to dump them, ask them to see you again or confess your love.

Just like in life, sometimes it doesn’t go to plan and your client gets dumped. Nevermind, dust them off and turn back to Kitty’s black book.

But if you’re lucky, you might have just found the client the one and you watch them live happily ever after (while making some sweet money off them!).

When you’re first starting out with this game the actions that will make a date successful or not seem totally and random and kind of frustrating. But there’s something so addictive about the gameplay that keeps you coming back for more and eventually over time you begin to understand what the game wants from you.

It’s The Extras That Count

There are a lot of little touches in this game that I found exceptionally charming. Firstly, the writing is hilarious – Kitty’s snide remarks as you fail a date, the way your clients interact with one another, the cheeky restaurant names all had me laughing out loud at multiple points throughout the game.

Another element I really liked what the letterbox component – after you successfully match a couple, they’ll keep you updated on their relationship. If you guided your client to tell a few cheeky lies throughout the date, you might notice things didn’t end so happily after all!

Finally, something I thought was really cool was the ability to take the game online. If you connect your game online your avatar will show up as a client in your friend’s games and you’ll see them come through your agency as clients!