CALICO is a cheerful, laid back, singleplayer game about running a cat café, baking cat-shaped treats, cuddling animals, and meeting the friendly people of a magical, star-shaped island.
I am loving this game. Similar to Stardew Valley, you make friends with the residents of Heart Village and prepare their favorite foods. You learn recipes, decorate your café and interact with animals, similar to many casual mobile games but without any annoying microtransactions.
Unlocking new items usually involves running an errand, solving a problem for someone, or buying the items with “beans,” an in-game currency earned via your café.
But unlike Stardew Valley, there is no combat of any kind. Gameplay revolves around exploration, friendship, collection, problem solving and creativity.
Players can customize their character’s body type, hair color, clothing and more, and decorate the café with a variety of furniture, cat beds, and other decorations. They can also put tiny hats on the animals or wear the animals on their head like hats.
A magical potion allows you to make any animal large enough to ride or fly around the peaceful watercolor landscape.
“Baking” in the café is accomplished through mini-games that shrink you down to mouse size. Then you run around the kitchen countertop, heft massive eggs and sugar sacks, and heave them into a big magical bowl, where they – POOF – turn into a cookie or cupcake.
There is a main storyline in CALICO, with some side quests to unlock recipes and other items, but when the game “ends” you can go on exploring, baking and playing the game. There’s not a ton of content, but for $12 there are several hours of lovely music and creative fun.
CALICO was developed by Peachy Keen Games, a two-person team in Seattle, Washington, and published by Whitethorn Digital in December 2020. It was just released in December 2020 and is available for Switch, PC, Xbox and Mac.
Calico is also available on Switch: https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/calico-switch/
Xbox One: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/Calico/9N7NH6DCL5LZ
Epic Games Store: https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/calico/home
Calico official website: https://whitethorndigital.com/calico
Calico merch: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CalicoGame
~ J.L. Hilton
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