Cats & Soup

I've recently tried to stay away from incremental/idle games. I've consistently had the problem of getting sucked in, even though I wasn't actually having any fun. I feel accomplished when I can see the numbers climb, but when the gameplay boils down to tapping an upgrade button and waiting, there's not much of a reason to keep playing. Every time I played one, I would eventually figure that out and move on, but only after having already wasted hours of my time. Purely for the sake of the adorable aesthetic, I gave into Cats & Soup, but I'm still deciding if it was worth it.

While it does some things that other incremental games are too lazy to commit to, like hosting passable minigames or offering a degree of customization, Cats & Soup ultimately ends up being the same as any other game in the genre. The cats are adorable, and they're what drew me to the game; it's obvious that a lot of care went into designing the little critters and their animations, and I really enjoyed watching them preparing their little ingredients. Unfortunately, the rest of the game followed the same old loop of "get a lot of money, spend it on upgrades." Even worse, so many of the money-making opportunities are locked behind ads to the point that you likely won't make any major progress without watching a bunch of them every time you play. I would estimate that at least a third of my playtime with this game was spent waiting for ads to end just so I could double my offline earnings or get a new costume for my cats. The balance of ad time to rewards definitely felt generous, so I won't knock the game there, but it does indicate to me that the reliance on ads as a mechanic was just a bit too high.

Although Cats & Soup was undeniably adorable, it's hard to consider it a good game. I enjoyed collecting each new cat and dressing it up, and the upgrades always felt pretty satisfying, but I don't think I can say that I was ever really having fun while playing. In the realm of incremental games, this is definitely one of the better ones I've played. It's far from perfect, but if you must play a game like this, you could make a worse choice than Cats & Soup. However, maybe it's a good day to consider with me how nice it would be to step away from incremental games altogether and ignore this one.

The game is available for Android here (as of 12/25/21): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hidea.cat&hl=en_US&gl=US
The game is available for iOS here (as of 12/25/21): https://apps.apple.com/ph/app/cats-soup/id1581431235?ign-mpt=uo%3D2

Popular posts from this blog

Meow Tower: Nonogram Pictogram

Image
I seem to have a thing for mobile games about cats, and I am a huge fan of Nintendo 's Picross series. Normally those two interests don't overlap, but Meow Tower changed that. Combining the fun of befriending cute cartoon cats and solving intricate number puzzles hooked me immediately. While it's technically not a Picross game, seeing as that is a Nintendo trademark, the nonogram puzzles are still the same, and I loved being able to play them on my phone. Granted, there have been plenty of options to play these kinds of puzzles on the phone for years, but Meow Tower  sets itself apart from the rabble thanks to its stellar aesthetic. The developers behind this game are true artists. While it's a solid, straightforward nonogram game at its core, Meow Tower just looks so much better to play than any of the numerous generic options that crowd the app stores. The bubbly sticker-book style used for the art and menus gives Meow Tower a lot of charm and personality from t
Read more

Space Lich Omega

Image
Inspired by the ever popular Candy Box and Candy Box 2 , Space Lich Omega is an browser-based RPG adventure with an almost entirely ASCII display. However, it chose to step away from the established fantasy style of it's inspiration for a more science-fantasy theme. I ended up having a fun time with this game, despite its need for a little polish, thanks to the unique story and hilarious pop-culture Easter eggs that can be discovered throughout the different explorable locations. Despite the crude-ish interface, I never had any trouble navigating throughout the game. I actually ended up beating it in a relatively short time, especially when I had my gunk production going all out, allowing me to jump my health up enormously. Although I did need to do a little grinding every now and then for an item that I missed, that didn't interfere with my enjoyment too much. Ultimately, this is no Candy Box , but it still has its merits and is worth playing if you ever find yourself in
Read more

The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes

Image
Reusing game engines has proven to be pretty popular in the Zelda series. It offers developers a chance to craft more experimental and risky games, as the initial investment on the engine was covered by the previous, more traditional release. As a huge fan of A Link Between Worlds , I was ecstatic to learn it was getting a pseudo-follow-up. My excitement only grew when Nintendo sent me an early-access demo, and I somehow had no concerns that this was another multiplayer-focused game, despite my preference for solo play. Since the previous multiplayer Zelda games had pretty functional single-player modes, I anticipated that I could expect the same here. Unfortunately, that wasn't an entirely accurate assumption. Like its predecessors , Tri Force Heroes is level-based in order to accommodate its multiplayer focus. All of the stages are designed like dungeons, so they hold up really well for puzzle-solving challenges, but they lack a lot of the same charm you can find in Four Swor
Read more