Calico

The fluffy pastel-candy aesthetic and charming setting of Calico is soured by simplistic gameplay.

The worst thing I can say about Calico is that it's undeveloped. While the entire experience can be described as relaxing, running the cat café isn't all that interesting and most of the tasks you'll complete for island residents boil down to the same two or three objective types. Anytime you're doing something other than those two activities, it's rather aimless. While its basic premise doesn't have a strong enough foundation to carry the experience, Calico manages to luck out in that its undeveloped nature and general wonkiness add to its charm rather than subtract from it. The "cute factor" does a lot of heavy lifting, and I could almost argue a lot of the design elements here "think outside the box," but I worry I'd be giving too much credit to a game that's just not entirely well-made.

Calico is still a little too buggy for us to recommend. It's fun to ride a huge cat off a cliff in an ice cream sundae outfit, but less fun when you get stuck in said cliff and your face turns inside-out. There's a lot of love in this game, but it doesn't quite outweigh the issues – and given that we've already seen more than one patch issued since launch, we're not convinced the developer can pull this one back from the brink.

If you are someone looking for a brand new game to play, I wouldn’t recommend this game as it does have a lot of negatives compared to positives.

Calico is a relaxing and whimsical game filled with adorable animals, a strong community of NPCs, and a fun cooking mechanic. It has a brilliant soundtrack that brings the world together. Calico is a game catered towards cozy/wholesome players of all ages, due to the simple controls. The game removes the feeling of having to grind out many hours to get everything leveled up, meaning players can just explore and be part of the world. However, it did leave me wanting more. There is something about the game that feels unfinished. I would love to see some extra game modes be added, whether this is working in the cafe, or opening up more decorating abilities. Seeing new animals be included would be great too, let’s get all the furry and scaley friends in the cafe.

Calico is relaxing, delightful and just the perfect escape from reality. While there's no extensive story (the main story is about four hours long), the game is full of quests, cafe designing and pet collecting. Plus, who wouldn't want a game with the ability to put a cat on your head while riding a giant cat with a bunch of cats behind you?

Combining cats and other likeable creatures with a café should be a winning formula, but unfortunately Calico fails to offer an enjoyable time. Cute graphics and inventive concepts alone do not excuse the multitude of issues that give the game a feel of a draft version, rather than a finished product despite post-launch updates. Perhaps one day running a cat café will run like a dream, instead of a cute-themed nightmare.

What sounded like the combination of a management game, Animal Crossing, and The Sims turned out to be barely influenced by all three. If you’re looking for a relaxing Switch game where you can collect clothing, decorate your home, and hang out with animals, there is already the perfect game for you: Animal Crossing New Horizons. If you’ve already played it to the point of needing new joysticks, then there are plenty of other indie alternatives to pick up before giving Calico consideration.

Calico is a peaceful simulation game about collecting cats to live at your cat café, and helping your friends on a magical island. Simple, soothing fun.

Both a tranquil and amusing game that has its moment of natural charm in certain gameplay and narrative elements, but falls short when that charm feels forced. The lack of quality in its visuals and quest lines hinder it from being a great game, but still worth a look for younger audiences.