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Getting lost in a new item-filled, minigame packed, decorating encouraged experience is always exciting. There are visuals to be delighted by, characters to meet, and fresh grass to spread out your newly acquired trinkets on. One such game that just pounced its way onto Steam is Kimono Cats, developed by HumaNature Games and published by RedDeer.Games. In it, you pop prize bubbles with darts that then reward you with coins or a bevy of other fun experiences to take part in, which lead to you and your purrfect partner building a customizable village of fantastically fun decorations that you can show off to other players. I had a great time sitting back and enjoying the cozy, casual nature of the Kimono Cats, and think it’s an overall very well-developed and paced experience.
Playful Popping and Plenty of Personality
The main gameplay element of Kimono Cats is playing minigames, visiting other players, and getting lucky spins to acquire new decorative items to outfit your village however your heart desires. There are hundreds and hundreds of lovingly crafted and cute buildings, businesses, flora, fancy furnishings, and much more that you can unlock and buy with in-game coins to create and arrange in a serene grassy canvas of land. You can visit other players’ villages as well, which also gives you the chance to spin prize wheels that can give you related decorations or coins. There are lots of options and ways to design your village, without many limits in place other than your imagination and unlocked goodies. Exploring other villages and making simple friends was especially worth it because of the ability to send items back and forth, potentially finding that special set piece you were searching for, or discovering a new themed fountain you are surprised by. Scrolling through the long list of themed sets of decorations was impressive, rivaling other similar house-outfitting games like Animal Crossing.
Addictive & Additive Gameplay Progression
Acquiring these many items is made possible as you walk casually along the bustling and shop-filled streets of Kimono Cats by throwing darts at floating bubbles that hover teasingly above you and your partner cat (which you can choose the fur pattern of, by the way!) What you get to do is determined by the bubble you pop, as your kitty cats will speed over to whichever vendor corresponds to the popped bubble. At these adorable and animal-themed shops, you will usually get to either spin a prize wheel to win coins, an item, or a variety of other rewards, or you’ll get to play a quick minigame that, depending on how you perform in the minigame, rewards you with coins and a “heart level” that eventually allows you to move on to the next “level.” I was very impressed with the pace at which each of these new streets were unlocked and proceeded to, so as to not let the minigames or prizes get stale. These cozy, idle, “don’t think too hard” experiences can sometimes tend to get a bit boring if they aren’t immediately addictive and stringing along new shiny things in front of you. Kimono Cats has the advantage of featuring so many expressive and cute critters to discover, along with well designed waves of new things to unlock, minigames to play and perfect (which also add new elements as you advance through the stages.)
The minigames interspersed throughout were quick, and didn’t require a bunch of instructions to understand. They were also all able to be built upon as I proceeded from street to street, adding things like extra obstacles to watch out for, gameplay elements, and little twists that kept them from becoming monotonous and annoying. Sure, there were some bubbles that I eventually tried to avoid because I just couldn’t quite get the minigame’s mechanics perfect enough to score more coins, but that added to the strategic element of aiming your darts. The bubbles would spin around, speed up, become super powered, and also hide little negative effects to avoid. Luckily, none of these effects were anything but temporary, as just as soon as you hit something bad, your next dart could reward you with something colorful and fun to experience. Plus, you never really ran out of darts, because you could just go dig some up in your village with a metal detector. Kimono Cats always found a way to keep things interesting, whether that was flash sales at the gacha machine stand, having your partner really want you to hit a specific bubble, or giving you a rare decoration from a prize wheel.
A Celebratory Festival for your Eyes & Ears
Developer HumaNature Studios made sure to pack this game with an overflowing amount of festive colors and sounds that embody the joy and festival atmosphere they were going for. Every corner of the game is bursting with flavor and a bouncy, fun feel, without ever feeling too chaotic or laid-back. The musical soundtrack is like a Japanese-inspired candyshop, with matching sound effects attached to every little action happening on screen. It definitely has a fairgrounds, carnival-like feeling to it all, which can also change from stage to stage and day to night, to adjust the happy mood and keep it fresh.
In Conclusion
I was continuously impressed by the care taken to how the progression of music, visuals, and gameplay built upon itself as I walked from level to level in Kimono Cats. There was just enough trust placed in me to understand the functional aspects of the game, whilst still guiding me when needed, but allowing for a certain level of self discovery that I appreciated. Using such eye-pleasing art and bright colors made for a relaxed, yet sunny time spent playing little minigames and building my little village of decorations to show to some casual friends around the world. Kimono Cats is a great little game, and perfect for those looking for a Steamdeck experience while traveling, or a cozy game to get lost in now and then.
