Calico (Review)

Calico (Peachy Keen, Whitethorn Games) is one of those games I’ve heard about over and over again (I even own a particularly nice sweatshirt that I picked up at PAX West) but never had the chance to play, so when I heard it was coming to new platforms it seemed like a great time to take a look. While the game has been around since 2020, it’s now been released on Playstation 4 and 5, offering a great new couch experience for players who haven’t been able to try it out before.

For the uninitiated, Calico isn’t really the newest concept around - your aunt had to close down her cat cafe, which was a local favourite, and now you’re coming in to take the reins and get things running again. You’ll get a fresh start in a cute two-story building that can be decorated to your heart’s content in a range of styles, surrounded by townsfolk who you can get to know through chatting and running errands. Where Calico takes an exciting turn is it takes all the expected facets of cafe management games, and gets a little extra with them.

For example, instead of buying and offering new items, the player is tasked with making them. How? Quite simple, you see - they’re shrunken to about the size of an egg, and get to parkour around the kitchen using wooden spoons to leap from shelf to shelf and fling milk and flour and vanilla beans around as needed. As far as cooking minigames go, it’s one of the funnest I’ve experienced, and relies on a lot of similar-style mechanics so players won’t feel lost as they get used to the playstyle.

Calico also offers some adventuring. Parts of the island have unfortunately ended up blocked, whether it be by poison flowers or a massive cat napping in the way. As the newcomer, you’ll have plenty of chances to try to help the villagers in restoring access to the full island again - this is the actual main storyline that the game gives you to focus on in between running your cafe and fulfilling small errands.

“Delightful” isn’t a word I use often - but it’s the best word I can think of for the Calico experience. It may not be the most polished game, and the main story will take about 4 hours to complete at most, but there’s just so much to enjoy and be surprised by, whether it’s enlarging your favourite pet to ride them up the mountain paths, jumping on a pogo stick to cut donuts out of dough, or finding a little cat snowball.

It starts off strong with a character creator that allows you to control nearly every aspect of your character’s look, including fun features like starry eyes and clothing patterns. As a plus-size woman, making characters who genuinely look like me is a rarity, and I loved being able to adjust so much about not just my image but my shape too.

For animal lovers, Calico is a dream come true - every animal is friendly and happy to meet you. Every animal can be pet or kept in your cafe. And, most importantly, nearly every animal can be ridden off into the wilderness, accompanied by a relaxing soundtrack and beautiful artwork.

It also has the distinction of being the least stressful game I’ve ever played, allowing you to run around at all hours of the night and day without panicking to get home before 2am. You don’t get punished for making mistakes - you can just keep trying again. The quests aren’t stressful or difficult, and running the cafe is about decorating and trying new recipes, as opposed to rushing to make demanding customers happy. It’s a game you can just relax into and experience.

Calico translates well to a controller and to the Playstation 5, and runs pretty smoothly overall. Despite being a fresh re-release, there are still a few bugs, though nothing game-breaking. One especially frustrating glitch was when one of my cats got bugged and floated behind me endlessly. I tried to see if using potions to change the model might reset it, which was how I then ended up with a giant cat floating after me instead. After saving, closing, and restarting the game, it went back to normal. Other than that, quests seemed to work okay and I didn’t run into too many issues.

Overall, Calico is a very fun experience. I do think it’s important to note that the length of the game should be taken into account - your cafe doesn’t quite grow like in many similar games, and I’d probably classify this more as a cozy adventure game with a cafe aspect included versus the sort of “endless” feeling you can get in some games. This is a much better fit for a player wanting a lowkey, cute experience than one looking to do much managing of the cafe aspect.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys a cozy, atmospheric experience with a touch of silliness and a lot of magic. Calico makes for a lovely afternoon, and even after you complete the story there’s still a bit more to do to collect all the recipes, find all the clothing, and finish all the requests. I can think of few games where I felt happy the entire time I was playing, and this definitely is toward the top of the list - if you’re looking for a lowkey game to visit for a break from life, Calico is a great choice.

Overall Rating: 9/10