Charmingly combines merge mechanics with culinary creativity | Review - Cats & Soup : Magic Recipe

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Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe is a recently soft-launched mobile game that blends ‘merge’ gameplay mechanics with the art of cooking, creating a unique and enchanting gaming experience. It is a follow-up to the similarly titled relaxing game Cats & Soup, made by the same developers Hidea.

🟩Pros

+Whimsical, charming visuals and soundtrack +Merge game mechanics, with a cooking twist +Challenging puzzles +Filled with attention to detail, mini-games, and activities +Very considerate in monetization aspects (optional ads only)

🟥Cons -Cooking serves merely as a facade, it's really a merge puzzle game through and through

Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe welcomes players to a charming beachside kingdom that oozes with wholesome vibes. The visuals are charming, characterized by a hand-painted art style that invokes the warmth and charm of a beloved children's storybook. The soundtrack complements the visuals with its relaxing and soothing melodies.The game's world is filled with vibrant environments and characters, all brought to life through really well made animations and stylized art design.

Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe combines the addictive nature of merge mechanics with the joy of cooking. Players assume the role of a magical cat, tasked with preparing a variety of delectable dishes by merging different ingredients. It features a variety of dishes to cook; from soup, juices, rice meals, to even potions.

The game features an adorable cast of magical cats, each with their own unique personalities and skills related to cooking. Players are tasked with gathering ingredients from different sources within the kingdom, such as the Vegetable Garden, Greenhouse, Herbal Shop, Granary, Fishing Spot, and more.

These ingredients are gathered using magical energy, which functions as a finite resource similar to a stamina or energy system that can limit progression when exhausted; however ,in my experience, they are plentiful and I have only ran out of them once.

The merging mechanics involve combining identical ingredients to create higher-tiered ingredients, which are then used to craft the different dishes available in the game. The merging process is reminiscent of a 'match-two' concept seen in games like 2048, which retains that highly addictive aspect. Despite not making any logical sense, where combining two potatoes results in one garlic, and two carrots into one parnish, the system really works well and is very addicting. 

As players progress through the game, they unlock new recipes, dish types, and ingredients, providing a sense of continual discovery and progression, where players strategically merge ingredients to create more complex and flavorful dishes. The game introduces an element of strategy and puzzle-solving as players need to carefully plan their merging sequences to optimize their progress. At some point, though, the novelty of cooking wears off, and you begin to view the game primarily as a puzzle experience – collecting and matching items en masse to achieve the goal – rather than as a genuine culinary video game.

The blocks available to place ingredients have limited space, and some ingredients only come up every so often that you’d probably gather a lot of undesirables while targeting specific dishes to cook. Fortunately, any excess ingredients not in use can be discarded to make room for new ones as needed. In fact, there's no real concept of failing in this game; it maintains a continuous progression of unlocking new recipes and dish types. Even if you run out of energy to summon new ingredients, you can just wait it out, watch some ads, or use any of the currencies to buy new energy. 

I could not find any in-game purchases yet, but the foundations for premium currencies and cosmetics are already evident. Currently, any form of monetization in this game only comes from ads.  As the game is still in a soft launch state, progression can be reset anytime. It's important to note that certain aspects of the gameplay and monetization may continue to evolve based on player feedback and development updates.

In addition to the merging gameplay, Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe offers various mini-games that add variety and engagement to the experience. Players can enjoy activities such as catching fish, popping bubbles while on a bicycle, and dressing up their magical cats with unlocked cosmetics. These mini-games provide a refreshing break from the core cooking mechanics and contribute to the game's replayability.

Conclusion:

In summary, Cats & Soup: Magic Recipe is a charming mobile game that combines merge mechanics with culinary creativity. It’s essentially a puzzle game disguised as a cooking experience, yet the captivating visuals and the developers’ passion for both cats and cooking cannot be overlooked. If you're a fan of puzzle-solving, cooking games, or simply someone who enjoys an enchanting and wholesome experience, you’ll probably love this game.