The kindness and bonds created with wonderful animals. The new Critter Café for PC and Switch is a management simulation that anyone can enjoy.

The new title for Secret Mode was announced in the “Wholesome Direct 2024” program that aired at 1:00 on June 9, 2024 JST.「Crater Cafe」(PC/Nintendo Switch) announced. The release date is scheduled to be sometime in 2024. This game is being showcased at the “Summer Game Fest Play Days” currently taking place in Los Angeles, USA.Developer Sumo Digital,Eleanor GregoryI asked him to explain the broad outlines of this work, so I would like to tell you the contents.

Eleanor Gregory of Sumo Digital explains the Critter Café

Critter Café is a fantasy creature“Creature”It is a simulation game where you rescue people and manage the café in which they live. The player becomes the main character who moves to a certain island and inherits an old café. There they meet creatures who have wandered into a mysterious portal. The player rescues Crater and lives with him in a café, deepening his interactions with the people on the island.

The creatures range from designs that are fantasy versions of real animals to those that look like fantasy animals such as dragons. The creatures live in the café and can be interacted with as pets, as well as interact with customers. As the number of creatures increases, it becomes a Crater Café instead of a Cat Café.

The core of the game is the extremely flexible customization element. Player characters can be created by freely combining clothing and accessories regardless of gender. Moreover, you can arrange the interior of the cafe as you wish, and you can choose not only the location of the furniture, but also the wallpaper and flooring materials. While enjoying the interior design, you can work on creating your perfect café.

An essential part of the gameplay in this business is the café management part. When a player opens a café, islanders and travelers come as customers. You can listen to their requests and, in mini-game style, make coffee and cook food. If you can satisfy their needs, the reputation of the café will improve, leading to the development of the café.

In terms of store operations, you not only manage the café, but you can also host special events such as birthday parties and weddings upon customer request.
You can further improve the reputation of the café by setting up the furniture according to the event and preparing creatures that will be appreciated. The goal is to make the event a success and increase the popularity and reputation of the café.

As mentioned earlier, the player must rescue the creatures. As the store's reputation increases, customers will gain mysterious information about Critter, and by relying on that information, they can enter a “mysterious portal” located on the island and rescue Critter.
Inside the portal is a sort of puzzle dungeon, where you can pull levers and press switches to solve environmental puzzles and advance to the creature. According to Gregory, there will be more things you can do in the dungeon as you explore, such as obtaining items needed to solve puzzles and introducing new devices.

If you can find and rescue the creature safely, you can return it to the café. Critter and the main character have a teacher-like bond, and as this bond deepens, Critter's appearance changes and he can gain special abilities that are useful for running the café.

Also, the more creatures you rescue, the more information is collected in the café. New locations will appear on the map, and you can also meet new creatures. It is a system that stimulates the habit of collecting.

Critter Café, which allows you to run a café in a warm world, seems to give people with stressful days a relaxing time to catch a breath. The puzzle elements are not too complicated, and the café management part is designed to be easy to enjoy, so even children in the lower grades of primary school can enjoy it.