Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon Review

Watch out Walmart 

Take the organic market by storm in Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon, an idle simulation game. Mafgames, the developer, is the creator of other adorable titles such as Kitty Cat Tycoon and Hamster Bagtory Tycoon. In Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon, you’ll drag your finger across the screen to make your cat go where you need it to. Going near the stations will make your cat pick up or drop off the items. Standing over stalls you haven’t unlocked will drop the money needed to unlock them. Unlike other idle games where you click where you want to upgrade and then wait to have enough resources to click again, here you always have something to do. Especially considering your working cats are not so hardworking. 

Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon epitomizes “if you want something done well, do it yourself.” Those shameless cats are there for their paycheck and will take any opportunity to sleep on the job. Besides restocking and ensuring everything is running smoothly, you’ll also be waking your workers up and fixing everything that needs fixing. This mechanic adds a bit of rush where needed, particularly when starting a new level with little to do. If you hire a manager by watching an ad, you don’t have to worry about that mechanic. He will guarantee your workers don’t slack on the job and that the machines stay operational for up to ten minutes.

Any Resemblance to Reality is a Mere Coincidence

Running around the place, restocking different items, and waking the cats up takes the dullness out of the grind. You will focus less on how much money you are making and more on whether everything is running as smoothly as it should. And the reality is that it won’t run smoothly. Not only because of the naps and the broken machines but sometimes the cats will just stand there doing nothing.

I had a full-blown milkshake crisis because every cat in the store wanted a milkshake, and the station needed cherries. At the time, my hands were full of fully stocked items, and I wasn´t aware there was a trashcan. Every cat under my service stood idle, looking pretty and unaffected by the crisis. They were wide awake and unconcerned about my frantic rushing until one of them deigned to refill the cherries. I don’t know if it’s a bug, but they either start working immediately or do nothing as I collapse.

Aside from that, I found other bugs where cats got stuck in stations or the game crashed. Once, I lost my entire progress on a level after it crashed and had to restart. I admit I had not advanced much, but it was still annoying. Another incredibly frustrating aspect was walking a little too close to one of the stations in my rush to another station. Suddenly, my hands were full of an item I did not need or want. I had to deviate to the trashcan to get rid of it, only to pick another random item on the way again. Moreover, I would get close to the stall when trying to restock an item, and it wouldn’t take them.

Similarly, I would run near locked stations, and they would drink my money instantly. Other times, I needed to stand over them for some time for the stalls to take it. There’s no set time to be near a station for you to interact with it. Sometimes, it is immediate, and at others, it’ll lag.

To top it off, if you want to take a break from the ads, I have bad news for you. If you’re not willingly watching ads to get the manager or clothes or whatever, the game will force them on you. The only thing you get out of this impromptu ad is that it adds to a bar that rewards you when full. Except the bar will almost always be at top capacity because you’re constantly watching ads. It will also take a few days to refresh after claiming the reward. So, in reality, the only thing you get is annoyed.

Is Cuteness Enough?

I have mixed feelings about Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon. On one hand, the game is stupidly addictive. The fact that you are constantly doing something makes it hard to put down. Most of the time, when I play idle games, there always comes a point where I’m just staring at the screen. Cat Mart: Purrfect Tycoon didn’t have those moments. You’re always rushing from one side to the other, picking stuff and putting it in place. Waking up the cats, fixing the machines, picking the money to upgrade the stations, there’s always something that needs doing. It’s a grindy game, but it doesn’t feel like it. Most of the time, I forgot I had to pick the money and upgrade the stations because I was too busy.

On the other hand, the bad aspects of the game are quite frustrating, starting with the ad system. I’m all for watching ads to get some bonuses and whatnot. I happily watched the ads when I needed the manager. But the fact that they sprung them on you when you hadn’t watched in a while drove me up the wall. I was fed the random ads way too often. The second thing is the bugs. They’re less annoying, but they still happened a little too often for my liking.

Nevertheless, the most frustrating thing was the randomly grabbing items, mainly when I was in a rush. I had to be careful about where I walked to avoid being interrupted. In summary, if you want more out of an idle game than staring at cute animations, this will keep you entertained. But only if you don’t get irritated easily.