I want to start by saying thank you so much to the dev (who worked solo on this game!) for the free copy for me to review! I appreciate it so much!
That being said, I do recommend this game but I also have some caveats and suggestions for how it could be improved!
THE GOOD STUFF:
- I am a big fan of indie games, of cat games and of hidden object games so this was like a wonderful trifecta of those things for me. I think this is a very impressive first game, truly. When I went to check out the devs other stuff, I was a little surprised to find that this is all they had done so far because, while Meowing Point isn't perfect and still needs a bit of polish, it feels a bit more experienced than a first (solo!!) game.
- I spent a little over an hour in this game and while I didn't 100% it, and I don't know how close I got to finding every single cat (more on that later) I feel satisfied with my experience in the game.
- The cats are not "hidden" in the traditional way. In fact, they are more or less right out in the open but they are presented as blank 3d models in a 3d space you can move around in and when you click on the blank model, it "fills it in". This is deceptively easy at first. You start happily clicking away and revealing cat after cat. But it's not long before you realize you're having to struggle a little to find more. And when you think you've clicked on them all but it doesn't give you the area complete message....you really have to start keeping your eyes peeled. Some of them were really very challenging to find. And the fact that I did NOT find every single cat in my run, is proof that it isn't that easy.
- There were multiple different areas to work in, and you can travel easily back and forth between them, should you decide that you'd like to move on to another space before finishing the one you're at.
- The style is simple, but cute enough!
- While I initially thought I'd find this entirely too easy, it ended up being a decent challenge as mentioned above.
- It plays some really fantastic throw back music (reminded me a lot of very early Final Fantasy music) and I love that it displays on the screen what the track is!
- There are some pleasant surprises here in the form of unexpected "side quests". I discovered rather randomly some items by clicking on them and realized eventually there was a use for those items. One item leads to another, and I won't spoil anything but it was a nice addition to this game.
- Every single cat had a name. Adds nothing to the gameplay, but I loved it :)
THE NOT SO GOOD STUFF/SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
- The font for the title/logo of this game is so hard to read and definitely needs a change
- The price point of this game is too high. There's an argument to be had regarding what indie devs DESERVE to make vs what we want to spend as gamers, but the truth is that for an experience that will land many people in the 1-2 hour time frame, the current price point of 6.66 is way beyond what most of us would justify. For a lot of games like this, we're looking more in the 99cents-2.99 range.
- I have no idea what the "ending" of this game was. It went from hidden cat game to weird clicker for a brief moment and I didn't care for that part of it
- There's nothing wrong with the black cats in the game, the model is very cute. However, it would be cool to see other kitties! Some variation in the cats would be nice.
- There is no hint in this game. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but hints can be useful and do tend to be a staple in the hidden object genre. On that same note, I'd like to see a counter maybe at the top of each area denoting how many cats I've found vs how many there are, rather than a sum total of cats found in the game so far, which is what is currently displayed.
TLDR - overall I recommend Meowing Point if you like relaxing hidden object games but only if you can get it at a much lower price point. This is a good first game for the dev and I think it was a fun entry into the casual indie game genre.
If you liked this review from me and you'd like to see more of my reviews, check out my curator page at https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41107206/
