Review: Mon-Cuties for All (2017)

Original post: https://misthold.dreamwidth.org/5142.html

Mon-Cuties for All (2017) is a virtual pet/simulation game in early alpha release. It's got super cute pastel colors and adorable monster pets, which is what drew me to it.

You play as a farmer/monster pet…caretaker? You can personalize your player character: body type (“male/female/androgynous”), complexion, hair and eye color. Apparently the monster color palettes are randomized, which is kinda cool.

The goal is to get the most monsters, I guess? To tend to the monsters you play a clicker mini-game, which then strengthens the bonds between you and your monster. Then you can enter a “monster show,” which is just a mini quiz game where you can get points to spend at the store. The stronger your monster friendship bonds, the more points from the quiz game which means more money to spend at the store. And that's it, basically.

The clicker game is a little buggy. I kept getting booted back to the menu from clicking too fast; once I slowed down then it worked fine. There's also no tracking on how bonded you are with your monster, how close they are to evolving, etc. Also no back buttons on some screens.

The quiz questions are…ridiculous. They're monster/pet/video game themed, but you wouldn't find the answers from just playing the game so most of it is guessing. And since each question is timed to about 30 seconds, you don't have time to Google the answer, either. At least they repeat, so eventually you'll find the right answer.

I played about 20 minutes before completely giving up. It's an adorably designed game, and I love the graphics! But, as it turns out, I HATE clicker games. I just don't enjoy the main game mechanics, so I ditched it.

It's a cute idea, though!

Price: $1.00

Available for Mac, Windows and Linux. I played the Mac OS version.

Still in development (technically “on hold”), but purchases will only receive current version v0.5 build and not any updated versions (?). Updates and changes to the game are planned, including going to 3D graphics rather than 2D and using an entirely different game engine. I look forward to seeing what the new version looks like!