How To Make Eggplant Lasagna (With Cats!)
I don’t think anyone who knows me is particularly surprised that this would be the first game on the list that I would gravitate towards. I’ve generally quite enjoyed games by this talented duo, and was excited to see that this game would have mention of cute little cats- the occasional pictures and updates of which we sometimes receive, happily.
It’s a very cute premise. I liked the thoughtful addition of the About page, as it’s often helpful when examining games past their initial release, to see the context of the events they were made for. And it’s good to know that those sweet, silly little kitties don’t actually get into too much trouble in the kitchen- that could be rather dangerous, after all!
The UI is straightforward enough, and ugly-cute in the ketchup and mustard-esque color choices in a way that doesn’t make me immediately grimace as a less muted selection of red/yellow might’ve. The handwriting font was a very cute touch- that with the way the passages are set up brings to mind recipe cards, which is perfectly suited for the game.
The writing is sweet, and gently irreverent, in the casually exasperated manner all pet owners are sure to be familiar with- we love our little creatures, but they certainly can be a bit of a handful sometimes, even if they are the cutest most precious little babies in the whole wide world ever. I was charmed from the get go with the prose, and I can think of exactly the kind of cat that Boris is, from his description as “the bigger (and dumber) of your two cats, but despite having the body of a black fuzzy cinder block he also has the soul of a small Victorian orphan.” What a sweetie.
I love both of the cats, and their owner’s love for them clearly shines through, but I do have to admit, I have a particular fondness for Boris. “You should have remembered that despite being an obligate carnivore, he’s an absolute fiend for carbs!” Me too buddy, me too. It’s a fun, silly little romp, with a bit of replay value- though I got a good ending on my first whirl when it first came out, despite finding it difficult to not simply give in to their adorable feline shenanigans.
I thought this at the time, and it still stands, that playing the game reminded me quite a lot of herding around a small baby/clumsy little toddler underfoot while cooking: chaotic, difficult to resist their cute charm, and needing to know when to cut your losses or drive a hard bargain for the sake of their safety. Seriously, kids have the darnedest habit of ramming into trouble face first at the slightest opportunity- and while I’ve never had a pet cat, the game makes me feel like there might be more overlap between shepherding a baby and shepherding some kitties than I thought at first!
The game gives you sensible options, that make sense for the obstacles the kitties throw up, (so there isn’t any issue of moon logic or not feeling as if it would be realistic for the player, or character, to do), and the scoring system behind the scenes was well done, in that I did feel like it posed just enough of a challenge to get a good ending that it wasn’t too easy, but wasn’t too difficult that I was unwilling to attempt, or theoretically retry it. It has a very gentle, pleasant quality to the writing, and is a lovely way to spend a small bite of time: it feels precisely the size it needs to be for what it sets out to achieve.