Calico: A Video Game for Magical Girls

Calico is an adorable and magical indie sim game developed by Peachy Keen Games, and it’s the ultimate video game for magical girls. Playing this game is basically living the dream: you’re a magical person given the task of rebuilding your town’s cat cafe.

Calico makes this task incredibly relaxing. You can go at your own pace. Plus, you have magic.

Game Play

You’re able to decorate your cafe using furniture using a variety of styles: basic, cute, rad, spooky, succulent, egg, and citrus.

You can also invite all kinds of animals to come stay at your cat cafe or to follow you. You can interact with the animals, too – you can pet them, play with them, pick them up, and even ride them.

Quests and Mini-Games

Along the way, you encounter NPCs and complete side quests for them. In return, they’ll give you money or items, such as potions, clothing, or furniture. You can use money in the game to expand your cafe by buying recipes to make cute treats, which you can then sell in your cafe.

I absolutely adore the cooking mini game. You’re transformed into a miniature version of your character. You then put recipe ingredients into a bowl to make all sorts of savory and sweet treats.

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Character Customization

One thing I really enjoy about the game is how open the character customization options are in terms of skin tone, body sizes, and hair options.

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You can also customize your character (or any of the animals) with potions.

This game is absolutely girly in the best ways. This is totally the kind of world I would love to live in. It’s got bright and happy colors, cute animals, and fun music.

As you complete different quests, you expand the town as well. Each section of the town has its own unique charm and music. There’s a city that is full of cats and some of them break dance!

One of my favorite parts is this magical mushroom forest. The mushrooms light up when you walk by them.

Here’s a video of me walking through the magical forest AND riding through the sky on a magic broom.

I highly recommend this game to anyone who needs to escape from reality for a bit. It’s available on Xbox, PS4, Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Game Jolt. It’s only $11.99, too! Plus, you’d be supporting indie game dev artists.

Check out the game trailer below: