BubbleByte

I don't know how it is even possible, but this game brought out the capitalistic beast that laid dormant in my soul. When I saw this cute lil' game I thought "well, wth, why no? After all I haven't played a clicker game ever since the first iteration of Cookie Clicker was released". Now it's 3:30 in the morning, I am sleep deprived, a holymotherload of work to do, and an unavoidable alarm clock in a few hours. What's the worst part? The only thing I can think of is those damned cats, their college tuition, and the fact that 99% of the players quit right before prestigeing. I guess that's what "being an addict" means; but I am pretty sure that those damn college tuition won't pay themselves. Not in this economy.

First of all, I want to preface this by saying I absolutely ADORE this gem of a game. It's as if it were made special just for me xD. I love a lot of game genres, but incrementals, clickers and idlers (with economy strategy/management) are my bread and butter, and we all know how good bread is! Some people have said the graphics are bad. They aren't. They are quite typical and expected of this style of game. In my opinion, the hand-drawn, "Lisa Frank" neon paint gradient effect "scrapbook" cat characters that sometimes look like rodents are the best part because they show a lot of personality and character. For example: Are they drawn by a random 4 year old kid, a captive elephant with access to art supplies, a 92 year old grandma, or the dev themselves? Who's to say, and that's why the art direction is so great and must be protected at all costs, as I would hate the drawings to become "clean" or modernised at the expense of it's undeniable charm. Secondly, The gameplay may require a little further polish or tuning, especially in regards to the prestige system because at later prestige it feels like little progress is made and you'll feel stalled, which can be a draining slog. BUT WHO CARES IT's PRETTY! It's addictive and fun! Final word, I was a bit disappointed to find the time trial/speed run update implemented to include achievements recently. I have not tried playing that game mode yet so I'll hold back on judging too harshly for now, but (and this is probably a me thing so whatever) time trial/speed run has no place in a relaxed, cozy incremental game like BubbleByte. I honestly find the idea kinda jarring. It's as if it's trying to market to two completely different groups of people at opposite ends of a spectrum at the same time, and this attitude is unfortunately becoming more and more commonplace. I think game devs should pick a lane and stick to it with precision, quality and vision, as opposed to trying to appeal to as many people as possible. I bought the game and was already at the 60 hour mark when the time trial/speed run mode was introduced and I always detest when "new" modes for a game come out along with a string of annoying, time-consuming (and oftentimes impossible) achievements that (to me) seem counter-intuitive to what the game actually is. The game is a huge yes from me, even if you choose to ignore the time trial mode it's still worth it. Take my ramblings and venting with a grain of salt - I am just grumpy because the thing I bought changed, and I didn't think that was necessary. I can tell a lot of energy and care went in to making this game, along with the marketing videos and material. It feels like a passion project made manifest, a love letter to 80's cartoon art aesthetics and homage to all the special cats in our lives. *Edit for spelling errors and refinement.

Great cats, addictive gameplay, enough content to keep you going for hours.