Cafe Cafe: Idle Bird Collector

A cozy, cute, idle game that will make you smile as you serve birdie customers. ^^

Introduction

Cafe Cafe: Idle Bird Collector is a cozy, creature collector, idle game developed and published by CHONKSOFT. You're the new manager of a cafe, and your customers are cute birdies. You start off with the minimum means to run your cafe, which includes a limited number of tables and customers as well as only one menu item. However, as customers enter and then leave, either paying with gold coins or emerald gems, currency can be used to purchase additional menu items and tables as well as gems on the gacha machine, either to unlock additional customers or clothing accessories. Better menu items can earn you more coins and/or gems, and if you figure out a customer's favorite menu item, you can earn additional profit. Accessories are equipped to customers which can help in having them finish eating more quickly and other benefits. Also, there's a fun puzzle mini-game which involves color matching blocks. Doing so successfully can significantly speed up customers' eating time. Of course, Steam achievements are present, but they won't count towards a user's global total until the game is out of "profile features limited".

Review

One of my favorite game genres is cozy games. I noticed this cute game when it first came out on Steam and I had been following news about it on social media. Thanks to the wonderful developer, I received a review copy of it, and I just want to preface by saying that I really should have gotten around to this game sooner because it is simply adorable and wonderful. ^^

No story is present here (at best, it's very minimum), but these games are more about the gameplay. The instructions are bare in how to run the cafe, but it's pretty easy to figure out the gameplay mechanics. It starts off slowly at first, but after you're able to purchase better menu items to generate more money and tables to allow more customers into the cafe, the game will feel much faster. Still, it can take time if you want to obtain all the Steam achievements, at least. (At the time of this review, it took me around 36 hours to do so.) Nevertheless, you can speed up the process in numerous ways. In the settings area, there is an option to speed up the game by as much as 5 times. You don't get any hints about this, though, so you have to look into the settings to find it and adjust the speed. Also, individual customers eat at certain speeds and they can eat even more than one meal per sitting. Customers have levels, and they can go as high as level 5. You can use the gacha machine to level up customers (in addition to obtaining new customers), and even if you've maxed leveled up a customer, you'll get gems as compensation, which I like. You'll always be rewarded at the gacha machine, regardless. Accessories can help to speed up the game, too, and they can be unlocked in the gacha machine as well under a separate area. However, in order to level up accessories and make better use of them on customers, you'll need to spend coins or gems. Before I forget, you can play the puzzle mini-game, which has tutorial instructions, that can also help increase the rate at which customers finish their meals. It's a great feature if you don't want to sit around and wait for the customers to finish on their own.

Because the gameplay speed can be increased (but you can keep it at the default speed if you wish), I like that this is a feature. Also, coins and gems can be used to purchase cosmetic items, such as the cafe's ambience (changing the default theme to a Halloween one, for example) or additional wallpaper. However, no achievements are tied to cosmetic items, which I think is fine.

As for the art, it has a very cutesy, hand-drawn style that I adore. Especially, the birdies look cute, and I like the look of the cafe and being able to customize it. The colors chosen are pretty, and I can't really come up with any negatives on the art style.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3648091693

With the music, there's only one track present. Granted, variations of the track are available if you purchase different cafe ambiences. Although it might get a little boring to listen to only one track, I found this to be a very minor downside when compared to the many positives that I discovered while checking out this game.

Conclusion

Would I recommend Cafe Cafe: Idle Bird Collector? If you're a fan of cozy, cute games, you especially like the idle ones in which you can relax or multi-task while the game runs itself, and/or you enjoy getting Steam achievements, then this is definitely worth taking a look. At the asking price, it is a wonderful deal, even at the asking price. There's so much content, and the birds are absolutely cute and adorable to gaze at.

Finally, I'd like to thank CHONKSOFT for the review copy. Cafe Cafe: Idle Bird Collector brought a smile to my face, and the birdies are a breath of fresh air. I can't wait for future content, especially if more seasonal birds are released. ^^

For more detailed, fully complete, high quality reviews like this, please follow The Introverted Gamer, prioritizing heart and soul always. ^^

Update: Changing this review to positive because of how responsive the dev is. Pretty much all the negatives I had were improved upon within a week.

Some of the things I discussed in my old review are still relevant though. If you are looking for a very HANDS OFF idle experience, this game does not become that until end game when you unlock more complex recipes. If you like more interaction in your idler, this game might be for you!!

You can now delete placed decorations, which is greatly appreciated, thank you ^_^

When I try to manually move the game over to my second monitor, it still disappears but if you go to settings and click on "change screen" it moves accordingly.

Solid Updates!!

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Cute concept because who doesn't want to play dress up in their own cafe >.< But this game feels like a cheap mobile port and doesn't get very idly until you have the big bucks to unlock more complex recipes.

The Good
~ BIRDSSSS (would have been better if it were cats :P)
~ the faux gacha system to unlock new birds and accessories adds a little element of thrill
~ you get to dress up your birds in outfits that add boosted perks to the currency collection
~ varied food and drink menu

The Bad
~ not a true idle experience till much later because the low level recipes have a consumption rate of every 1-2 min, requiring active hands on time to generate a source of income and keep the customer flow = lots of babysitting
~ the cafe decoration options are lacklustre and limiting as all the item placements are predetermined (so doesn't really give you much creative independence)
~ silly little glitches like your clicks not registering or having delayed responses
~ placed decorations cannot be deleted (so if you fill a predetermined slot it can never be empty again, you can only replace the decoration which is super annoying and leads to a cluttered, mish mash of random items in your cafe)

The Ugly
~ I keep on losing the game when I try to port it over to my second monitor. It literally just goes invisible but is still running in the background >.> that being said, the dev did post a solution that works on the discussion forum but I am having to implement the fix repeatedly when adjusting the game on my screens

If you are an idler lover like myself, I would say to skip this unless on sale. It is a 'one and done' type of experience. There are simply better options to occupy your screen long term.

First I liked the cozy artstyle and nice chonky birb's then I saw it has gacha!!! I bought it asap since it cures my crippling gacha addiction when I have nothing to do in other gacha games + I get cute and stylish very important birds (VIB's).

Also game is not really an idler cause some drinks have less time while others have long time so you have constantly keep checking on inviting VIB's and restock their drinks which is tedious and game's autoplay is also weird it keep stacking money of birds instead of auto collecting it so you have to click on birds to collect it even if you left it for idle. Puzzles are really fun as well to kill time and speed up the drinking time if you need quick money!

SO people who actually want an idler game it's not for you unless you like doing the shop simulation stuff which needs constant attention along with cute bird's and gacha, if you like this all then must buy.

For achievements it's quick easy and needs time for solving puzzles else its not much of time consuming. Also for people who wants to buy it for +1 library sadly it's not counting for now, Hopefully they remove profile features limited someday.