There are already lots of wholesome games set to release in 2022, and most of them revolve around animals. There’s Little Kitty, Big City, where you play as a lovably chaotic cat, the guinea pig-inspired party game Pui Pui Molcar Let’s! Molcar Party! from Nintendo and dog photographer game Pupparazzi. If you just can’t wait for these, though, Cats and Soup is already out and, by the looks of it, will wick away your stress effortlessly.
Released in 2021 for Android and iOS, Cats and Soup has a simple goal: make delicious bowls of soup with a team of cute cats. You’ll start with one cat stirring a big pot of soup, and you’ll earn in-game money for each bowl your feline chef serves up. As you earn money, you can add more cats to help chop vegetables faster, and build your cats nice things like a trampoline and a shady rest area.
It’s an adorable take on incremental games like Cookie Clicker, where you start small and and slowly improve your operation to unlock new gear and earn more money. Only, instead of clicking on a screen to make mountains of cookies, in Cats and Soup you click on an adorable team of kitties in a forest to make hearty soup.
The gameplay is simple, but there’s a pleasantly surprising amount of depth to Cats and Soup. There are multiple breeds of cats, and they’re all depicted in a Ghibli-esque art style. You can name your cats, dress them in hats and vests, and when you add a new cat to your team, they literally shoot down from the heavens like the perfect angels they are.
Developers Hidea say it’s perfect for anyone who loves cats, anyone who needs a little rest, ASMR lovers, and “those who can’t stop saying ‘Cats are cute!'” Between those four things, that pretty much covers everyone in the world. It lives up to its promise, too — watching your cats chop, stir and jump around is soothing, especially once you’ve put them all in cute little hats. You can download Cats and Soup for free on Android here and iOS here.
