Pusheen’s Place review: A charming cat game

Let me first declare that I’m 100% a dog person.

Until Apple convinced me to give the 100% cat-game, Pusheen’s Place, a go.

Pusheen’s Place (now available on Apple Arcade) is an extremely cute cat-collecting game, but what I’m more surprised about it is that there is more to do than simply gather Pusheens and go teary eye at them. You also get to decorate rooms, play puzzles and look after the cats – of course, and all in pursuit of a home that feels more like a Pusheen paradise.

The central loop is easy to understand. I play mini-games to earn stars and experience, use stars to buy furniture blueprints, then craft the items and arrange them in rooms. The right mix of decor can attract different Pusheens, including familiar breeds like Pancake Pusheen and Pusheenicorn. There are more than 100 cats to collect, along with over 200 pieces of decor and 15 themes to work towards. That gives me plenty to aim for, even if I know I’m not going to collect all of them in a weekend.

The three main mini-games are Snack Stack, Parfait Pop and Batch Match. Snack Stack has me piling up matching cakes and snacks without blocking my next move. Parfait Pop is a bubble-popping puzzle, while Batch Match is the familiar match-three format, with blockers to clear. They are simple and quick to pick up, which suits a game I can play in short bursts. Snack Stack has the most potential to hold my attention, but honestly none of the three kept me glued to my screen for long. That is fine; sometimes I just want a quick puzzle, not a long narrative story plot to listen to.

I also like that visiting the Pusheens involves more than just checking whether they have moved into a room. I can feed or pet them, receive gifts and play little puzzles that are separate from the main games. Those interactions give the rooms a bit more life and make each cat feel less like a collectible with a different hat. Decorating is the part I think most players will find most appealing: you can mix items from different themes and let each room feel a little more personal. It’s very much like the other chillax game – Nintendo’s masterpiece Animal Crossing.

Where I started to lose momentum was the pace of progression. I could replay the puzzles to earn more stars, but crafting materials and the cookies needed to summon Pusheens were much harder to come by. I’d buy a furniture blueprint, then found I didn’t have the materials to build it, while the stars I’d earned couldn’t help me move things along. It left me with plenty to work towards, but not much I could do in a single sitting to get there.

That limit sits awkwardly with the Apple Arcade format, in my opinion. I appreciate that there are no ads or in-app purchases, but the daily caps can make Pusheen’s Place feel as though it has inherited the waiting game of a free-to-play mobile title. I don’t mind having a reason to come back tomorrow. I mind when I still want to play it today, but there is little left I can do to make progress.

That is a shame, because I like the idea at the heart of the game. The puzzles work as quick distractions, while collecting and decorating give me something to work towards beyond chasing high scores. More Pusheens, decor, games and features are on the way, and I hope the developers also take another look at the progression system. The game has room to grow, but those daily limits can make it too easy to run out of things to do just as I’m getting into it.

Even with that frustration, I’d put Pusheen’s Place among my favourite games on Apple Arcade right now. The daily resource limits tested my patience more than the puzzles did, but the cats won me over in the small moments.

Pusheen’s Place is now available on Apple Arcade.