A Roaring Good Time or a Prehistoric Plod?
Cosy games have exploded over the years, as gamer tastes change, dropping the all-action, high octane shooters and racers for more relaxing affairs; games that they can wind down with across the course of an evening or two.
Personal cosy tastes will dictate the game of choice there, but for me, I’ve found some serious love with the Hidden Cats series of games. In fact, they’ve been my go-to in times of need, bringing down stress levels, taking in care-free gaming.
A New Breed of Cosy
That Hidden Cats franchise has seen Silesia Games take us around the globe too, from London to Paris, to Berlin, Rome, New York and more. But it’s another Silesia series that has occasionally popped up as a viable alternative, playing on the same feline finding vibes, just with a slightly different take.
That series is the Cats and Seek one. A series that has taken us to Osaka previously, and now provides a ticket to the Dino Park.
Feline Fun in a Prehistoric Playground
Cats and Seek: Dino Park is about as cosy as you can get. But if you’re looking for it, it also brings in some timed speedrunning for good measure. To add a ticking time bomb to the basic fundamentals of such a game isn’t something we particularly wanted, not expected. Spoiler alert: It’ll come as no surprise then that we don’t care too much for that side of things. Thankfully, we have still found some huge enjoyment with hunting down some little kitty cats again; doing so in our own sweet time. Even if this one is over in a mere hour.
There’s not too much content included in Cats and Seek Dino Park, leaving you with the chance to head into five Dino Park scenes, clicking on no less than 100 hidden cats in each. It’s very much standard cat hunting fare too, with each little meow and click colouring in a fluffball, every single one of them hidden away in the intricately detailed scene.
Zooming and Listening
Navigation of each level is a cinch, with thumbstick and triggers aiding movement across each picturesque play field, zooming as far out as you like, or as close in as needed along the way. With the sound turned up to eleven, listening out for the cries from cleverly hidden cats is the name of the game. In fact, when you have just a few left over, that audio comes into its own.
Prehistoric Playgrounds
The Dino Park theme is one that works well here with scenarios complete with a ton of theme park vibes. Of course, you’ll care little for any of it really, mostly intent on searching out the little kitties, zoning out on anything not cat based. But there’s no doubt, the five scenes created look the part.
Each also has a few birds or bees to tick off as well, whilst a time-restricted hint system will allow you to navigate to the last few cats should the need arise. Across everything that the Dino Park has to offer though, we only called on it once, the other 499 cats found without too much trouble. It means that Cats and Seek: Dino Park never ever crosses the line from cosy to frustrating.
Special Cats and Speedruns
What’s also a nice little addition, at least in the early stages, is that every single cat, when found, has a brief little bit of backstory to it. We can’t sit here and tell you that we didn’t get bored of these after the first few, but if you do need some more reasoning for your cat clicking, it’s there. Fifteen ‘special’ cats are also included in the game, each with their own section on the main menu; uncovering the likes of Catnip Crook, Sir Purrington III, Captain Whiskerbeard and more is fun. But again, it’s not something that adds too much to the game.
Similar goes for those timed speed runs if you want, and need them, as well as the chance to go switching up colour palettes; personally, that’s not something we can get our claws into.
A Purr-fectly Pleasant Hidden Object Game for Cat Lovers
We reached the end of Cats and Seek: Dino Park without any fuss, and enjoyed the brief time spent with it. Well put together, if you’re a fan of cosy gaming, hidden object hunting, or cats in general, it’ll be well worth your time taking a trip to the Dino Park.
Dino Park is another good addition to the genre, even if the Cats and Seek series still plays second fiddle to the more accomplished Hidden Cats franchise.
Fluffy Links
Buy Cats and Seek: Dino Park on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/cats-and-seek-dino-park/9pgnz2rbn5bb
