Recently launching into early access, Pawsome Resort by developers Pixel Puffs, puts you in charge of Pebble Town’s newest animal hotel. As the new owner, build cozy habitats, care for adorable animal guests, craft useful items and grow thriving crops. Befriend the townsfolk, and uncover Pebble Town’s secrets. You might even find love along the way.

Gameplay

When you first begin playing Pawesome resort you are ushered into a simple and well paced tutorial. Basic mechanics such as feeding, cleaning and making the guests happy feels more rewarding than stressful. Each morning a list of pet pick ups and drop offs will appear in your calendar. You can go about your day doing other tasks, but do make sure you are available to assist guests as they arrive. A notification will appear on screen when someone is at your resort.

Most of the gameplay in Pawsome Resort is centered around the animals but there are extra activities that add to the experience. When you’re not taking care of animals, players can go fishing, grow crops, gather resources, and craft food for your animals. Locals around town will also give you quests and in return will offer friendship among other prizes.

All the mechanics are intertwined to help your resort run smoother. For instance, fishing and farming will help craft food for your guests. There are two food types, farmer’s and fisher’s mix. Using the different recipes in your kitchen, craft different levels of food to feed your animals. The better the quality, the less often you’ll need to refill the bowls in the habitats.

Habitats

While most pet hotels only house dogs and cats, Pawsome Resort is home to many different types of animals. You can set up the habitat for up to 25 different animal types ranging from horses and panda bears, to alligators and flamingos.

Taking care of animals is a straightforward process in Pawsome Resort. Customers will drop off their animal and make arrangements for pick up. Escort each animal to its assigned habitat, ensuring there is fresh food and water available. Each morning, make sure that the habitat is clean and that pets are well cared for and receive plenty of attention.

Farming & Fishing

Farming and fishing are two of the main components to helping your resort run smoothly. You can buy feed from the store, but it does have a decent price tag, and its basic quality. By harvesting and catching your own, you can choose what quality food to make.

Farming is as simple as tilling the ground, planting the seed, and keeping it hydrated. Seeds can be purchased at the general store. Check out recipes before heading to buy seeds to see what’s needed to make animal food. Plants that go without water will die over time. From what I’ve seen so far, plants don’t seem to be affected by the season. I went from summer to fall without impact on my crops during the seasonal change.

The fishing mini game is also a simple mechanic. Players will cast their hook into a body of water and wait for a bite. Click when the circles over lap, this can happens 1-3 times at varying speeds. Doing it correctly will catch the fish. Hint: The water feature in the center of town doesn’t produce any fish (or in the 10 or so times I decided to attempt fishing there I only caught fiber)

Relationships

Pebble Town is home to many friendly residents, each with their own personalities and stories. Get to know the locals by finishing their requests, chatting with them, and attending community events. As friendships grow, unlock new conversations, some residents may become your new best friends or maybe something more. You can even find your soulmate and get married.

Automation

As you progress in Pawsome Resort, you have the ability to unlock automation for hotel responsibilities to make your job a little easier. After rescuing a Little Creature from the witch in the woods, the small mushroom like creature will help you around your resort.

Little Creatures take care of daily tasks such as feeding pets, checking out guests and others that help run the resort run smoothly. Unlock more helpers as you continue to upgrade and add more habitats to your resort to give you more time to fish, farm and make friends.

Customization

Players can truly make their pet resort their own with a wide variety of customization options. Decorate the interior of your home to match your style and the outside to build the perfect atomsphere for your furry guests.

Browse a vast assortment of furniture and other décor at the country store. The further players progress, the more options to customize their resort.

Final Thoughts

Pawsome Resort is still in Early Access, with plans for a full 1.0 release planned within the next year. The Full release will include new animals, customizations, quests and resident storylines. Developers Pixel Puffs have already made some quality of life improvements within the first week of release. They are also actively paying attention to player feedback, using it to prioritze content for future updates.

Like most RPG farming simulators, Pawsome Resort offers a casual and cozy experience. There’s no pressure and rush through quests or meet strict deadlines aside from the in game clock. But unlike most RPG farming simulators, Pawsome Resort adds pet hotel management, giving a refreshing take on the genre making it stand out from its peers.

Pawsome Resort is available now on Steam for PC.