| Quick Verdict: Bathhouse Creatures is a short and sweet game about managing a bathhouse. While there were some issues with controls and the game closing, the game as a whole was a delight that I had a good time with. |
| Game: | Bathhouse Creatures |
| Developer(s): | Sleepy Rocket |
| Publisher: | Sleepy Rocket |
| Review Score: | 8 |
| Cozy Score: | 10 |
| Price: | $4.99 |
| Pros: | Cute art, easy gameplay, and a charming atmosphere. While it’s a smaller game, I think the price works well with the content provided. |
| Cons: | The game randomly closes between levels. If you want to use the mouse, you can’t have an Xbox controller plugged in, or it will glitch. |
| Platforms: | PC |
| Genres: | Management, Simulation, Strategy |
Bathhouse Creatures is a charming little pixel art-style management game where you have to renovate and rejuvenate several different bathhouses for various creatures. It has five levels and five different bathhouses. Each level features a unique animal as the prime target and you have to cultivate an environment that suits them while keeping your other patrons in mind.
Each level introduces new items to decorate with and new tubs to manage, each of them suited to certain characters more than others. Throughout the levels, you’ll entertain ducks, capybaras, macaques, shibas, and hippos.
Your duties will be to pick up trash, fill the tubs, assign customers to certain areas, heat the water, clean and refill when a customer is done, manage the sauna when it opens, and keep macaques from stealing decorations. It seems pretty easy and straightforward, but things get out of hand quickly.
Every creature wants a warm bath, but heating it once isn’t good enough. You’ll be tasked with keeping an eye on upwards of five tubs to make sure the temperature level stays heated because it will cool off over time.
Luckily, there are two automation upgrades available, but unfortunately, they’re not available until the penultimate fourth level. I wish they were available sooner, but I’m glad they exist in the later levels. The two upgrades are auto-heating – this is the most important in my opinion – and cleaning/filling the tub.
Once you have these upgrades on a tub, you can pretty much ignore it until it’s clean and ready for a new occupant to be assigned to it. Additionally, in later levels, you’ll have to manage a sauna. By putting creatures in there, you’ll be able to get more money once they check out, but you have to be mindful because if they stay in there too long, they’ll overheat.
Bathhouse Creatures is a delicate balance of juggling duties.
The only thing left to worry about is macaques. These little monkeys will steal decorations given the chance. The only way you can keep them from doing that is by having their favorite food decoration available that keeps their hands busy. I like to keep at least one macaque-centric tub in every bathouse for them, just so I have one less thing to worry about.
Of course, if you’re in it for achievements, don’t do that. You need to retrieve 50 stolen items for one of them. So, play to the goals you’re aiming for.
This game is very straightforward and relatively small with only about 3 hours of gameplay — more if you’re a completionist. I believe that $4.99 is a very fair price for what you get. And, honestly, this game structure, where you’re trying to meet certain conditions through just a few levels, reminds me heavily of Minami Lane.
I had a good time, but unfortunately, there were things that I had some issues with. Sometimes, between levels, I’d try to go back to the main menu and the game would just close. Thankfully, it only happened there, so I never lost game progress, but it happened about 3 times.
Also, this game works with a mouse or a controller. However, if you have your Xbox controller plugged in and you want to play with a mouse, you will have to unplug the controller completely. If it’s attached, the game tries to overwrite that as the main controller. My mouse kept teleporting all over the place because the game kept trying to switch to Xbox controller mode.
Otherwise, I wish automation were available throughout the game and that the characters walked faster. Your character zooms around and it highlights even further how slow the NPCs walk.
Watch the trailer for Bathhouse Creatures!
I had a great time with Bathhouse Creatures and I think it’s a fantastic way to while away a few hours. The price point works and if you’re like me – a person who adored Spirited Away to an unhealthy degree – then you’ll love the opportunity to manage a bathhouse for interesting creatures.
If you’d like to grab Bathhouse Creatures for yourself, you can get it over on Steam for $4.99. If this isn’t your cup of tea, you can check out one of our other reviews. We’ve recently highlighted Bugtopia, which is an idler where you collect insects, and Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping, where you follow Eugene McQuacklin as he solves word-based puzzles.
