Caputo Park embodies the fleeting joy of summer vacation

There are a lot of games that remind me of summer — hot days in the back seat with a copy of it Dragon Warrior IIICooling in the basement during grinding Big tourism Racing – but there aren’t that many games out there already on summer. That’s part of what makes Caputo Park Very charming. It’s a game that not only manages to capture the fleeting moments of childhood summers, but it also crams in PokemonAn adventure-style game that only lasts a few hours.

Caputo Park It actually launched last year on PC, but is now available on both Xbox and Switch, with the latter perhaps being the perfect platform for it. Taking place over the course of one month, you play as Hana, a young girl who works her way up the competitive ladder of the ladybug fighting tournaments while on summer vacation. You do this the traditional way: by collecting insects, raising them to be strong, and pitting them against other insect collectors.

but Caputo Park It simplifies this process quite a bit. There are only four main screens in the game. One is a map that you use to venture to a few locations to catch bugs. As you progress, you’ll earn money that you can use to buy better shoes, allowing you to explore new areas like the swamp. Catching bugs involves swinging a net in only The right moment, which becomes more difficult as you encounter more rare and powerful creatures. There’s also a shop where you can buy things like honey to slow down bugs, making them easier to catch, and a collection screen where you can organize your bugs, feed them candy to level them up, and eventually open a tank to house them.

Most of the events take place in battles. Like in Pokemonyou build a team — in this case, each team consists of three bugs, each with distinct stats like Strength and Defense — and pit them against another player. The actual fights are very similar to a sumo match, as the goal is to push the opposing team out of the ring (which is, wonderfully, a tambourine). The bugs will automatically pay, but you can turn the tide of battle by playing cards that do things like temporarily raise stats or give a quick, decisive kick to knock opposing bugs across the arena. It’s relatively simple, at least by modern standards Pokemonbut there is still a fair amount of strategy to building your team and playing cards at the right moment. Some matches can be very intense, especially if the teams are evenly matched.

With each battle, time advances one day, so you progress through the competitive ladder and the August calendar at the same time. I was able to beat the game in about three hours and was particularly impressed with the way it was done Caputo Park It manages to capture the satisfying arc of an epic RPG in such a compact package. Its brief nature also fits well with the game’s theme; Like the best summer moments of your childhood, Caputo Park Short-lived and leaves you wanting more.

There are so many things I love Caputo Park: Gorgeous storybook art that feels like a warm afternoon, charming and often funny dialogue, and cicadas that provide the summer soundtrack. But what I love most is that there are very few games like this one. Out of business Millennium Kitchenmost of which are only available in Japanese, and there’s not much that captures that very special feeling of childhood freedom. Now that the game is on Switch, you can try it out Caputo ParkSee the actual summer outdoors.

_{Caputo Park Available now on Switch, Xbox, and PC.}