Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel

[h1]If life were a musical... :o[/h1] [h2]Introduction[/h2] [i]Cardamom : A Musical Visual Novel[/i] is a cozy visual novel developed and published by Box of Black Spiders. You take on the role of Cardamom, an abandoned cat who ends up at an apartment complex in NYC. There are three residents in particular that Cardamom can get to know: Vicki (the dancer who's moved to NYC to pursue her dream career), Suze (the workaholic writer), and Kent (the lazy, aspiring rock musician). Each resident has his/her own story, and Cardamom can get to befriend them. (Also, there's an alley cat that Cardamom can get to know early on. XD) Can Cardamom help out these residents while finding a home with one of them? As for the gameplay, numerous choices are presented throughout the story. Early choices determine which route Cardamom goes on - Vicki's, Suze's, Kent's, the alley cat's, or the alone route. Once Cardamom is on a route (assuming that Cardamom chooses one of the humans XD), the choices made from there determine if the resident ends up befriending or even romancing one or more of the residents as well as determine their good or bad endings. Without a doubt, lots of different ending…

This game soooo cute and wholesome! I love the music, songs, and the art style. I just wanted to review since there weren't many, yet.

I’m a cat and musical lover so this game was made for me! The songs were so well done. I haven’t minded replaying them. I love the attention to detail, the character emotes, and the cat’s emotes are especially cute. There’s just so much story with the multiple endings that I’ll definitely have to play more later. The game is absent of adult themes so it’s one I can share with my kids once they get a little older. My daughter also LOVES cats!

I love cats, musicals, and visual novels so this game was made for me! It has adorable art, fun choices, and you get to be a cat. The only negative is that you can't skip scenes when you start a new game.

Cardamom is a musical visual novel game with a cute hand-drawn aesthetic and fully voiced/composed musical numbers. You play as an abandoned white cat (who inevitably gets named Cardamom) dropped off at a New York style apartment with three main characters you can interact and bond with. Your choices influence not only who potentially adopts the cat but also how the relationships between the three protagonists develop. I particularly enjoyed this spin on the dating sim formula, where the focus lies more in the matches you make between other characters. Following the stories of each of the three apartment tenants is rewarding as each has their own unique personality, struggle and covers themes ranging from burnout, loneliness and the impact of small acts of support. There are plenty of fun dialogue scenes between tenants and Cardamom, with really cute and fun animations and emotes, as well as a mailroom in the apartment which you can check periodically to get a unique environmental narrative glimpse at each of the three main protagonists. And of course the fully voiced musical numbers are a particular highlight, featuring synced dancing characters and really powerful vocal perfor…

This game is both charming and full of depth. Previously viewed scenes aren't skippable, but otherwise the game is excellent. Follows the standard VN branching format and each playthrough lets you learn more about one of your protagonists and try out new relationship dynamics between them. Even when things don't go to plan in a playthrough, you still get to be an adorable cat, so it's hard to have a bad time.