Kitty Powers’ Matchmaking Agency
You are a novice matchmaker in a city full of single people looking for love. They’re lost without you, and since you’ve never done this before, you’re going to need some help. Thankfully, you’ve been hired at Kitty Powers’ Matchmaking Agency, and Kitty herself is here to guide you…
Kitty Powers’ Matchmaking Agency is a dating/matchmaking game from indie developers Magic Notion. This small developer may not have created any games prior to this one, but the director, Richard Franke, has worked in the video game industry for nearly 15 years. According to their website, Magic Notion’s goal is “to make unusual and inclusive games that respect our customers, and give them maximum entertainment for their money.” A noble goal, and one that is evident in the game.
This is an unusual game. It’s not really what would be considered a dating game, since the player character isn’t going on any dates, but the majority of the game is spent on dates. You, as the matchmaker, are responsible for helping your client find the partner most suited for them by giving them help via an earpiece during their date. The core gameplay is a mixture of minigames and memory tests, where you’re responsible for aiding your client in remembering their date’s interests, keeping track of what they talked about previously, and encouraging your client to either dump their date or ask them to be with them forever.
Your clients fit into one of a number of types present in the city where the agency is located: sporty types hang out at the gym, arty types at the museum, practical types at the hardware store. Each of these types has a list of interests, job titles, and dispositions that you’ll need to learn over the course of the game. For example, hippies always believe in astrology, so it’s a good idea to talk about astrology on your date, while geeks tend to be interested in video games and unicorns. While it’s easier to match clients of the same type together, there are Steam achievements for managing to match, say, a hipster with a sporty character. Once you pick a client to work with, you choose a restaurant where you will get to know your client’s date better and play a series of minigames. Most of the games are memory based–occasionally you’re asked to pick out the waiter (who you only see briefly during the date) from a line-up of three because your date has forgotten what they looked like. Often, you’re asked to calculate the tip, thankfully Google has a tip calculator (which I’ve made extensive use of.) If all goes well, your client and their date are off to a life of wedded bliss.
One of the things I like most about this game is that not only do your clients have a mixture of gender preferences, they’re procedurally generated (randomized by algorithm) so say, male clients looking for a male partner never look like gay stereotypes. It also means you get a wide variety of ethnicities. I also really like that when a client tells you about themselves, they don’t label their sexuality. Instead a client will tell you their name and say “I’m looking for a man,” or “I’m looking for a woman!” Clients looking for any gender partner do exist, but they’re very rare compared to those looking for a man or a woman. The game makes a lot of headway in living up to Magic Notion’s mission statement. There are no gender stereotypes in the interests and types of characters–a woman is just as likely to be interested in monster trucks as a man, for example. The characters do unfortunately adhere to a gender binary, but the game is otherwise sensitive to LGBT+ issues. Language is almost always gender neutral, and as mentioned above all of your clients can get married, not just male/female pairings.
On the downside, the game can get repetitive and frustrating. Once the agency gets big enough to open up to clients all over the city, it can be hard to figure out what type your client’s dates are, and guessing poorly can lead to a bad date, or even to your client being dumped. There’s an element of chance in the minigames that can be really frustrating. There’s nothing worse than a date going really well until you screw up a minigame at the end and a relationship that was previously going well is now over. Clients grow more and more picky as you raise in rank, making it more difficult to make a good match. Additionally, there can be a lot to remember. On the third date, your client and their date will have discussed six topics, meaning you have to remember those topics so you don’t discuss them again, remember the waiter’s appearance, and remember your date’s appearance as sometimes they go to the bathroom and come back with a new haircut, or make-up, and your client has to correctly guess what change has been made or their date will be put out. Also, since the developers are from the United Kingdom, there’s some British slang and humor that can be incomprehensible to an American audience.
I would be remiss in not mentioning Kitty herself. This game was an impulse buy for me. I briefly scanned the title, the screenshots, and the first review before realizing the game included same-sex couples and purchasing it. Because of this, I did not realize until I fired up the game that the titular Kitty Powers is a drag queen. Kitty Powers is also the alter ego of Richard Franke–the director of the studio. Given the differing attitudes towards drag queens in the LGBT+ community, I can’t say whether or not Kitty’s presence–and you can’t miss her, she’s your boss and tutorial–will affect your enjoyment of the game.
Lastly, a particularly neat feature is that you create your own avatar and dating profile when you start up the game. Why do this when you don’t actually see your character during the game? Because your character can go out into the world and date people in other people’s games under a pseudonym. You can opt in or out of this feature easily. If you choose to opt in, you get periodic messages about how many dates your avatar has gone on and how well they’ve gone. If you have friends on your Steam list with the game, they can show up in your agency looking for a date. There’s also a leaderboard where you can compete against your friends to earn coins to upgrade your agency by making the most lasting matches.
You’re looking for a casual, addicting game with no violence
Dating games appeal to you
You’re looking for something to play in short bursts at a time
You like testing your memory
You like cheeky and mildly suggestive humor
Repetition and memory games don’t appeal to you
You want something more action-oriented
A fart joke or two is a dealbreaker for you.
Kitty Powers’ Matchmaking Agency is available on Steam for $9.99, Google Play for $2.99, and the Apple Store for $2.99. There are no in-app purchases for any version.
The developers are active on Steam’s Community Hub for the game, and any bugs or other issues are being patched frequently. They’re looking into making the game more accessible for colorblind players right now.
