We’ve finished closed testing for Catmint Cove. 🐾
Before we talk about what comes next, we want to thank everyone who helped us get here.
Whether you played for a few minutes, sent a screenshot, reported a bug, or explained why something didn’t make sense, your feedback gave us something useful to work on.
And if you came back after a fix to try it again—thank you for sticking with us.
Making the first visit easier
A new player shouldn’t need to understand every menu before they can enjoy spending time with the cats.
During testing, we worked on the opening experience and the guidance around the Cove: helping players find their way to the Catdex, Journal, Shop, and Activities without trying to explain everything at once.
We also revisited the help text. The aim was to answer the questions people actually had: what can I do here, what happens next, and where do I go?
Smaller screens needed attention too, particularly when guidance panels got in the way of the cats or the thing a player was meant to tap.
A clearer café and garden
Catmint Café received plenty of attention during testing.
We worked on making it easier to understand what was happening as a customer’s order moved through the café. Taking orders, brewing, cooking, and serving should show visible progress. The café should carry on automatically, with tapping as a way to help it along.
We also simplified controls and worked through layout issues on phones and tablets.
In Cove Garden, the focus was on making the patches feel more like a little place to tend. Planting, watering, and harvesting needed to be easier to follow, with a clearer connection between what you grow and what the café needs.
These changes came back to the same question: can someone open the game, understand what’s happening, and enjoy it without needing a long explanation?
The smaller fixes mattered too
Not every improvement was a new feature.
Some were overlapping text, an awkward button, a cat appearing where it shouldn’t, or a panel that looked fine on one device and crowded on another.
Those are exactly the kinds of things testing helps uncover. Thank you for pointing them out, even when they seemed minor.
What happens next?
Public launch is next, pending Google Play and Apple approval.
There’s no confirmed date yet. We’ll post an update here and on our social pages once the release is approved and ready.
Finishing closed testing doesn’t mean we’re finished listening. If something still feels confusing or isn’t working properly, please keep telling us. A screenshot and the device you’re using are always helpful.
For now, thank you for being part of the Cove this early. We’re looking forward to welcoming more people—and hearing about the cats who make themselves at home with them.
— The Catmint Cove team at Midknight Studio Labs