Last year at Gamescom, I had my first chance to get my paws on Cat Me If You Can, the first-person hidden object game from indie studio Cosmic Stag Studios. As the title suggests, the goal is simple: find cats hiding within monochromatic environments spanning a variety of locations and time periods.
The demo for Cat Me If You Can starts in a new tutorial area, a trippy mish-mash of historic architecture floating in the endless vacuum of space. Just like the rest of the game’s levels, the tutorial is completely black and white, using the black, star-dotted skybox to really make the level pop. Short and friendly text boxes pop up to lead me through the game’s basic movement controls, like ducking, jumping, and sprinting, the linear path guiding me to my first piece of equipment, my camera. Any of my own equipment is always fully coloured, giving each monochromatic level a fun splash of colour and making them easy to find when exploring.
With my key tool in hand, it’s time to start looking for cats, and luckily, the first few are in the same room where I found the camera. The camera’s controls are simple: one button to bring it out or put it away, another to zoom in and out, and a third to snap a shot. As I capture my first photo of a kitty, a burst of colourful confetti shoots into the air, and the cat takes on its natural colour scheme. You also receive a Polaroid-style photo for each cat you snap with their name printed along the bottom, which is super cute!
Not long after finding the camera, the demo begins to introduce some of the tools that help track your progress. A tablet keeps tabs on each level’s quests, items, and even your favourite photos, while a radar can briefly ping nearby cats or important items you haven’t found yet. The radar is super handy for finding those last few cats or items that elude you, and its cooldown can be adjusted so you can use it more often; another great quality-of-life detail. The demo also introduces large orange and teal floating noticeboards that track your progress in different areas of a level. Each cat photo you take is added to the board, and you can even fast-travel between them.
Before finishing up this tutorial area in space, I track down a few stone tablets as part of a quest, and photograph three decorations as part of another, both revealing statues of cats once completed, with more bright explosions of particles. With a firm grasp of what to do, I step into my lurid orange time machine, ready to search for cats across time — though something about the situation feels a little fishy.
While I pondered why I was somewhere in the vast emptiness of space, my time machine arrived at my next destination, the medieval hamlet of Tabbyshire, complete with farms, a smithy, and an idyllic stream running through it. Unlike the tutorial, Cat Me If You Can’s levels are more sandbox in design, allowing you to wander between areas as you keep an eye out for kitty cats, with a counter in the top-left corner for how many cats remain hidden. With over 30 cats to find in this small but sprawling village, it doesn’t take me long to realise they can be anywhere, from hiding under chairs or in bowls, to hanging from window sills 30 feet above the ground! It’s a testament to the team’s creativity when placing and positioning each cat, as well as their clear understanding of how cats can, and will, go anywhere!
As I stroll among the thatched-roofed buildings, crouching to peer into bushes or under outdoor furniture, it strikes me how serene everything feels. The monochrome palette and almost complete lack of animation throughout Tabbyshire give me the impression of walking through a black and white photograph, a place frozen in time. It’s very on brand, given the nature of Cat Me If You Can’s gameplay, and I have no doubt it is intentional. Unlike the eerie stillness of the space-themed tutorial, it feels peaceful, like a soothing reprieve from my hectic life. The gentle piano music that plays during this level matches that sense of calm, inviting you to unwind as you explore, take your time, and soak up the relaxing ambience.
After taking it easy, snapping pictures of the cats I can find without using my radar, I check the tablet to see what the quests for Tabbyshire entail. Having already found a couple of the items needed for them, I finish up these tasks, eating four fish, adding a special ingredient to a bubbling cauldron, and fixing a lever in the smithy. Once complete, a rainbow-edged icon appears on screen to let me know a cat has appeared nearby, themed after their respective quest. Upon acquiring an ornate key, I find that I can open certain doors, accessing new areas of Tabbyshire, where even more furballs are to be found.
Finally, I turn to my radar to help me find the last remaining cats, as well as a particular sword that had eluded me. Once I had photographed the sword along with the shield and helmet, Derpy was summoned, Cat Me If You Can’s dopey-looking cat mascot, dressed as if ready for battle! My checklist is now complete, all cats have been papped, and all quests have been completed, so I make my way to my hard-to-miss time machine to finish up the demo.
As I step back inside and the demo comes to an end, the strange feeling I had earlier begins to make a little more sense. While playing alongside me, my daughter pointed out something I had completely missed: every time I ate one of the fish needed for a quest, a soft purring sound played in the background. Combined with a few other not-so-subtle hints scattered throughout the demo, it raises the amusing possibility that the player character might not just be photographing cats, but actually be one.
That playful sense of charm sums up my time with Cat Me If You Can. The demo is relaxing, creative, and full of personality, with cleverly hidden cats and worlds that are a real treat to explore at your own pace. I’m hoping the full game builds on these ideas with even more inventive levels and perhaps a few extra puzzles and quest mechanics along the way. Either way, if the full game delivers more of the same cosy charm, I’ll happily keep prowling through its levels in search of every last hidden cat.
Cat Me If You Can is coming to PC, Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S this Summer. The demo is available now on PC via Steam.
Have you tried out the demo for Cat Me If You Can? Let us know in the comments below, and join the Gamer Social Club Discord to chat about your favourite games, play in community game nights, take part in giveaways, and more!
