Cattails (2017)

Cattails is a lifesim/RPG where you play as an abandoned cat who builds a new life amongst a population of forest cats. You get to choose between three different colonies to settle in and then off you go live your life as a cat.

Basically, you socialise with other cats, hunt, gather herbs and defend your cat colony's territory by fighting. Doing stuff gives you XP that you can use to learn new abilities or level up one your cat's four skills. There's also an overarching storyline of helping a cat named Coco call forth a forest guardian to restore balance to the forest. This is done in a very Stardew Valley fashion: you need to collect different sets of (seasonal) items and bring them to a temple.

It might sound harsh but Cattails is a pretty ugly, clunky and monotonous game. The combat mechanics are minimal, controls and UI are just adequate and the graphics range from alright to a bit messy. However, an addictive gameplay loop, super nice soundtrack and general good vibe of the game work wonders. I got hooked in the game, so much so that yesterday I played it 8 hours straight. It's not a per... purfect game but it's definitely a fun one. It also doesn't overstay it's welcome as I completed the main quest in about 15 hours. After that you unlock a chance to build your own colony. I quickly checked this feature and it looked a bit barebones but it's a nice postgame bonus nevertheless.

One nitpick I do have about the game's coziness though. It's a harsh world for animals out there, so killing prey for hunting I get. I, however, don't really like battling other cats. Especially so as it is implied that it's a battle to death. As the game has territory mechanics and defending your borders is an everyday event, it kinda fits the bill to have fighting but this just seems like a depressing thing in otherwise such an happy-go-lucky game. I justified the fighting for myself so that every defeated cat gets treated by the colony's cat doctor since that is the option for the player as well. I'm silly, I know, but I didn't really gel with the idea of fierce bloody battles in a game like this.

Overall though, I really liked my time with Cattails and I already have the sequel bought . I've read it's an improvement over the original so I'm excited to try it and see how it stacks up.

I loved everything about cattails, it's absolutely adorable.

You play a cat who wanders on a fairly large map, hunting, picking, fishing and chatting with other cats over the seasons, with a super soothing music to go along your endeavours. You join your chosen family of wildcats , and build relationships with the other cats from and outside your colony.

There is no violence beside the daily fights between cats over territory, but it's really no big blood and drama at all. There is a really nice layer of a strategy game added later to the game which I loved.

The game is completely gender neutral, which is a giant breath of fresh air in our super binary society. All the cats are genderless (because you don't need gender to enjoy the characters), or stereotyped in a gendered way, and, oh nice, the pronouns of the kittens are they/them. There's even a special cat you can ask to change your name.

The music is wonderful, evolving with the seasons. I'll never forget one of the winter themes, which is now my go-to song for cheering me up when I'm down. It's so grounding.

Also I wasn't into top down games until I found cattails because I thought they couldn't be beautiful. I was wrong, cattails is gorgeous and a full immersive adventure. I got to know the map almost by heart, and it was a lovely feeling.

Romance is available, and there is sweet poetics dialogues to back it up. Lyrus 4ever <3

• Year played: 2019
• Playtime: 10-15 hours
• Completion level: completed main story and most collectibles

This was a game that wasn't really a standout in any way, but it checked just enough boxes for me that I played it through to the end anyway. It's kind of like stardew valley, but if you were a cat and couldn't farm anything. You collect and forage stuff (there are bundles to complete, like in stardew), you explore mines, you do quests and give gifts to townsfolk (towncats?), and you can even fight other cats for control of territory.

Unfortunately a lot of it isn't fleshed out that well. The game started as a hobby project made by two people, and you can definitely see the rough edges. It feels like there are a lot of incomplete thoughts and mechanics that never got fully implemented - some of that might be due to the limited capabilities of gamemaker.

I enjoyed it enough to keep playing to the end though, it was cute and relaxing and I like cats, so yeah. I didn't play past the main story ending at all though. I think you can start your own cat colony and have kittens, but I felt like I'd had my fill. It's one of those games that I don't know who I'd recommend it to, but if you're like me and you enjoy cute chill games about cats and can't get enough of the Stardew-like genre, maybe pick it up, or just wait for the sequel (which is supposed to release in 2023).