Cats and the Other Lives

I'm very fond of cats so when I discovered this game, I knew I had to play it. The storytelling is beautiful, the pixel art incredible, and the simplicity of the controls and your interactions in the game is refreshing. You get to do all the classic cat things, including being a menace, but you also witness the story of a family drowning in tragedy through the eyes of a feline companion. I highly recommend this game if you enjoy puzzles (with hints available if preferred), a good story, and, most importantly, cats. I must warn you, though. This game might hit you hard in the feels.

One of the most heartwarming games I've ever played. A short but incredibly beautiful story about a family cat.

You're an aging, overweight housecat and your master has died. His family comes together in his home for his funeral, each bringing with them their own baggage, drama and ghosts. An intriguing family history unfolds around you through glimpses of the past only you can see, as you follow the family around around Mason Manor, solving minor point-and-click puzzles and simple mouse-waggling mini games. Its more of a visual novel/interactive story than it is a true adventure game; while the game relies on you to execute certain actions in a specific order to proceed, it's largely very linear. Most doors are closed to you (cats don't have thumbs) so you wont waste a lot of time rubbing your inventory (cats don't have pockets) against every interactable prompt. Most available actions have an immediate and necessary result, with a few exceptions (scratching furniture, playing with toys) so puzzles aren't difficult to solve. Good story and good, sympathetic characters. Very satisfying when the truth unfolds. Bittersweet ending. I cried and cried and cried. If you're sensitive to (implied, non graphic) pet mortality, be forewarned. (Also I guess warnings for death, suicide, drugs, de…

This made me cry multiple times. Very good game with a good story, very touching. 10/10

The story of this game massively surpassed my expectations. The characters are believable and feel like real people even as you never actually see their "faces" by any real degree due to the art style. And playing as an actual, regular orange housecat was delightful. Aspen is a very good kitty. I would recommend if you need/prefer to have content warnings to look some up for this game, as some of the subject matter was more intense than I expected.

I don't go out of my way to leave reviews too often but I had to for this one. Absolutely loved it, way more than I thought I would when I decided to take a chance on it. By the end I felt like I knew each character, they were all very well developed. The story was excellent too, from the preview pics of the cat and 'ghosts' and whatnot I thought it was going to be a lot more..."out there", but it was actually incredibly down to Earth and so much fun to experience through this rather unique delivery system (being a cat). The extra little things, like scratching this or knocking over that, really add to the feeling of being a part of the house/family when they comment on it. If you like a slow burn, great character development, and a relatively realistic story to relax to, then I can't recommend this game enough.