Bellevue's adorable new video game lets you channel your inner kitten, complete quests, meet animal friends, and basically play pranks on kittens.
Little Kitty Big City is a cozy adventure game for all ages. You play as a small black cat who falls off a window during a nap and gets lost in the city.
“The main objective is to get home, but the essence of this game that we really want people to enjoy and embrace is a game with a lot of distractions,” said Bellevue-based Double Game Development. said Matt Wood, founder and CEO. dagger studio.
The idea for the game came about a few years ago, when Wood was teaching kids how to code.
“I have three kids and I was doing little sessions teaching them little things here and there, like game development and programming,” he said. “And we came up with ideas for fun things. And one of the ideas they came up with was this very simple idea of what would happen if you played as a cat.”
At the time, he couldn't think of a game to play 3D cats, so he mocked one up.
“It was really cool,” he said. “We're cat people and we think it's fun, so that's kind of where it came from.”
Wood will be responsible for most of the game's production, with animator Micah Breitweiser handling the cat animation.
“She's a cat person, too,” he said. “One of the things we did during development was we ended up watching a lot of cat videos, and luckily there are a lot of them online, so it was a good resource. ”
This game features activities and talking animal characters.
“The game is about jumping, exploring, collecting and expressing yourself as a cat through emotes – little emotions you can do even if you're just sitting, lying down or cleaning,” Wood said.
Some of the cute emotes you can unlock include “Make Muffin'' and “Beginner Stretch.''
Wood said he loves role-playing games that feature quests and a main story.
“And then there's everything else in the game,” he said. “We like all the other parts. Cats do what they want, and we want to accept that. We like to think they're just a distraction.”
Collect over 40 adorable hats, from satsuma hats to sunflowers to axolotls, as you roam around your neighborhood, including parks, construction sites, and streets.
“My cats don't like hats, right? And there are a lot of cats who don't like hats,” Wood said. “So I think it was an opportunity to enjoy the cuteness of a cat in a hat without actually bothering a real cat who doesn't like wearing hats.”
Wood said that when they presented the idea to others, it quickly became clear that it was something that people really liked.
It evokes those feelings, right? He said. “It's purely an emotional state of, 'I love this. This evokes something in me that makes me happy.'” So we wanted to embrace that. ”
The crows, ducklings, and other animals Kitty encounters “talk,” but Wood made sure they didn't feel too human.
“I wanted them to really feel the animal they were representing,” he said. “I wanted to keep everything as within the realm of that particular animal as possible, so every voice is an actual animal sound for that particular animal.”
Breitweiser contained movements and small reactions that cat people would detect, Wood said.
“It's very obvious that Kitty is hearing sounds behind her, like the way she animates her ears in certain situations,” he said. “Or the way Kitty's ears fold up when she's feeling a certain emotion.”
Wood said cat owners can definitely get more out of the game thanks to these subtleties.
“We want everyone to enjoy it, but we think people who know and love cats will get something special out of this production,” he says. I did.
Wood said one of his early goals was to create something that parents would feel comfortable letting their children play with and actually want to play with.
“I think in general there are a lot of parents who don't really understand exactly what the game means to their kids,” he says. “And they don't think it's worth it. But it's worth it. The time you get to spend with your kids, especially on certain games, is invaluable. We connected in so many ways by playing the game,” just sitting side by side. ”
Wood points out that there is no danger in the game and no way to harm Kitty.
“There’s nothing to worry about, just have fun and bring joy,” he said.
Little Kitty Big City has already become a hit among gamers, with over 100,000 units sold in 48 hours. Reviewers call it a “lighthearted comic comedy” and “a game you'll want to curl up with on a lazy, cozy day between naps.”
The game is available on PC, Xbox, and Switch.
Click here to learn more about Little Kitty Big City.
Susan Wyatt is a freelance writer for Seattle Refined, specializing in pets, gardening, and all things swell in the Northwest.
