Cats in Time Preview

 Being a huge fan of cats and puzzle games, Cats in Time instantly became a game that I wanted to try out. This is a point-and-click style game so no controller is needed. Though I recommend using a mouse because the touchpad just isn’t large enough to do the motions that you need to solve the puzzles.

You are introduced to a quirky professor who has a big problem on his hands. While working on a time machine, his plethora of mischievous cats touched something that they shouldn’t have and they sent themselves back in time. Clearly this isn’t the first time the cats got in the way of an experiment; I’m betting that the professor was trying to make a cloning machine and at least one of the cats got in the way. That’s why all the cats in this game look exactly the same, the only thing that changes is the style of hat they are wearing. The hat reflects the time period that the cat is living in. So it is up to you, being the good person that you are, to travel through time to search and recover all of these cats.

The demo for Cats in Time consists of four different puzzles set in different time periods. Each level has 10 cats to find so most of the time there will be a puzzle for each one. Though every once in a while a cat is just sitting there watching you, and judging for sure your investigative talents. Each level has a building with a bunch of windows and doors that you will need to open to find the cats. Opening them will require you to solve a puzzle first. Sometimes items are required so you will have to search the whole area to see if you can find something that you can use, like a sheriff's badge that is star-shaped and fits perfectly into the opening on the wall. There were times when it wasn’t super obvious what the puzzle was, so it’s worth just trying to click on anything you can and try moving it. 

Using the computer mouse, you can rotate the building and if you click, you can zoom in on that area so you can attempt the puzzle. There were a lot of really clever puzzles in Cats in Time. They weren’t so hard that you couldn’t solve them, but some really require some out-of-the box thinking. If you just can’t find all of the cats in the level, you can just move onto the next one and try again later. There were a few that I just couldn’t find, so I’ll have to go back once I step away for a while.

Overall, the demo on Steam took me about an hour and a half to complete. It probably should have been faster but I was constantly stopping to take notes and screenshots from the game. Cats in Time is an enjoyable game that I think anyone who likes puzzles will enjoy, especially if you like cats. I am curious to see what kind of crazy puzzles will be in the final games, and how many of the kitties I can manage to find in this ultimate game of hide and seek.