Little Kitty, Big City Preview

This week during the Steam Next Fest, I’ve had the opportunity to try out the demo for Little Kitty, Big City. I saw the trailer for this game back in 2022, so I’ve been anxiously awaiting for the chance to try it out for myself. We see an adorable black cat snoozing in the sun on a window ledge. They stretch to get comfortable — like cats usually do — but this time, the kitty moved a little too far in the wrong direction and slid right off the edge. The cat is in full panic mode now, one moment sleeping in the Sun, the other falling straight down towards the street below. The feline tried to grab onto the building or anything else within paws' reach, finally bouncing off an awning, our kitty was airborne. So the cat grabs the only thing it sees, a crow. This bird obviously can’t support the weight of an unwelcome passenger, so it drops the kitty into a garbage can. That wasn’t the most graceful fall from the window, but at least the cat was now on the ground.

This is where you get to take control: first, you have to get the cat out of the garbage. Once you do, there is a checklist of tasks that you need to complete; the number one being to get back home. The game teaches you all the fun cat actions you can do, like jumping, swiping to knock pots off of ledges, meowing, and one of the most fun — zoomies. If you don’t have a cat, this is the term some owners use to describe when they get a burst of energy (usually at night) and run around at full speed. Towards the end of the demo, an orange neighbourhood cat teaches you four relaxing cat moves to do like sitting, lying down, sleeping, or stretching… just make sure not to stretch when you are on a ledge cause we all know what could happen!

You will explore the neighbourhood, trying to figure out a way to get back to your home in that high-rise apartment building. While searching the area, you will notice that water blocks a lot of the streets around you. These waterlogged areas are used to guide you in the right direction; follow the dry path because no matter how many times you try to jump across, the kitty will not touch the water. 

You meet up with that poor crow you grabbed earlier in the air. The cat apologises for ambushing them in the air, but the crow isn’t upset; they just want to help you get home. The first suggestion they give isn’t exactly the most helpful: flapping your “wings” isn’t gonna get this furball off the ground. They realise that instead, you will need to climb back up to your ledge. Our kitty doesn’t have the energy to do this because they are very hungry, so first, they will need some food. The crow proposes a trade: they will give you a fish if you find 25 shinies around the neighbourhood for them. Shinies are a fancy word for “gleaming doodads” like paperclips, springs, keys, bolts, essentially anything shiny and metallic. You find them hidden in bushes, pots, on ledges, or on the roofs of some vehicles. During my time with the demo, I was only able to find 24 shinies; this may have been the max you could find, I’m not sure, but it was a lot of fun searching for all the shiny objects. 

While on the search for shinies, you will also find gacha capsules that contain some of the best items in the game — hats. In the demo, I found four different capsules so my cat could wear hats that look like an apple, frog, bunny, and ladybug. You can switch up the cat's hat at any point in time by going into the pause menu and checking out the hats in your inventory. They are all so freaking cute! I wish my cats in real life would let me dress them up like this! 

Little Kitty Big City is a must-play demo and is going to be a title that I am excited to play the full version of. Everything in the game is incredibly wholesome and family-friendly; even “hunting” birds isn’t brutal like you may expect because you are just holding them. It was cool to see the orange cat say that this is a catch-and-release neighbourhood, just like if you were fishing. If you have ever played Untitled Goose Game, you may find some of the things you get to do feel familiar, like tripping the people walking around or stealing their stuff like cell phones. Sometimes they aren’t very impressed and will chase after you, but other times nuzzling their legs will make them happy and make hearts appear. Everything about this game makes me so happy, and I don’t know how I am going to be able to wait until early 2024 to play the full game!