Untitled Goose Game is widely regarded as an industry darling. Again, an INDUSTRY darling–so much so that it actually won Game of the Year at the DICE Awards in 2020. Why? I really couldn’t tell you, even as someone that’s worked in a game development studio that votes on these things. What I could tell you is that with that logic, that means Little Kitty, Big City is bound for big things this year.
Announced at the Wholesome Snack Showcase in 2021, Little Kitty, Big City was a game that got the attention of plenty oowoos, myself included.
You play as a cat all alone in a hustling, bustling city, and unlike BlueTwelve’s 2022 release of Stray, it’s really all about being a cat doing cat things. The beginning of the game even has you scaling walls and walking on them as you knock over pots just because you can (and you also get an achievement for breaking 10 pots). This is where the Untitled Goose Game comparisons come from. That goose was a jerk, and the cat can be just as bad.
Can the cute cat mess with humans? Yes, but this human actually likes what you do to his art.
While being a menace to society leads to a healthy dose of hilarity, unlike the goose game, there’s actually an end goal in Little Kitty, Big City–to get home. The problem is the cat lives with its owner in a condo at the top of a very tall building, and the cat just doesn’t have the energy to make that climb. Before long, you’ll meet a chatty crow who’ll be willing to trade the cat a fish in return for 25 shinies. What are shinies? Shinies are just about anything shining and lying around the city–paper clips, bottle caps, can pop tops; it’s all currency to the crows. You eat the fish, and you suddenly have the energy to climb. Of course, you’ll need a lot of energy to climb, which means you’ll need more fish.
That’s where the big city comes in. It’s up to you to find all the fish in the city, but simply finding them won’t be enough. The cat will have to work for those fish at various levels. It can be as easy as finding a fish laying around at the supermarket or stealing a fish from an innocent fisherman. It’s all there for the taking. Along the way you’ll also meet a raccoon who runs the city’s sewer system which somehow becomes your ticket to fast travel. You’ll meet a lizard who thinks he’s a chameleon. There’s a wasp who needs you to steal a smartphone. You’ll also meet other cats that seem to think they’re the mayor, among other important titles that are just silly.
Not everything in the city is friendly though. You’ll also come across dogs that won’t let you anywhere near them until you give them a bone. Then there’s the worst thing… water. The kitty does not want to get wet. So if you come across areas in the city blocked by water, you’ll just have to find another way through, and most of the time it’s by solving the problems of the furry friends you come across.
If you’re a completionist, there’s more than just fish and shinies to collect. Little capsules containing hats for the cat to wear are scattered about the city in places that are otherwise pretty well hidden, so that’s something fun players can do. In addition to this, there are a lot of tasks and achievements to check off in the pause menu as your feline makes its way across the city. Some are simple, and some are actual puzzles that require some clever effort which also bring about comparisons to the goose game.
Cats love hats, and you’ll love the cat in the hat.
All this said, as you’d expect, the game is really easy. It’s just very likely that you’ll run into problems with the game’s controls. As nimble as the cat is, it’s not really easy to use. Just like swiping pots off fences, the game teaches you how to do various things like pick things up and make measured leaps, and I found myself fumbling with the controls pretty often when playing with the Pro Controller on Switch. I don’t know if the clunkiness of the controls are apparent on Xbox or PC, but considering how rough the controls were in Untitled Goose Game, it wouldn’t surprise me. Still, it’s easy to get used to the jank. Nobody is playing the game for its polish. We’re playing it because it’s chill.
Little Kitty, Big City is the very definition of a cozy game. It’s about being a cat doing cat things and finding your way home after eating all the yummy fish and making friends with all the animals in the city. If you’re set on getting all the fish and getting the cat home, the game shouldn’t take more than two hours to finish. If you want to do everything there is to do, it’ll probably be closer to five hours. I didn’t do everything in my playthrough, but assuming this game comes out on PlayStation, I’ll definitely do it then to satisfy my hunt for trophies.
That would be a bug explaining modern-day text etiquette to a cat.
I’m not expecting Little Kitty, Big City to clean up at awards shows (though it wouldn’t be surprising), but the game hilariously does everything it promises and sets itself up to be the perfect palette cleanser for anyone looking for a small title to enjoy. Any furry friends you have could have fun watching you play too, as I can see this being a streaming favorite thanks to its short length.
Untitled Goose Game is widely regarded as an industry darling. Again, an INDUSTRY darling–so much so that it actually won Game of the Year at the DICE Awards in 2020. Why? I really couldn’t tell you, even as someone that’s worked in a game development studio that votes on these things. What I could tell you is that with that logic, that means Little Kitty, Big City is bound for big things this year.
Announced at the Wholesome Snack Showcase in 2021, Little Kitty, Big City was a game that got the attention of plenty oowoos, myself included.
You play as a cat all alone in a hustling, bustling city, and unlike BlueTwelve’s 2022 release of Stray, it’s really all about being a cat doing cat things. The beginning of the game even has you scaling walls and walking on them as you knock over pots just because you can (and you also get an achievement for breaking 10 pots). This is where the Untitled Goose Game comparisons come from. That goose was a jerk, and the cat can be just as bad.
Can the cute cat mess with humans? Yes, but this human actually likes what you do to his art.
While being a menace to society leads to a healthy dose of hilarity, unlike the goose game, there’s actually an end goal in Little Kitty, Big City–to get home. The problem is the cat lives with its owner in a condo at the top of a very tall building, and the cat just doesn’t have the energy to make that climb. Before long, you’ll meet a chatty crow who’ll be willing to trade the cat a fish in return for 25 shinies. What are shinies? Shinies are just about anything shining and lying around the city–paper clips, bottle caps, can pop tops; it’s all currency to the crows. You eat the fish, and you suddenly have the energy to climb. Of course, you’ll need a lot of energy to climb, which means you’ll need more fish.
That’s where the big city comes in. It’s up to you to find all the fish in the city, but simply finding them won’t be enough. The cat will have to work for those fish at various levels. It can be as easy as finding a fish laying around at the supermarket or stealing a fish from an innocent fisherman. It’s all there for the taking. Along the way you’ll also meet a raccoon who runs the city’s sewer system which somehow becomes your ticket to fast travel. You’ll meet a lizard who thinks he’s a chameleon. There’s a wasp who needs you to steal a smartphone. You’ll also meet other cats that seem to think they’re the mayor, among other important titles that are just silly.
Not everything in the city is friendly though. You’ll also come across dogs that won’t let you anywhere near them until you give them a bone. Then there’s the worst thing… water. The kitty does not want to get wet. So if you come across areas in the city blocked by water, you’ll just have to find another way through, and most of the time it’s by solving the problems of the furry friends you come across.
If you’re a completionist, there’s more than just fish and shinies to collect. Little capsules containing hats for the cat to wear are scattered about the city in places that are otherwise pretty well hidden, so that’s something fun players can do. In addition to this, there are a lot of tasks and achievements to check off in the pause menu as your feline makes its way across the city. Some are simple, and some are actual puzzles that require some clever effort which also bring about comparisons to the goose game.
Cats love hats, and you’ll love the cat in the hat.
All this said, as you’d expect, the game is really easy. It’s just very likely that you’ll run into problems with the game’s controls. As nimble as the cat is, it’s not really easy to use. Just like swiping pots off fences, the game teaches you how to do various things like pick things up and make measured leaps, and I found myself fumbling with the controls pretty often when playing with the Pro Controller on Switch. I don’t know if the clunkiness of the controls are apparent on Xbox or PC, but considering how rough the controls were in Untitled Goose Game, it wouldn’t surprise me. Still, it’s easy to get used to the jank. Nobody is playing the game for its polish. We’re playing it because it’s chill.
Little Kitty, Big City is the very definition of a cozy game. It’s about being a cat doing cat things and finding your way home after eating all the yummy fish and making friends with all the animals in the city. If you’re set on getting all the fish and getting the cat home, the game shouldn’t take more than two hours to finish. If you want to do everything there is to do, it’ll probably be closer to five hours. I didn’t do everything in my playthrough, but assuming this game comes out on PlayStation, I’ll definitely do it then to satisfy my hunt for trophies.
That would be a bug explaining modern-day text etiquette to a cat.
I’m not expecting Little Kitty, Big City to clean up at awards shows (though it wouldn’t be surprising), but the game hilariously does everything it promises and sets itself up to be the perfect palette cleanser for anyone looking for a small title to enjoy. Any furry friends you have could have fun watching you play too, as I can see this being a streaming favorite thanks to its short length.
by Danreb Victorio
