Cat in Hat

Have you ever thought to yourself, "there aren't enough games that have cats wearing cute hats?"  Me neither, but then I played Little Kitty, Big City and realized that the genre is really lacking.  Please, give us more games that feature cute felines wearing a wide selection of silly, but adorable, hats.

What is it?

An action game where you play as a a poor kitty who has accidentally fallen from its favorite perch and has to figure out a way to get back home.  It's tags on Steam include, "cute," "wholesome," "cats," "exploration," and "sandbox."  All of those feel right with maybe the exception of "sandbox."

How much playtime can I expect?

I would estimate ~5-10 hours depending on playstyle.  If you're achievement hunting it'll be on the higher end.  The lower end estimate is also probably a bit high--you could just do the main story and be done in 2-3 hours.

Pros:

Prancing through the streets.

+ Cute kitty.  You play as an adorable, little black kitty.  Your character can do many, cute cat things, like jump, climb, meow, squeeze into tight spaces, and zoom around.  You can also unlock several emotes that include behaviors like laying down, grooming, walking in a fancy way, and some others.  All add to the overall cute vibes.

+ Enjoyable, exploration based gameplay.  As the little kitty, you run into several helpful animal friends--a crow with a predilection for "shinies"--AKA any slightly sparkly item laying in the street.  These shinies are sprinkled around the city (often hidden in high areas) and are basically the main resource for purchasing items.  There's an inventor tanuki who has created a system of portals to help you get around the city.  There are several other felines who mostly just want to catch birds...or naps.  The map is scattered with lots of hidden areas that require mostly upward traversal.  It's quite enjoyable to jump from ledge to ledge to reach the top of a building.

+Fun achievements that mostly revolve around the feline theme.  There's an achievement for pawing items off of ledges (a favorite of all cats), another for catching (and releasing--there's no bird murdering) birds, one for sleeping in boxes, one for finding various, hidden napping spots--they're cute and mostly easy to get.

Feelin' crabby.

+ Collectible hats.  Scattered throughout the map are tiny capsule toys (they look sort of like a Poke-ball).  Each contains a hat that your cat can wear.  These hats are extremely cute and make you want to find more hats.  You can also purchase hats from machines (with the help of your crow friend) at the cost of a few shinies.  There are over 60 hats and they're all awesome.

+ Customizable kitties!  Once you help the tanuki get back to his lab, you unlock a special piece of technology that allows you to create custom kitties.  You can play as the default kitty or one of your own custom creations.  There are a lot of options for creating any kitty you can dream up (I mean, purple kitty...why not!)

+ Gameplay that is enjoyable but not too easy or too hard.  Perfect for any gamer.

+ Saves often, so no worries about losing content if you need to quit.

+ Photo mode with tons of options.  (*You do have to explore and find special items to unlock all of them)  There are frames, specialized settings, stickers, and everything you need to take a billion photos of your cute felines with all the hats.

A custom kitty.

Cons:

- Controller recommended.  It's probably possible to do mouse/keyboard because the gameplay isn't too demanding.

- Short.  I want more kitty, and more city.  You'll also likely find yourself feeling a bit disappointed that the adventure is over.  Hopefully they will make another kitty game.

- I wish the in-game map was a bit more helpful.  It would be nice if the hat machines were marked on the map (I mean, the overall play area isn't that big, so it's not too bad).

Recommendation:

If you're looking for a relaxing, cute and wholesome title, look no further.  I got it on sale during the autumn sale and would recommend it for the sale price (maybe a bit steep for the short playtime at regular price).  It is a perfect game for kids (not too challenging and very safe, wholesome content), so it's a good option if you're looking for something to enjoy with a younger kid.