
A Cat & His Boy is a rather interesting title. Starting life on itch.io, it was designed to be a short comfort game with a Game Boy aesthetic that sends out a heartwarming message. In fact, not only does it look like something from the early handheld era, but it was even made playable on hardware / emulator too.
And now it has been brought over to the Nintendo Switch for the cheap price of €2.99.
For such a low price, how could I refuse?
Many thanks to the publisher for the review code.
A CAT & HIS GAMEBOY
Whilst the story of A Cat & His Boy is quite light, the overall theme absolutely is not. A young boy named Leif is struggling after his parent’s divorce and, realising how insignificant he seems in the grand scale of things, is sent into a pretty bad state. This is all set to change however after his new pet, a kitten named Midnight (due to his pitch black colouring, of course) uses his intuition and cuteness to help snap him out of it.
It’s a really heavy theme but the game deals with it very well. Whilst there are certain moments of levity to lighten the mood, it’s still treat with a great deal of respect and both the boy’s situation and resolution feels earned – even though the experience only lasts around ten minutes or so to get through.
Playing as Midnight, your goal is to wander around the family house collecting items and solving some rudimentary puzzles. As you proceed further, Leif’s status will begin to change and he’ll start moving around the house until you reach the finale. It’s a top-down adventure, so it’s super easy to see the room and investigating objects is as simple as a button press. There’s very little here that will prove too tricky, especially as the house isn’t all that big, but you will find yourself attempting to interact with everything.
What makes it so charming is all the little touches that round off the experience. Vents can be crawled through for marginally quicker room access (although some rooms can only be accessed via the vents due to the doors being shut), a small butterfly catching game can be played for a brief diversion, and you can even hunt down ten mice hidden around the house for a brief side activity.
It’s a really cute and heartwarming game, that feels even more adorable due to its 1 bit aesthetic. People may be dismayed at the length of the game, and understandably so, but given that the asking price is so cheap it’s also something that can be accepted if you want to give it a try.
VERDICT
A Cat & His Boy is a brief yet charming Game Boy style game that deals with its heavy subject matter extremely well. There’s not a whole lot here and it can be beaten in no time at all, but considering the €3 asking price it’s also not going to break the bank either.
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