Thanks to the game, I finally cried like I never had before.
The story really touched me, especially the ending. I tried my best to save Liam, and I'm glad I did. The characters are amazing. I love every character, especially Shannon, Liam, and Karl. Playing as an Aspen made me truly realize how life could be from a cat's perspective. You can see and walk through the whole family's lore without really interrupting or making it worse.
You can truly change someone's life while being a chunky old cat, haha. I never knew that a game could change my mood so fast. I'm truly happy I was able to get this game and try it myself.
I loved the story and each character's lore. I loved being a part of the family, especially as Grandpa's favorite old cat.

What really made me tear up, though, is the family's backstory itself. At first, when you start playing, you might think Shannon is a bad mother, always yelling at her own children, always making bad decisions for the family, or being a low-tempered woman. You might think she's some emotionless mother, but by the end, I started to love her more and more. Each time I was able to learn something from her past or what actually happened that made her so low-tempered, it broke my heart.
And Liam... such a drunkie, haha, am I right? He doesn't care, he always brings a bottle with him. He even drinks when kids are around and always ends up being too drunk to speak he starts yapping and he falls to the ground. But after a while, I realized he was the youngest son of Mason's family. I knew he had a wife and a kid, but I couldn't put the story together when I saw three ghost children running around the house. I thought Liam was the boy scout at first, haha.
But then, at the end, I almost tore my heart out. I couldn't stop crying knowing that all of this mess was due to a child's disappearance, the oldest son of the Masons left to find his father and never came back, while Shannon couldn't forgive herself for letting go of her own brother and almost losing Aspen. I loved them. I loved the whole family. I lived through it all as if I were a part of it too. I could never forgive myself if I wasn't able to save Liam when he almost lost himself too. His alcohol couldn't stitch his scars from the inside, and he almost decided to give up in the bathroom, all alone.
I'm glad I was able to save him, and I knew he couldn't forgive himself too. The whole family suffered, and the story just made it deeper. I know the story has a bigger meaning about how the father tried to found his own city of some sort called Aason/Aaron? Something like that... But what truly touched me is the connection, the characters, and of course, my little chunky cat Aspen.

Thank you Qultic Games. This game is truly worth more, it's too good to even exist.

Cats and the Other Lives is a very cozy point and click adventure game where you play as the family pet cat. It is excessively slow paced, especially its beginning, but eventually picks up the pace and reveals an intricate look into the Mason’s family problems, both past and present.

Pros

• Excellent cat portrayal with fun behaviours, mini-games and general cat antics
  
• Simple to navigate and locate hotspots
  
• Ample dialogue to read, with much of it being optional extras
  
• Touching ending to the narrative
  
• Large focus on mental health and managing past trauma

Cons

• Gameplay can be quite dull, struggling to maintain player engagement
  
• Some mouse-based puzzles were quite difficult
  
• Very slow beginning

The Mason family return to their childhood home to commemorate the passing of Bernard Mason, the owner of the sprawling mansion and head of the family. Bernard is not well perceived by everyone, and the family struggle to get along with each other. Many characters are held down by grudges and happenings from the past but are all brought together for his wake and forced to coexist and interact. Interestingly, players witness all of this drama through the eyes of the family’s pet cat, Aspen.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2896835079

Aspen roams around the mansion, entering rooms to eavesdrop on conversations. The conversations and general understanding of the characters are all rather lifeless in the beginning, as it simply begins at Bernard’s funeral, without any further context. It only appeared as if a rich member of a well-esteemed family passed away and the superfluous family quarrels ensued. Luckily, I continued with the game, and it does improve. Each family member has a rich backstory that is further investigated as the game progresses. Discover the truth behind Bernard’s personality, how and why he came to be this way, the connections between all the siblings and why is Dawn an outcast. Why is Shannon so cruel and why is the handyman so lazy? All will be revealed in the concluding chapter and culminate in a poignant ending.


The focus in Cats and the Other Lives is the atmosphere and its detailed narrative. Gameplay is dull and feels like a very secondary component to the game. Of course, the big drawcard is that you play as a cute cat, and this is great, but the rest I found quite mediocre. It is a 2D point and click game where all you really do is click and hold either left or right of the screen to make the cat go either side. Whilst it is a large mansion, it is quite easy to navigate, as only the rooms with open doors will be the ones where a task is needed to be completed or demonstrating that there is unseen dialogue in this room. Aspen can see ghosts of the past and can view these apparitions to grasp a better understanding of the surviving family members. Sometimes when Aspen walks into a room, there is dialogue unfolding between characters that is optional to read. It is automatic and cannot be sped up, Aspen can simply walk out of the room, or you can choose to stick around and read it all. I liked this feeling of freedom, but I never knew when the dialogue loop would stop, worried I may have left too suddenly and have missed something as only core dialogue requires a click to continue each speech bubble.

There are minor puzzles along the way, but they are very obvious, and I am reluctant to label them as puzzles, but are more like minigames. There are interesting sequences throughout such as interfering with the role of a dice and using your cute cat paw to catch it, jump and roll out of a bin, hide from a human to get them to open a door for you and so on. The final minigame (without spoilers) seemed out of place, but the ending was very well designed and shone the spotlight on the reflection of our issues and what matters most.

I did struggle with the mouse-based quick-time events, and they seemed much more difficult than intended. An icon comes on the screen with two arrows in opposite directions, hinting to shake the mouse. I do this, but nothing happens. I then try all sorts of combinations to no avail, until I hold down M1 and then shake the mouse but with long, slow movements from side to side, and only then, after a long time, does it finally work.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2897803180


Cat Antics
I suspect the reason most of us are looking at this game is the inclusion of a cat as the playable character, and it does not disappoint. Playing as Aspen, the ginger-haired domestic cat is especially fun. Make a mess, step in paint and spread it throughout the house, catch mice, chase birds, attempt the catch that incessant laser-pointer, track scents, scratch your claws and the most importantly, get humans to do exactly what you want, all the time. In later sections, the narrative becomes quite heavy and although this is portrayed well, the juxtaposition of being a cat and doing “cat stuff” whilst reading the intense dialogue is unusual, but in a good sense.

The developers Cultic Games, a small team from Turkey, are also donating a portion of their profits from this game to cover the expenses of medical operations for street cats. They clearly have a soft spot for felines, and upon looking up their social media, it is very wholesome indeed.



The manor is filled with a homely, but almost nostalgic atmosphere which is amplified by its bright 2D pixel art. The cat animations are fantastic, the way Aspen runs around, licks himself and rubs against characters legs is all detailed and well animated. Conversely, the human faces are very sparse and actually do not have any features, no eyes etc. They are plain slates. I do not mind this design choice, but it contradicts all of the detail that went into Aspen the cat.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2896833845

There are no voice-overs, besides the random grunt or crying baby and most of the game is very silent. Nothing too severely noticeable, and most likely out of budget for the developers, but I do believe the addition of voice actors would improve maintaining player engagement.

This game was played using mouse only and with the following PC specs.:
Intel i5-9400 2.9 GHz
16GB RAM
GeForce RTX 2060 6GB
2560x1440 resolution
HDD
Windows 10

Playtime: 7-8 hours long and appropriately priced

Controller Recommended? No

Replayability value: No (only for achievement hunters)


Cats and The Other lives is a decent point and click that tells an interesting story filled with family drama, long-held grudges and different perspectives and responses to trauma. It has an awfully slow start, but with patience, it does blossom into a narrative worth experiencing. Despite its lacklustre core gameplay, the ability to witness the world as a pet cat and get up to some cat mischief makes this a title I recommend to all narrative lovers and especially those fond of cats.

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As a "game", it is only alright. As a story, I personally consider it an absolute masterpiece. But I also think that it is one of those stories where the response is inevitably going to be divided based on where the player is in life. If you don't identify with it, the gameplay won't be enough. If you are sentimental, like cats, and like stories, it will be decently good. If you are later in life and have a lot of life experience to draw from and can personally identify with things in the story, it will pull emotions from somewhere incredibly deep and painful.
It always gives me pause when I recommend this game because it is one where if you don't find some kind of connection, I can easily imagine it as being a bit boring.

I am getting older. This game absolutely destroyed me. This is honestly the only game, ever, where I actually just sat there and sobbed at the end. Not even just at the end, at the latter 5th of the game.

Life doesn't always end up how we want. Things don't work out. Sometimes there are no answers.

Well, that's official: I've been playing PC games since mid-90s, and this one is the second game ever that made me cry. And that's totally a compliment: I hate phony overly-sentimental stories that try to manipulate my emotions. Cats and the Other Lives is definitely NOT one of them. The writers skillfully build a story of a family (a rather broken one, of course) where each and every member has a detailed and complete personality, never superficial, always believable and relatable. We witness 3 days of this family through the eyes of an elderly cat Aspen. We eat, sleep, scratch a sofa, play a lot, communicate with humans, meow to get a door opened - basically, do whatever any cat does, but also see visions from the past and sometimes direct our relatives' actions. Being a passionate cat person, I'd say that it's a pretty valid depiction of cat behavior (considering a bit of artistic interpretation, of course).

Gameplay-wise, it's mostly a point-and-click interactive movie with a bit of puzzles, rather simple, yet witty and satisfying. The only thing I didn't like were completely unnecessary arcade sequences; to be fair, most of them were pretty easy even for such a clumsy person like me, but the one at the end required maybe 20 attempts in my case (maybe add a skip button?). Still, totally worth it for the profound catharsis in the end.

I had a lot of difficulty getting this game started. The crush was guaranteed in fullscreen. Editing in windowed mode I'm finally able to play without problems. Unfortunately, for some strange reason, it is not possible for me to take screenshots with Steam's F12 and it is a shame because despite having pixel graphics, the settings are beautiful and pleasant. Very easy controls, it's a point and click game with a cute cat who sees ghosts. Many of the interactions are fun. My overall rating is 8/10 for the game complete with achievements, cards, medals and items in the shop.

This is the most charming game I've ever played. Let's just say that if you've ever been fortunate enough to raise a cat and unfortunate enough to have had truly bad life experiences during his lifetime, this game will hit you with the force of ten thousand bricks.

Gameplay-wise, it's not much more than a very easy graphic adventure game with a few twists. Where the game truly, veritably, indubitably shines is the story, which is frankly better than 99% of the media consumed today. I can't praise the devs enough for the story. Cultic Games understands people and what makes people go good and bad. Play the game.

There's a cat and you get to live as a cat raised by a family going through a particularly ♥♥♥♥♥♥ time in a sequence of ♥♥♥♥♥♥ times. You have a chance to save them, though they will never understand your purpose. You're the only creature that truly lives the metaphysical world they dream about in your dead master's library. You have a duty to rescue them from the hole they dug for themselves, and by Bastet you do that.

This is a cat lovers' game for cat lovers who've survived ♥♥♥♥♥♥ times thanks to a cat.

Cucumbers. Why did people come up with the idea of leaving cucumbers everywhere! A very cozy adventure and part-time simulator of the life of a domestic ordinary (is it true?) Cat in a strange house. The old owner is dying and now the cat will plunge his little soft paws into all the secrets of this family, helping her to solve emerging troubles and make peace with each other along the way. The story here is sustained in a calm mystical flow, you should not expect any elements of horror or something like that. Playing as a ginger cat, you will have to deal not only with solving mysteries, but also with quite everyday cat activities that will make you smile more than once. There are also several mini-games, not all of which are implemented successfully, let's be frank, but in general they do not spoil the mood.

Navigation in the game is very friendly, it is almost impossible to get lost here. Only those locations that are important for the current moment of the plot are usually open for exploration, so that the player does not have to aimlessly climb through a huge number of rooms just to drag out the gameplay. The budget of the game is noticeable, a huge amount of resources have been invested in the cat (this is especially noticeable in its magnificent animations), there are not so many resources left for the rest of the characters, so in places they look simple. In general, everything looks nice, the pixel visual performs its task quite competently. The game has a soul, it does not feel any commercial emotional emptiness, which is why you get involved in it with ease. Nice memorable adventure.

I am playing this game as it rains outside with a cup of coffee in my hand and a blanket over me, perfect cozy game experience. Haunted house, mysterious story, beautiful pixel art, wonderful music and you play as a cute cat...If you like any of those, this is a no-brainer.
P. S. Now I think my cat is spying on me...

I LOVE this game. The writing (though needing some corrections) and animations are superb. The cats quirks and movements are excellent (you even get to throw up as part of typical cat behaviour) and there is a scene of a person hanging up a phone while being distraught and the animation is so incredibly telling of what the person is going through, seldom have I seen a scene better portrayed with such minimal brush strokes. I also love all the scenes, light, and sounds. And it keeps on giving and giving and expanding and expanding. You think you might know what is the deal but it will surprise you.

However. 2 cardinal sins have been made here. The first and most egregious one is that the game is uncapped, so if you have a fast PC like me, you'll be punching out over 1 000 FPS, which effs up certain game sections where you have to move your mouse according to screen prompts. It's completely broken until you go into your graphics card settings and limit your PC to 60 FPS. This should not be necessary, obviously.
The second sin is that you have to do all achievements in 1 go. If you're missing any by a second playhrough, you still won't get them, even if you got them by the first run. That is bs. I've played through twice, (half of one which was with the uncapped fram rate and so therefor near impossible) gotten all achievements accumulative but not all during my second run and so therefor nullified.

An excellent game ruined by bad programming.

Full Walkthrough: https://youtu.be/AoOuFtguK5Y

Gameplay: Good
Graphics: Good
Audio: Epic
PC Requirements: Fast
Story: Lovely
Difficulty: Easy to Learn
Game Time: 5-8 hours