A Brief But Better Feline Hunt
I come to Cats and Seek: Kyoto on the back of time with Hidden Cats in Tokyo and Cats and Seek: Osaka. You could say that is feline overload. Or you could say that it’s an addiction that is taking full control, refusing to give up its grasp.
Whatever, there are things in Cats and Seek: Kyoto that see it as a marked improvement on its Osaka sibling. But it’s still not a patch on what is provided with it’s Tokyo cousin.
For those unaware, the Cats and Seek series of games should be seen as a little side note to that of the bigger (and better) Hidden Cats In… franchise. It’s a group of games that have previously taken us to Osaka, as well as a Dino Park, leaving the player to cast their gaze over a couple of scenarios, attempting to uncover and click upon as many hidden cats as possible.
Head to Kyoto and hunt cats
No Rush, No Fuss
As far as relaxing games go, it’s a sub-genre that is about as calm and cozy as you can get, even if we slated the Osaka version for putting too much focus on the speedrunning, timed aspect. That’s here too in Kyoto, but thankfully to a much lesser degree. In fact, aside from using it to gather up a final achievement and to max out the Gamerscore on offer, we’ve totally ignored that pressured environment.
Two Scenes, Thousands of Stories
Anyways, in Cats and Seek: Kyoto, you are presented with two well drawn scenes, from there, left to find a few hundred cats across both boards. Listen for their meows, spot the cheeky felines hidden in a variety of places across multiple poses, and your opportunity to click them up, colouring them in, is complete. Find all the cats will see the level reach a conclusion, all before you move onto the next.
Of course, with just two scenes in Cats and Seek: Kyoto, limitations do pop up. But thankfully these two levels are pretty decent in size, and so zooming in and out as you hunt is very much possible. And in a nice touch, every single cat hidden in Kyoto comes with a name and a very brief fact too; each click is rewarded not just with a sound, but with a tiny morsel of personality, making you feel like you’re discovering a character rather than just ticking off an object. That thought and effort is very much appreciated by us, and whilst we would prefer Silesia Games and Noobzilla to perhaps concentrate on lengthening their games with additional content and levels, we can’t complain about the commitment to what they have put together.
Fancy taking in a jigsaw?
Jigsaws and Jazz
Further to that, these Kyoto boards come with a few hidden extras for good measure. There are some ‘friends’ of the Cats and Seek saga kicking around in the scapes provided, and you’ll do well to find them and tick them up. But then there are also numerous jigsaw pieces scattered through each of the levels. It’s something else to look for aside from those cats, and with a timed hint system in place, finding everything present should be fairly simple.
Weirdly, those jigsaw puzzle pieces then come together in a strange little jigsaw segment that is found just off the main menu screen. Here, you’re left to place each piece into a board, creating a lovely little picture and filling out the jigsaw as you go. It’s obviously pretty easy to complete – and anyone who has ever put a jigsaw together at any point in their life, will work through the two dozen or so pieces in a flash – but it’s a neat little side affair to the main cat hunting. Again though, we’d much prefer the development team focused their efforts on hiding more cats in more levels, but it is what it is.
Aside from that, and the opportunity to dive into speedrunning each stage (something we still hate), going up against a stopwatch, that’s about all there is to Cats and Seek: Kyoto. We guess you could throw in the personalisation and customisation that is now seemingly becoming standard for these games, as you switch up pointers, colour themes and skins, utilising a basic photo mode if you really must. And this time around there are four different soundtracks to have playing away in the background too. But none of these things should be seen as game changers or product sellers, coming across more as quality-of-life improvements than anything else.
Short but fairly satisfying
A Short but Satisfying Feline Fix
With the usual high standard of line drawings making up the two stages in Cats and Seek: Kyoto, if you’re at all familiar with the virtual cat hunting scene, and want to continue with what can easily become a bit of an addiction, then you should probably take a trip to Kyoto.
There’s no doubt that it is again lacking in content, but for a low price, we can just about walk away and be left satisfied with the sub-hour of gameplay on offer.
Important Links
Buy Cats and Seek: Kyoto on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/cats-and-seek-kyoto/9MW57L4SDGJJ
AloJapan.com