Quick Review: Little Kitty, Big City

*incomprehensible man-squee, something about cats I think?*

I swear, that intro is legit terrifying.

A creation of Double Dagger Studios released on May 9th, 2024, today’s game is one I had been eagerly waiting for. I had to play it as soon as it came out and add it to this year’s Quick Reviews rotation, I just had to. You play as a kitten who was lazing just outside the window of the high apartment it lives in, who falls down from its perch and makes a (thankfully) safe landing all the way down. From here on, your goal is obvious: Get back home!

...Easier said than done. Kitties don’t fly.

I wasn't flying, I was... uh... falling with style!

And there’s also that kitties get distracted with everything, are super-curious, and don’t have a sense of direction. However, this cat makes friends: First, a crow it latched on to during its fall, which is why it didn’t hurt itself too badly. The crow offers to help, but for that kitty should collect 25 Shinies and bring them back.

Ready for a loooong jump!

...Okay, lemme get the Charm, give me a couple hundred hours, I’ll be back with a couple Shinies and- Oh, not those? Phew! I wouldn’t have the patience. No, we’re talking about junk that can be found all over the place. The crow only asks for 25, and you can gather hundreds. When you fulfill the bird’s mission, your reward is a fish, which replenishes the kitten’s stomach and its climbing ability! From here on, the quest is to find three more fish dinners around town, granting enough energy to climb our way home.

The Ascension begins... but we're not ready yet.

"Ah, so that's how they film those movies mommy loves
to watch with the big lizard!"

...Again, easier said than done, because kitties have the attention span of a goldfish with ADHD. Other animals you can meet around town include a tanuki working on a teleportation system by sewer holes and a duck dad looking for his four ducklings. Main quest? What’s that? I have to retrieve the ducklings, find a chameleon eight times, catch many birds, rest in six perfect spots, rescue the neighbor dog’s three lost baseballs, pretend I’m Godzilla, recycle 100 cans, steal a phone and bring it to a flying scarab and-

What was I doing again?

Gotcha!

"Oh I just can't wait to be King!"

Oh right, I was collecting poses and hats. Side-quests lead to your kitten earning new poses. It meows when you press F, but if you hold down the key, a menu will appear with multiple poses. These are fun when you also use the camera (with C, obtainable after a quest) to take pictures of kitty! Oh, and that’s before you factor in the collectible hats to put on its adorbs noggin! There’s 42 of those, and while some can be found in hidden corners of town, others must be purchased from the crow, at vending machines, using Shinies.

Okay, time to go home now! ...No wait, I still have to-

Where do I store all those hats? Better not know.

You get the idea! I love this one. It’s charming and adorable and, well, everything you could expect from this idea. Kitty is energetic, characters are memorable, there’s a lot of fun details to look for. Even though the open world isn’t huge, there are many areas to check out and, as I pointed out, loads of activities and quests to tackle (though some are repetitive, like the “100 cans” mentioned earlier). Not to mention the secrets on rooftops once the Z axis becomes available to explore by climbing.

Kitty recycles, like a good kit-izen.

It's not lacking in stuff to do if you’re won over by the cuteness (and why wouldn’t you be? *more incomprehensible squeeing*), but if your only goal is to get back home, it won’t take all that long. It can be beaten in 2-3 hours, if you’re quick. Then more if you seek to get every achievement, on top of kitty’s to-do list. There’s a bit of jank here and there, though nothing I encountered was too disruptive.

Oh, I want to show so much more... Anyway, this game felt
like it could be "baby's first Open World", it has the
hallmarks with a tone and difficulty that's great for children.

Worth it. That’s all. Get it whenever you can.

Little Kitty, Big City is available on Steam for 19.99$ USD.