Features Hidden cat games are my new jam (and My God there’s a lot of them) ByKim Snaith 8 July 20248 July 2024
I purchased a game called Hidden Cats in Paris over the weekend. It was just £1.49 in the PlayStation Store sale and it features cats: how bad could it possibly be? Turns out not bad at all; it took me around an hour to complete in its entirety but it was a seriously joyous hour of video gaming.
Hidden Cats in Paris has a simple premise. Wait for it: cats have been hidden around Paris, and it’s your job to find ’em. The main mode of the game gives you one large Parisienne scene with 150 cats dotted around it. The whole image is in black and white to begin with, but as you find cats in certain areas, it’ll gradually turn to colour. Such a simple concept, but one that left me with a smile on my face the whole time.
Of course, once I’d done, I went looking for more games about hidden cats. Readers, it’s a busy genre. In the same range, there’s also Hidden Cats in New York and Hidden Cats in London. How about A Building Full of Cats? Or a Castle Full of Cats? They’re all just from one publisher.
Pop on over to Steam and you’ll find even more: Hidden Cats in Rome, Berlin, Santa’s Realm and Spooky Town. Then there’s developer 100CozyGames who has, to date, put out 11 games all about finding cats. And those ones? They’re all free to play, with some extra levels available for pennies if you want to support the dev.
Related: The Best Hidden Object Games on PS5
Now, the sceptic within me thinks there must be something untoward about these games. There are so many of them, for crying out loud, and most have appeared in the last year or two. Cash grabs? Can’t be: some of them are free. Cheap and easy-to-make games that simply give people easy achievements? Maybe: 100 Aliens Cats gave me 100 achievements in six minutes — one for every cat I found. And getting a platinum trophy in Hidden Cats in Paris on PS5 didn’t take very long at all.
But… does it really matter? There are certainly much, much worse games taking up room on our digital storefronts designed to give people easy trophies and achievements. Hidden Cats in Paris is beautifully drawn and is genuinely enjoyable to play. What, really, can be nefarious about that? Even 100 Aliens Cats (and Space Cats or Funny Cats) have a certain lovable charm despite being a bit rougher around the edge.
These are the types of games to play when you just don’t know what else to do. Easy-going, relaxing games to unwind with — and that’s absolutely been my jam lately. My only question? Why cats? Where are all the hidden dogs, rabbits, fish, lizards and birds at?
(Oh wait, they’re all here. Turtles, Fish, Mushrooms, Mice, Snails… it’s all been done.)
