Cat Rescue Inc. Review (PC)

Cat Rescue Inc. proves that things don’t have to be overly complex to be good. It makes a simple point that, even without the full backing of a prolific team, or even the technical expertise of a veteran developer, happiness and joy can still snuggle into small spaces—like a cat, rather fittingly, in a small cubby of an indie game. In this case, that very game is small, and it is petite in comparison with a larger collective of feline-centric collect-a-thons. It doesn’t boast a mesmerizing open world to scoot around in, nor does it flourish as a ground-breaking adventure that possesses all of the spectacular qualities of a full-fledged RPG. Instead, it offers a simple setup: you, the savior of cats, collect and essentially stack your furry companions on your head, and bring them back to your sweet resort. That’s it. There’s no fluff here. Well, not really.

The game is, above all, a stage-based collect-a-thon—a game that requires you to hop between levels aboard your trusty van and rummage around various woods and other locations in search of missing cats. With the cats in tow (or on your head, weirdly), you have all but one objective to complete: bring them back to your van, and shuffle on to the next level. But, there a small catch here: the levels aren’t just for the furry folk; they are also for the mischievous and the stubborn. With that, you have another task to juggle on the side: evade the critters as they attempt to thwart your progress, and utilize evasive maneuvers to outsmart their desperate pursuits. Not a lot to fret about there — but stick with us, anyway.

Furball Stacks

Cat Rescue Inc. plays out like a familiarly sweet top-down adventure, with the player controlling a sprightly hero in a beautifully designed hand-drawn world, and having them use quick maneuvers to both collect and navigate a series of obstacles whilst other creatures make their effort to sully your progress. As far as gameplay goes, there isn’t a whole lot to touch base on, as it’s more or less condensed into a series of touch-and-go bag-and-tag episodic affairs—clips that, quite frankly, don’t alter much between rules or other aspects of gameplay. In a nutshell, you have a simple job to accomplish: venture out into an area, and stack cats up on your head before returning them to your van. And if you think that sounds easy, well, that’s because it is.

The ultimate goal here is to ascend ranks—a job that can be accomplished by successfully bringing your feline friends back to the van and accruing cash. The more cash you obtain, the higher the rank. It’s your goal here, then, to climb enough ranks to be able to refer to yourself as the “Lion (or Lioness) of Industry.” An incredibly simple, albeit wholesome concept I’ll admit, yet one that’s as easy to jump into as it is to roll with over the course of its short but memorable time on the small screen.

Whiskers & Stickers

I can’t say that Cat Rescue Inc. is bursting at the seams with intricate details to marvel at, but it does feature some solid sketchbook line work and pastel imagery to admire. The locations, while not overly detailed, much less massively different from the other pages in its book, all share a common theme, though—a colorful, almost joyous art style that’s reminiscent of a children’s sticker book that bears all of the familiar hallmark elements. And to give credit where it’s due, it captures that adopted look incredibly well, all things considered, with its vibrant subjects and bold design providing positive compositions by the boatload.

For a small game that was built from the grassy roots up by a brother-sister duo, I find myself willing to give it a little extra credit. While it isn’t the most striking game on the current market, it is one that packs a lot of heart and artistic flair. It’s the sort of game that you could quite easily unwind to after a hard day’s work—a dose of virtual therapy that sits well with a warm brew and a sunset. That, to some, is enough of a perk to warrant the purchase. And I’m inclined to believe that I happily fall into that collective.

To help sweeten the pot, Cat Rescue Inc. isn’t sullied by a disastrous trolley of wonky mechanics or jumbled UI jargon. It’s actually quite smooth and minimalistic—a combination that, while not overly exciting or in receipt of any award-winning features, just works as it should. It doesn’t go much further than a bread-and-butter cat-collecting indie, but then, given that it excels in the areas it opts to take for a spin, it doesn’t need to indulge in any more than the basics, either.

Verdict

Cat Rescue Inc’s elegantly palpable hand-drawn art style and accessible mechanics make for two fantastic balls of fluff in a short and sweet collect-a-thon indie that will whisk you away for a quick prance around the woodland and keep you entertained for hours. It doesn’t boast the greatest features in the world, and it doesn’t strive to be anything more than a simple game of tag with feline teammates, either. That said, where it falls short in terms of its depth and originality, it most certainly makes up for in its charming visuals, wholesome aesthetics, and pulpy characters.

It’s doubtful that Cat Rescue Inc. will keep you for the long haul, or even long enough for you to get a whiff of the dormant DLC that may or may not wheedle its way into future updates. Even still, if you’re looking to splurge a couple of hours on a lovingly crafted action-adventure game that doesn’t require anything more of you than an hour or two of your time, then this ought to scratch that itch of yours whilst you wait for the next fluff-addled adventure comes strolling along. Can’t hold out that long? You could always hang your coat in 100 Zombie Cats.