Cats in Wonderland Review (PC)

Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland is an influential piece of British history that, like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Peter Rabbit, or The BFG, holds a permanent residency in our hearts. It’s a privilege too, to have heaps of literature on our doorstep; Swindon, for example, hosts The House of Frankenstein, which was of course a crucial part of Mary Shelley’s work. A stone’s throw from Swindon, you have Oxford—a city that, thanks to Carrol, has become a mantelpiece for none other than a young girl, a mad hatter, and, of course, a small but evidently wise cat. And it’s there, beneath the pink and purple heart of Oxford, where Cats in Wonderland finds its place as another faithful love letter to the whimsy and the enchantment of the ever-famous rabbit hole.

Cats in Wonderland pulls you down the rabbit hole and into a jam-packed world of flamboyancy and epic wonders that openly transcend the formal boundaries of a fluorescent hallucination. With a thousand cats at the helm and a generously packed diorama of familiar landmarks, the game invites you to trundle through a spiraling world, decipher the sneakiest of felines, and consume a slice of cake with a side of optical illusions. It’s all Wonderland-esque — and that’s a good thing, given that Wonderland is, as visually intoxicating as it often appears, the ideal setting for a hidden object game. The Cheshire Cat is just the icing on the cake, or to put it more appropriately, the sugar cube at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

Of course, Cats in Wonderland is still a rather simple hidden object game at its core. Like the hundreds, if not thousands of alternate hidden object games on the market, it builds its world on most, if not all of the same basic pillars. Sure enough, you have a thousand cats that populate a flat landscape, a nifty scrubbing tool, and a whopping world of color and whimsy to gradually carve through. The point is, you have more than likely experienced this type of puzzler before. But, that’s not a bad thing. If anything, Wonderland makes for the perfect spot for a hidden object game to sew its seeds. It’s positively unique, visually and unapologetically intoxicating, and above all, a classic take on a beloved setting.

Right from the beginning, Cats in Wonderland is made to feel like an easy game to slip into and piece together. With a clutter-free UI, simple-to-navigate scrubbing controls and a well-wrapped environment that, while still oh-so-Wonderland and eccentrically inclined, is delightful to pluck apart and organize, one feline friend at a time. It all comes bundled with a light story, too—a plot that, while severely lacking in original strands or conventional twists or turns, gives you a motive to lean on. But of course, you don’t often look to a hidden object game to scratch an itch. Still, it is a pleasant surprise, to have a little extra meat on the bones, so to speak.

It unfolds like this: The Queen of Hearts desperately wanted the Cheshire Cat as a pet, but was ultimately whisked away and forced to bring the gavel down and order for all cats of Wonderland to be brought to her kingdom. It’s your job, in short, to ensure that the thousand cats fall into your hands, and not those of the villainous Queen of Hearts. Granted, it’s a simple setup that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of a great storybook, but it gives you a sense of purpose, and that counts for something here. 

Thin plot aside, Cats in Wonderland is a charming hidden object game that checks a lot of boxes and yanks on all of the usual strings. With some striking hand-drawn art and a wide variety of levels that span the most iconic locations in Wonderland, it doesn’t quite skimp out on detail or lore-accurate segments, but instead chooses to sew a little piece of something into everything. And that’s greatly appreciated in this case, too, as Wonderland isn’t exactly short of areas and famous landmarks or characters. It just so happens that Cats in Wonderland is one for taking full advantage of all of the pieces of the puzzle.

With some surprisingly challenging sections and a trove of well-placed subjects to keep you occupied for the duration of the thousand-piece jigsaw, Cats in Wonderland delivers a thoroughly enjoyable hidden object game that, while still one of millions, is an ideal fit for the fold. Although it doesn’t necessarily go beyond a textbook hidden object chapter, it does fulfill its purpose as a modern tribute to a beloved tale.  To that end I’d say that, if you do share a love of Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland, then you should definitely consider slipping down this rabbit hole for an hour or two, if only for one or two cups of tea.

Verdict

Cats in Wonderland bends the whimsy and the all-round weirdness of Lewis Carrol’s timeless tale into a perfectly familiar, accessible and entertaining hidden object game that, while not quite the gold-standard Cheshire Cat of the field, is just as enjoyable to scrub through as any cat-centric hidden object puzzler that flaunts eccentricity and palpable kookiness. With a lot of solid line work, neat touches and recognizable areas to ferry you through the rabbit hole for an hour or two, it makes for a short but satisfying journey that any fan of the hidden object genre will likely adore.

Again, Cats in Wonderland isn’t one for reinventing the wheel or sugarcoating a familiar format. Rather, it’s a game that knows exactly what it is and what it brings to the table. As a hidden object game, it keeps to the same standard as its closest adversaries. But then, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. In any case you’ll likely stop by for the whiskers, but you’ll stick around for a third, fourth or fifth cup of tea for the artwork and the Lewis Carrol infusions.