Cats are so prevalent in today’s internet culture that I could probably write this entire review for Little Kitty, Big City with a series of memes, reaction images, and the sort of Reels templates that permeate my social media feeds. So naturally, Double Dagger Studio’s debut adventure made some waves every time it’s been shown off in various indie showcases since November 2021, and now that it has arrived on Nintendo Switch and Xbox, it’s sure to make gamers everywhere squee.
Little Kitty, Big City puts players in the shoes—err, toe-beans—of a precocious black cat who stumbles into a bit of bad luck. When an afternoon nap on the windowsill goes awry, our furry hero must find its way back up to its high-rise apartment… but first, it needs to find the strength to scale the building.
The result is a lighthearted romp that strikes a balance somewhere between the chaotic Untitled Goose Game, the charming adventure of Stray (sans the alien-dodging bits and postapocalyptic vibe), and its own indie game sensibilities.
Little Kitty, Big City offers a standard suite of abilities to facilitate your feline gallivanting. Our hero can saunter, creep, and sprint (or “get the zoomies”) around town, bat items, leap, or meow. Though the inputs are simple, they’re mapped intuitively around the controller; I especially appreciated how each paw is controlled with the corresponding trigger button, and of course, the obligatory dedicated m eow button.
“…Little Kitty, Big City has all the cozy vibes that Stray left on the table.”
The main drive for progress is climbing. Little Kitty, Big City’s main task boils down to finding fish around town to increase the cat’s stamina, thereby allowing it to climb ivy growing in various spots. Each level of stamina essentially unlocks another vertical tier of the city, granting access to new rooms and thus, new challenges. Though the pessimistic could dismiss the climbing itself as another Breath of the Wild stamina wheel chore, the gradual increase in accessible areas inspires the Metroid-like thrill that comes from seeking the next new hidden detail.
If you can manage to maintain perfect focus on only the critical progression path, this will prove a pretty quick adventure—one you might finish in under two hours. However Little Kitty, Big City offers a host of diversions and side quests, tucked in amidst the main objectives. These objectives dovetail holistically, and wisely avoid pointing too firmly in the ending’s direction.
Perhaps the game’s purest fun is the moments where you have to tap into that Untitled Goose Game sense of chaos and mischief to manipulate the city’s inhabitants. Stand in a pedestrian’s path to make them trip so they drop whatever they’re holding, and you can quickly snag that item to further your own goals.
These sorts of “puzzles” form most of the key objectives, but I was left hoping Little Kitty, Big City would lean into them a little more. It approaches that high mark of level design that House House achieved with their fowl simulator, but doesn’t try to get there often enough to fully live up to its inspiration.
However, it does successfully cross off some of the boxes that people expected of Stray. There was a lot of buzz for that “other” cat game, but the postapocalyptic tone of B12’s adventure countered its more cozy elements. Meanwhile, Little Kitty, Big City has all the cozy vibes that Stray left on the table.
“…Little Kitty, Big City offers a host of diversions and side quests, tucked in amidst the main objectives.”
There’s never any real sense of pressure to get certain things done, short of the moments where a human might chase you out of their dedicated zone, nor is there any glaring timer warning you to get on with the main objective. You’re essentially free to meander the city at your own leisure, in true cat fashion. The only restrictions are your climbing stamina and the areas you haven’t unlocked yet.
The biggest threat of buzzkilling comes from the game’s camera. Little Kitty, Big City isn’t quite as big as its title implies, and often the camera struggles to fit into its tighter alleyways and courtyards. Unfortunately, this includes many of the areas where NPCs might have some wisdom to impart, and sometimes platforming suffers for the angles. At other times, I found it hard to track if I’d been to a certain area before, as the various mini-neighborhoods are a tad homogenous.
However, there are plenty of those NPCs to chat with, each with a charming mini-quest, and a healthy amount of collectibles to seek. There are just enough unlockables and achievements to feel fulfilling, but not like busywork. The relatively short runtime for those with laser focus is supplemented and balanced nicely with all these other landmarks and tasks.
While I was left wanting more mischief, Little Kitty, Big City understood its assignment. I’m sure it will find a loving home in the hearts of many g8amers, and I’m interested to see what Double Dagger can cook up for its next project.
