Platforms: Switch (reviewed), Android, iOS
The Nintendo Switch eShop is packed with games and dozens of new ones release on a weekly basis. This makes it rather hard to not only keep up with all the new content, but also weed out the good from the bad. Every once in a while though, a game will stick out and catch my attention. Stray Cat Doors is one such game. Initially drawn in by its cutesy graphics and low price point, I decided to give it a chance and was lucky enough to find a rather delightful experience.
Stray Cat Doors is an escape room game. This means in order to finish each level you’ll be tasked with solving puzzles to open a door. The reason your solving these puzzles in Stray Cat Doors is rather vague as the game is light on story, but from what I gathered you’re a little girl trying to open these doors in order to find her missing cats. It’s pretty simple stuff, but this type of game doesn’t need a well thought out story to be effective.
The gameplay will be what draws most people to Stray Cat Doors, and while it’s similar to other escape room games, it’s also unique in plenty of ways. Most games in this genre are all about tense, pressure-filled situations, with most having a time limit where your ineptitude at puzzle solving will ultimately lead to your demise. Stray Cat Doors is a much more Zen experience. There are no time limits, no rankings or level grades, and no pressure. It’s all about chilling out and solving each puzzle at your leisure. To drive this point home, each level has its own serene environment (from the beach to a picturesque Christmas scene) and laid-back music track. This is the type of game that is perfect for decompression after sessions with more intense games.
The puzzles you’ll be solving are pretty standard for the genre. You’ll have to search for items in the environment that will allow you to interact with other items, find hidden patterns and codes, and unlock a variety of locked objects. Doing these things will usually find you a piece of a cat puzzle, and once you’ve found all the pieces (usually four), you can open the door and exit the level. The puzzles skew more towards the easy side but will still take some thinking to solve most. This makes it perfect for newcomers to this style of game or anyone just looking for a more casual experience. There are no obtuse, off-the-wall solutions that seem to pop up in other games like this, which was a huge positive for me. There’s even a hint system if you do happen to get stuck, so progression will never be an issue.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much progression to be had in Stray Cat Doors as the game only consists of six levels. Each level is unique and fun to work through while it lasts, but at most you’re only looking at a couple hours to see everything. There is a bonus mode that unlocks for each stage once you finish all six, but those only take a matter of seconds to complete, so there aren’t a lot of reasons to revisit stages. I would have loved a few more levels to play through, but at its price point (around $3) and with the quality of the levels that are offered up, I can’t fault it too much for the short length.
The Switch version of Stray Cat Doors is a port of a mobile game, so you’ll be able to play it in a couple different ways. You can either use the touchscreen or joy-cons to control the game. I found that touchscreen is the best way to go as it makes for a much quicker and more enjoyable experience. You can also switch between horizontal and vertical views, depending on your preference. It should also be noted that the pro controller is not supported.
Stray Cat Doors probably isn’t going to blow you away by any means, but it’s still a delightful little game. It’s not very long and the puzzles aren’t the hardest, but it’s adorable and weirdly therapeutic at times. If you’re looking for a laid-back, casual puzzle game I’d highly recommend giving this one a shot as it’s one of the best I’ve played in a while.
