Cattails

A few rough edges do little to disturb the tranquillity Cattails lulls you into with its fun mechanics, cheerful writing and lovely soundtrack. Despite the conflict at its heart, you could happily while away hours frolicking in the fields, catching butterflies and chatting with your feline chums. If you're after something light-hearted to relax with until Animal Crossing arrives next year, this fits the bill very nicely.

Despite the repetitiveness, Cattails does provide a lot of different things to do from romancing other cats, to starting your own community of cats. It offers something different from the usual RPG game and is well worth checking out if you are tired of the cookie cutter RPGs out there.

Cattails is a surprisingly-polished and well-made game for a little indie title.

Fans of felines looking for a relaxing survival exploration game for their Switch will fall in love with Cattails.

Cattails doesn't quite reach the heights of the titans it attempts to mimic. Despite its flaws and shortcomings, it remains a compelling enough adventure survival simulator - one that cat lovers in particular will find plenty of joy playing.

Cattails is a big surprise. A game that initially looks extremely simple but that deep down hides lots of mechanics, systems and high quality content that can keep us playing for dozens of hours. Despite some flaws, it's an easy-to-recommend experience!

The best parts of Cattails are when you're just getting to take in the scenery, hunting some field mice, and then chatting with other cats. There's so much charm in the sprite work and dialogue, so it's all the more disappointing when you're cast into dull combat exchanges simply because a RPG needs fighting. Some variance from the traditional survival game design would've been appreciated, as it stands as a charming survival title that can't quite measure up to the best in the genre. Still, you can do far worse, and who will really complain about getting to be a cat for a while?

While in general you’ll want to have some base combat skills for the most part you can go a passive route, if nothing else you can tone down the challenge pretty easily, and choose to simply experience the game the way you want to. The loop of exploring, finding new areas and items, acquiring new skills, and doing things like upgrading your den should seem very familiar and for the most part it’s wonderfully laid back. Seasonal events and a changing landscape help provide some extra charm and variation but in the end this game is all about making the most of being a cat and finding the experience you’re looking for, whether through domination, making friends, or just being the scourge of the bird and rodent communities. While Cattails won’t be for everyone, it offers a light and relaxing experience that’s full of charm and just plain feels a bit different.

Cattails begs comparisons to the dearly-admired Stardew Valley, another little life-sim that explores the life of a little human farmer in a town that needs to get turned around, and it has clearly influenced the developers, husband-and-wife team Falcon Development.

The visuals may be basic, but they work perfectly well for what the game tries to do. The music is delightful and a real boon to the feelings that the game evokes. Cattails is a game that you should consider adding to your library whether you are a cat lover or not.