Matt Wood wants to get inside the mind of cat. That’s the driving force behind his indie project “Little Kitty Big City.” Inspired by his own feline friends, Mario and Roxy, and conceived with help from his children, he crafted a game focused on the nameless, at least initially, feline protagonist who falls from the safety of its window sill and ends up on the streets of a Tokyo-like city.

The goal of “Little Kitty Big City” is to return home, but that’s easier said than done. The cat was literally living the high life and reaching the top of an skyrise seems to be an impossible task. Playing the game, players will notice that the feline can’t stand water. Wood and his team at Double Dagger Studio use puddles as barriers.

The gameplay is freeform as players control the cat and wander around the city. The cat talks and it speaks to other creatures such as a manipulative crow and an older and wiser feline. It also gets into mischief. It can grab shoes with its mouth and hide it in another part of a room. Players hold the B button to jump, so they can see the trajectory of their leap. They can hop up on kitchen counters or leap across fences.

Players use the triggers to control the paws. That can lead the feline protagonist to knock pots and other items of shelves to break.

“I wanted you to be the cat from the cat’s perspective,” Wood said. “I don’t want you to be a human controlling a controlling a cat.”

That’s one of the reasons why humans in the game don’t have faces. To a cat, Wood said people are more like objects that serve functions such as grabbing them food or giving them affection. In one instance, the cat will encounter an artist staring at a blank canvas. The cat can inspire the human by knocking over the paint and walking on the canvas, getting paw prints all over it.

Meandering elsewhere, the feline can move a box and discover hole and slip away beneath a fence. The animation of the cat crawling underneath areas is pitch perfect. From there, I saw the kitty tripping a human walking and obliviously staring into their phones. When they tumble over, the cat can steal the smartphone and run away them. That kind of intentional mayhem will remind players of the “Untitled Goose Game.”

One of the missions that the players will get is from the crow, who wants shiny objects. The cat has to gather them in order to get a fish from the bird and that reward builds up stamina. The cat only has so much energy to climb. Players searching the environment will also find Gochapon capsules that hold costume items. Players can dress up their cat just for fun.

Lastly, “Little Kitty Big City” is intentionally family friendly. The cat can’t get hurt. If it falls, it lands on its feet. It can hunt and pounce on birds, but the creatures escape and leave a feather. Wood said he conceived of the game with his children, and they came up with several ideas. Ideally, players can play the campaign with a kid by their side as players explore the world and offer input on what the cat should do.

Expect “Little Kitty Big City” to launch later this year on the Nintendo Switch.

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