This Meta Quest game lets you be a mischievous cat, and we had to try it
The VR game "I Am Cat" lets you experience the world from the perspective of a cat. Here are my first impressions.
I suppose there are no evil cats. Rather, there are cats that lack affection and care, and therefore behave destructively. Not so in the case of Archie, the cat I play in I Am Cat, a new VR game for Meta Quest.
I've found a new home with a caring old lady, and it's a cat's paradise: with a luxurious basket, a big climbing tree, and mechanical mice to chase around the apartment.
But the peace doesn't last long. On the very first day, the neighbor's cat, Fluffy Joe, contacts me via my cat smartwatch and inspires me to do some mischief. If you want to join the cat gang, he says, you have to prove you're worthy. So I get to work.
Misdeeds and cat acrobatics
The VR game is played from the cat's perspective. My arms become my paws, and I can extend my claws by pressing a button. I can use them to pick up objects or scratch furniture and walls.
The locomotion feels almost natural. I move by imitating the movement of a cat with my arms. When I want to jump, I drop my arms, as if pushing myself off the ground. I can even climb walls and other vertical objects.
The arm-based locomotion is familiar from titles like Gorilla Tag, and it has been adapted to the way cats move. It takes some getting used to, but I'm sure I'll master cat acrobatics with a little more practice. It's a lot of fun to pull off daring jumps and reach corners you thought were out of reach.
The cat's perspective makes the old lady's house look bigger than it really is, and there is a lot to discover and do, as many objects are interactive. The graphics are colorful and comic-like, perfectly matching the humorous tone of the game.
Watch out for the pan
The first tasks Fluffy Joe gives you are simple: Kick books off shelves, pop balloons, and touch artworks on the wall. You have to be careful at all times or the old lady will hit you with a frying pan. She is slow, but from the cat's perspective, she looks huge and menacing.
Fluffy Joe soothes me after my misdeeds: If I've made too much mess around the house, I just have to go to sleep. The next day, everything is back to normal.
I Am Cat entered Early Access last week. The studio promises that new content, locations, storylines, missions, and characters will be added over time. The VR game is unique, made me laugh, and piqued my interest. I'm excited to see where the title goes from here.
I Am Cat is available on the App Lab for $15. It supports Quest 2, 3 and Pro.
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