The Allure of Hidden Cats
In recent years, I’ve gained something of a hidden guilty pleasure; a gaming franchise that would no doubt be overlooked by the vast majority of Xbox gamers engrossed in their sprawling open worlds, deep narratives and competitive shooters. It’s a series that demands no complex controller skills (thank god), offers no branching dialogue choices, and won’t be winning any awards for its graphical prowess. And yet, it has become an essential part of my gaming diet.
That franchise is Silesia Games’ ‘Hidden Cats in…’ series. As a quintessential hidden object affair, this unassuming run of games has taken me on virtual trips to London, Berlin, Rome, and more, all with the express intention of uncovering cleverly concealed kitties.
The gameplay loop is delightfully simple: you scan a sprawling, hand-drawn scene, click on the felines, and listen out for their rewarding meows of pleasure. As you find them, you slowly bring colour and life to the monochrome world. There have even been seasonally themed versions too – Hidden Cats in Spooky Town immediately springing to mind as a charming Halloween treat.
A Bigger and Bolder Hidden Cats
For the most part, those Hidden Cats games have been beautifully simple affairs. They are remarkably easy to play, perfect for dipping in and out of, whether for a focused five-minute hunt for a troublesome final feline, or for a good hour at a time, becoming acquainted with whole packs of cats. They are the epitome of the cosy game.
At no point have those games ever threatened to deliver the best gaming experience of the year, nor – if we’re honest – have they tried to. But as a low-stakes, high-reward guilty pleasure? They’ve absolutely nailed what is needed, providing a zen-like state of focus that is both relaxing and immensely satisfying.
But now we have Hidden Cats in Tokyo. And on the surface, it does pretty much the same as all its siblings and cousins, leaving the player to uncover a whole host of little cats, across various scenarios, all based around, yep, you guessed it, Tokyo. The thing is, Hidden Cats in Tokyo is by far the biggest and most ambitious game in the franchise yet, bringing together ideas found across the series as a whole, as well as from other similar gaming titles. But it also reaches for the stars, introducing more cats than ever before, a collection of mini-games, AND a story. Yes, a story. And no, we didn’t think we ever needed one of those with these games.
The Problem with a Plot
As it turns out, our initial instincts were correct; we really don’t need the narrative that unfolds in Hidden Cats in Tokyo. Granted, there’s no doubt it is reasonably well put together, with text-based conversations and nicely detailed static cut scenes providing a rhyme and reason for why we are needing to hunt these cats. However, it’s far from needed in a game like this, and by the time we’d scoured all that Tokyo had to offer, we had well and truly tired of the tale that kept interrupting our clicking progress. The joy of Hidden Cats is losing yourself in the hunt; the narrative continually pulls you out of that flow state.
See, we came to Hidden Cats in Tokyo wanting more of that pure, unadulterated cat hunting – the simple, meditative opportunity to point, click, click and point. And it’s that which the game delivers with absolute aplomb, ramping up the usual number of felines found in previous games from a few hundred into the thousands. And yep, we enjoyed finding every single one of those little feline friends.
From Monochrome to Masterpiece
If you’re unaware of the series, Hidden Cats tasks you with scouring a variety of dense, detailed scenes, each in some way linked to the source material. Your goal is to uncover each and every hidden cat found within, occasionally picking off the odd special human character and unique item too. In this Tokyo version, the number of these secondary objectives is also massively increased, with hundreds of those accompanying the cats. The cats themselves are ingeniously hidden too, requiring a keen eye to spot a tail, a pair of ears, or body, fully camouflaged against the backdrop.
For everything uncovered, the usual grey, monochrome drawing is injected with a splash of colour, slowly and surely turning the canvas into a wonderfully vibrant world. That means the otherwise drab street scenes, manga store, tranquil cat cafes, and general Tokyo vibes will fast turn to glorious colour, becoming alive as you meticulously progress. It’s a visual reward system that never gets old.
This idea works brilliantly, especially in the larger scenes that end in full technicolour glory. Seeing a massive, intricate cityscape transform from a simple line drawing into a piece of living art, purely through your efforts, is a genuine delight. It’s those moments which we mostly prefer, but if we’re honest, any screen that lets you go hunting those kitties is always a joy.
Boss Cats and Minigames
Again, as in previous games, special cats – boss cats, if you will – are also available to uncover, each providing a lovely real-world photo as the developers go to town with pictures of their own favourite pets. Filling out a ‘cat-alogue’ of these collectible cards as you play through Hidden Cats in Tokyo, working methodically from one scene to the next, is a proper joy, more than capable of covering a couple of nights’ worth of chilled-out play.
And then this Tokyo version goes a bit crazy nearer its conclusion, with some weird little mini-games thrown in for good measure. Don’t get us wrong, they are fine, but they feel like nothing but inconsequential filler, as if developers Nukearts and Silesia felt a need to add more. They are extremely easy too, offering no real challenge. But hey, for as long as the world turns, the Hidden Cats games are hardly going to provide too much of a test of your gaming skills.
A Hidden Object Joy for Cat Lovers and Completionists
With the usual lovely art styles coming to life as you play, and the delicate meows of those hidden kitties teasing you along, there’s no doubt that if you’re a fan of the series, you should be grabbing yourself a ticket to Japan immediately. This is the biggest and most content-rich edition of the franchise yet, and the core cat-finding gameplay is as compelling as ever.
Hidden Cats in Tokyo is a hidden object joy, even if we don’t particularly need that story to keep dragging us along for the ride.
Important Links
Konichi-meow – The Hidden Cats head to Tokyo, and This Time There’s a ROBOT BOSS FIGHT! – https://www.thexboxhub.com/konichi-meow-the-hidden-cats-head-to-tokyo-and-this-time-theres-a-robot-boss-fight/
Buy Hidden Cats in Tokyo on Xbox – https://www.xbox.com/en-gb/games/store/hidden-cats-in-tokyo/9P5HP534D5KV
