Discover Copycat: A Shelter Cat’s Heartfelt Tale | AD

Author’s Note: A Game Key for Copycat on PC/Steam was kindly provided by Pirate PR

• Game: Copycat
• Developer: Spoonful of Wonder
• Publisher: Neverland Entertainment, Nuuvem Inc &Spoonful Of Wonder
• Release Date: 19th September 2024

Copycat is described as a poignant narrative-driven game. It explores themes of rejection, belonging and discovering the true meaning of family and home. You follow the story of a recently adopted shelter cat. Sadly, their home is taken by a copycat instead.

The game is packed full of beautiful visuals and is fully voiced and it truly helps bring the story to life, however, the game will take you on an emotional rollercoaster and toy with your heartstrings. However, you’ll be experiencing this all through a cat’s perspective.

In Copycat, you play as Dawn, the shelter cat who would much rather be a free spirit in the wild than be taken into a new home. Yet, that all changes when Dawn meets Olive.

Dawn and Olive become inseparable almost instantly, and they develop a special bond and relationship. Despite this, when Olive becomes ill and Dawn is replaced in their home by a copycat.

Dawn ends up on the streets and begins trying to find their way about the world. The story follows some darker themes but also allows you to discover emotions linked to love and more throughout the story.

Ready to play? Don’t forget your tissues!

An Emotional Narrative Experience

When I first heard about Copycat, I knew it was a game and I was curious to discover more. What I wasn’t prepared for, was the rollercoaster of emotions I would experience during my time with the game.

Upon starting my journey in the game, I selected my cat companion, who would be my “Dawn” and joined Olive in her home. I chose to go with the all-white cat in the end, as she was described as a cat who would meow at anything and everything, much like my own cats.

I got underway with the story, learning more about Dawn and Olive. Learning how to manoeuvre the world as a cat. What it means to be a wildcat, both in real life and in the dream world.

As the story develops, I could already feel it playing on my emotions. The game does explore themes that are darker and can be difficult to discuss, however, it’s done so in a way that works for the narrative. There were moments when I was overjoyed by seeing Dawn develop a relationship with Olive, but also moments where I felt uneasy due to aspects of the story. Naturally, I found myself wondering and questioning about what could happen next. There were even moments when I was questioning myself as if the options I had chosen through the story were the right ones and if I should have chosen different ones.

As a whole, the game took me around three hours to complete. The story played out at a good speed, and it was nice to have varying moments where I was somewhat free to explore as Dawn to a point but also focus on the story itself.

I will admit, there were a few tears shed, I mean on the steam listing it tells you to bring the tissues, so I guess you could say it was expected.

Overall, Copycat has been an interesting and unique experience. I’m still fairly new to narrative-style games, and it was nice to explore one that was different to previous ones I’ve checked out lately. The length of the game was just right. Not too short, but not too long. I loved that the game was fully voiced and the music that accompanied the game was perfect. All in all, every aspect of the game brought it all together nicely.

Some smaller details within the game truly resonated with me as a cat owner. From causing mischief around the house, hiding in boxes, and sitting in trees, the little in-game text bubbles as you are exploring and the narration from the Nature Expert definitely gave the game another level of fun within the story.

Additionally, I decided to play through Copycat on my Steam Deck rather than on my PC, and it played really well. I did tweak a couple of settings to help with performance but, I was pleasantly surprised with how it ran straight from launching the first time. I experienced a couple of very minor glitches, but they had zero impact on the game itself or my experience as a whole.

So, if you are looking for a new narrative-driven game to check out, I would recommend checking out Copycat. The game launches on 19th September 2024 on Steam, with Console versions in development and released at a later date.

Can’t wait to get stuck in? Why not have a look at the Copycat demo on Steam now!