When I heard about The Cat that Got the Milk, I immediately thought of Stacey Travis telling Steve Buscemi about how glorious “The Flower that Drank the Moon” was. However, if you can look past the pretentious name, The Cat that Got the Milk is a beautiful game that combines modern art with challenging puzzles. By guiding a zippy little kitty across your computer screen, you’ll discover 18 increasingly difficult levels to maneuver through in order to get to that tasty bowl of milk.
Influence from some of art history’s heavy hitters is apparent throughout the game, culminating around a final level which takes the form of a kung-fu fighting Miró-style painting. The teeny, tiny, pixel cat you guide through the narrow paths in these works of art takes the form of a bar in a color that contrasts the background followed by a vapor trail, leaving behind evidence of the last path you took (which comes in handy during game play). Each section introduces a new sense of style to the game without sacrificing continuity. Though they are all unique and of varying difficulties, The Cat that Got the Milk flows well visually. The paths you must navigate take many forms from the quick and direct, to jagged edges and paths that only become clear after Kandinsky-like color blocks crumble before you.
The game play is simple but don’t let that fool you, The Cat that Got the Milk can get pretty tricky once you get into it. The game is played with only the up and down directional keys which you can use to change the course of your thirsty cat friend. The cat automatically bounds left to right across the screen, leaving a trail behind him to show you each path you’ve tried previously (this is super helpful in figuring out certain puzzles). It’s up to you to use those directional keys to guide him up and down through the high art landscape to the rotating hoop waiting at the end to bring you to the next stage. The concept is easy is say the least, get the cat to the hoop. That doesn’t keep it from getting pretty frickin’ hard some times but they have taken measures to make sure it doesn’t get frustrating. The penalty for failing to get the cat to the hoop is low; you just start again at the beginning of the level. Your reappearance is also accompanied by a pleasant “ping” sound, adding to the fun nature.
If eventually it does get a little frustrating for you, never fear! The Cat that Got the Milk allows you to skip over any level you can’t quite master by simply pressing the spacebar. Considering the game was made to “serve you for 10-15 minutes of time. No more. No less,” according to the creators (Ollie Clarke, Jon Mann, Helana Santos and Chris Randle), this features can be quite useful if you’re having difficulty with just a couple levels.
Overall, The Cat that Got the Milk accomplishes its mission. It is definitely entertaining for 10-15 minutes at a time and it explores the combination of an artistic time period with entertaining, well thought out puzzles. Just because art and design are a focus, doesn’t mean you need to sacrifice creativity in the game play and The Cat that Got the Milk demonstrates this to a tee. With that in mind, I look forward to seeing what this team brings to the table next with their upcoming project Button to be released this year as well as anything else they have their hands in.
If you would like to download The Cat that Got the Milk for free or to purchase some pretty great prints and postcards of the logo, visit its website at thecatthatgotthemilk.com.