Genuine question: how much of the marketing material did you see? I thought it was always clear that it was gonna be an exploration/puzzle game in a cyberpunk world with a baddie.

I had the opposite reaction, and was surprised by how much I enjoyed the small things, like scratching a carpet!

I do hope you find something more like what you’re wishing for, though 🙂

Have you considered becoming a furry

I don't play many games, but Stray was one of the best that I've ever played, honestly. Not too long, emotionally satisfying with equally satisfying gameplay.

Although it features foxes rather than cats, Endling: Extinction is Forever ticks a lot of your boxes.

For something less survivally you could try Catlateral Damage: Remeowstered.

With the non-Steam version of Dwarf Fortress, you could edit the RAWS and make cats a playable race in Adventure Mode. The game simulates cats extremely well. So well, it was actually the cause of a "bug" at one point because the cats will lick themselves clean and would die of alcohol poisoning cleaning spilled liquor off their body after being in the dining halls.

You should try playing Cattails which is basically exactly that. You play as a stray cat living a regular cat life. You can hunt, socialize with other cats (some are nice, some not), etc. No humans, just cats. The start of the game you get abandoned by humans I think?

I do like your idea but that doesn't mean I didn't like Stray. I finished the entire game and I loved it. The cat was adorable, the friends I made a long the way were interesting and I really felt for them despite their, uh, limitations. Just leaving it at that to avoid spoilers as I only saw that it was a cute cat game before I tried it and enjoyed being surprised by how it ended up.

But yes, I do think a game like you're describing would also be fun. Maybe not as a stray cat, per se, but maybe as a small breed of wild cat living away from humans so you don't have too much interaction with them and they're something you're inherently distrustful of.

What about Little Kitty Big City?

I’d been following the game’s development for years because I loved the idea of an open world where you’re a cat exploring Kowloon walled city, and was a little disappointed that it went in another direction. I did end up loving the game and I get that it became more, but I would have really loved something that simple. Like, I don’t need to save the world but I do specifically want to play as a cat in Kowloon walled city, you know?

So, maybe instead of Goose, Untitled Cat Game?

I think if someone went all out with making some sort of bizarre simulator game like this, people would play it. Like, don't even try to make it fun or add a story or anything, just make it as real as you can.

This sounds amazing. One mode you can be a cat stuck in a house with 3 other cats that don't get along. You have to try to drop a deuce without getting attacked, you have to mark territory without making your "owner" upset about peeing in the house.

I've never owned a cat myself but I have watched enough internet cat videos to know why they're so popular. I plan to check out Stray at some point, but waiting for it to discount 50%+ before pulling the trigger.

You may be interested in this game:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1177980/Little_Kitty_Big_City/

It's not out yet, but there is a demo to try.

Cattails is the closest I know.

Have you tried Shelter 2? It's not quite the same thing, but you play a lynx with five adorable cubs trying to survive in a wilderness setting. (Warning: your playthrough will likely involve some or all of your adorable cubs dying.)

The opening of Stray was very much like that...

tokyo jungle is like this, although not limited to playing as cats. cats are one of many animals you can play as

Make it people would love it, though I'd say the opening ends with the place being on fire so as the cat needs to escape and that's where the separation stems from, because I couldn't imagine just forgetting my cat.

That just made me think you could also make the game where the family abandons the cat and it hunts them down and kills them, same premise though, in the end the cat finds the family.

Honestly just want Catz back

I think I would have really liked Stray if it hadn’t had those enemies you had to avoid. I stopped playing when I hit a puzzle where I kept getting eaten, even though I liked the world and the mystery of what happened to all the people. And loved walking around being a cat and knocking things over.

Not what you describe, but perhaps Cats and the Other Lives would catch your fancy?

There are an absurd number of cat themed games on Steam, although tbf Stray seems to be the most realistic and polished of the bunch

Coming fresh off a Yakuza game, my first thoughts are: I‘m worried about what happens when I max out my heat gauge in this game. O_O