Alt+Escape: Cat Got Lost

Welcome to Alt+Escape, our weekly pick of browser-based games to help you start your weekend a little early. Check back each Friday for a new game!

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Cat Got Lost

If you’ve ever had a pet, you know just how powerful the bond between human caretaker and little furry (or feathered, or scaled) friend can be. There are stories of pets trekking hundreds if not thousands of miles to find their way home again, and there are few among us who wouldn’t try to do the exact same thing – to travel to the ends of the earth if it meant finding a loved companion that had lost its way.

In Cat Got Lost, you might only have a static world shaped like a plus sign, but it’s the principle of the thing, really. The object of each of the game’s 20 levels is to reunite the playable human with his lost kitty. At first, it’s almost insultingly easy, even when the standard “blue key opens blue door” gates come into play. But the game does get more challenging as it goes on – the later levels aren’t quite “Who Owns the Fish?” in terms of the logical deduction required, but you’ll have to stop and think your way through before you start.

It’s a very minimalist game, but one that works well – and it’s kind of fun to watch the barebones narrative set forth by the level titles. It’s also kind of impressive how effectively the game communicates a growing sense of dread and claustrophobia as more and more colored gates surround you, separating you from your beloved feline.

Naturally, when you eventually do find your cat, it’ll probably turn out he was curled up in a sunbeam the entire time. Lazy bastard.