Skip to main content
Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows Game Cover

About

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows is a single player platformer game. It was developed by Last Quarter Studios and was released on July 25, 2016. It received very positive reviews from players.

"Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows" is a 2D platformer game featuring a cat that can transform into liquid, with 90 levels across 9 worlds and new mechanics like flying and bomb-summoning. The cat is trapped in rooms by its owner and seeks to escape while gaining new abilities and meeting a 'friend', with the story told through in-game text. More information can be found on the game's Tumblr and Twitter feeds.

Skip User Reviews

93%
Audience ScoreBased on 488 reviews
story53 positive mentions
grinding3 negative mentions

  • The game features a charming and cute cat protagonist, which appeals to cat lovers.
  • The gameplay mechanics are fun and engaging, allowing players to navigate through levels using unique abilities like turning into liquid.
  • The story, while simple, has emotional depth and can evoke strong feelings, making it more than just a casual platformer.
  • The game suffers from repetitive level design and can feel monotonous after a while.
  • Some players experienced technical issues, such as crashes and unresponsive controls, which detracted from the overall experience.
  • The narrative can be vague and leaves many questions unanswered, which may frustrate players looking for a more cohesive story.
  • story
    136 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The story of "Cats Are Liquid" is described as surprisingly deep and emotionally charged, often taking a dark and melancholic turn that contrasts with its cute visuals and gameplay. While some players found the narrative to be vague or poorly executed, many appreciated its ability to evoke strong feelings and provide a meaningful backdrop to the platforming experience. Overall, the story adds a layer of intrigue and emotional weight, making it more than just a simple indie game.

    • “The story was very surprisingly deep and meaningful.”
    • “Without the story, it would have been a fun but forgettable platformer, but with the story, it'll stay with me a while.”
    • “It's a well-developed story that is more emotionally charged than any other game I have ever played.”
    • “The story starts out fine but unfortunately devolves into a mess so full of '#deep,' try-hard nonsense that I almost didn't recommend the game, even though I really loved everything else about it.”
    • “This game's story is close to non-existent, the majority of dialogue given being the character whining about the difficulty of the game, and at one point almost literally begging me to stop playing the game, completely depleting the motivation I had left to play this game.”
    • “However, be warned, the story gets surprisingly depressing for a game with the initial premise of you being a big round cat with a goofy smile who can change into liquid form.”
  • gameplay
    81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay is generally described as simple yet enjoyable, featuring solid mechanics and smooth controls that make it accessible for players. While some mechanics are innovative and add variety, others can feel unbalanced or poorly explained, leading to moments of frustration. Overall, the game offers a fun platforming experience with a decent amount of content for its price, though some players noted a decline in level design quality as the game progresses.

    • “The gameplay is fun and addicting, and it's a great platformer despite the simplicity.”
    • “Solid controls, and a number of good platforming mechanics.”
    • “Great little cutesy, minimalistic-like puzzle platformer with a good sense of difficulty ramping and some fun gameplay concepts and mechanics.”
    • “Insultingly simple and unintuitive gameplay.”
    • “Weak game with boring gameplay.”
    • “The gameplay is slow-paced and boring.”
  • graphics
    47 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics of the game are characterized by a simplistic, minimalist art style that some players find charming and effective, while others view it as lackluster and unambitious, especially for a PC title. Despite the basic visuals, many reviewers appreciate the distinctiveness and functionality of the graphics, noting that they complement the gameplay and narrative well. Overall, while the graphics may not impress in terms of detail, they contribute to a unique aesthetic that resonates with the game's themes and mechanics.

    • “The graphics are beautiful, even in the lowest resolution, and the story is captivating.”
    • “The minimalist art style and music are really charming.”
    • “It's really nice to play, and the choice of colors and the graphical style are perfect - especially the zone-end rooms, which look absolutely amazing with the high contrast.”
    • “While there are options to change the resolution for the mobile app, all this does is scale up the simplistic 2D art assets used to make the mobile app, which makes little or no difference to the graphics quality.”
    • “Considering this is being evaluated as a PC game, having the graphics phoned in like this isn't going to result in a high quality, visually impressive game that PC gamers are used to seeing.”
    • “The graphics are shockingly simplistic and look like they were made by a child - it's a bunch of triangles and rectangles and circles, with only solid colors for textures.”
  • music
    37 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in the game is widely praised for its calming and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the minimalist art style and gameplay experience. Reviewers highlight the beautiful and diverse soundtrack, which ranges from peaceful melodies to more ominous tones, perfectly complementing the game's themes and level designs. While some players desire more musical variety, the existing tracks are noted as lovely and fitting, contributing significantly to the overall charm of the game.

    • “The soundtrack is great, neon lights is jammin'.”
    • “I cannot get over how good the music is and how perfectly it fits together with each new level.”
    • “This game has a beautiful soundtrack that is very peaceful and you get to play as an adorable cat!”
    • “The biggest thing this game is lacking is more music, but the music included is still very nice and relaxing.”
    • “Existential crisis kitty is fine, I sort of saw it coming a mile off tbh, but I couldn't play through companion mode because it was deliberately trying to freak me out by playing distorted music and doing weird things with the colours.”
    • “Bad controls, crappy music, not worth the one euro I paid for it.”
  • emotional
    19 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game is widely regarded as an emotional masterpiece, with many players expressing that it evokes strong feelings, including tears and introspection. Its heartwarming yet heart-wrenching story, centered around themes of coping with loss, resonates deeply, making it a memorable experience despite some gameplay frustrations. Overall, it combines cute aesthetics with a profound narrative that leaves a lasting emotional impact on players.

    • “The game made me rage sometimes, but the story and ending made me cry.”
    • “I had been waiting for this game for a while when I first saw it; I never expected it to be such a heart-wrenching tale.”
    • “It's a well-developed story that is more emotionally charged than any other game I have ever played.”
  • humor
    9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is generally well-received, with many players finding it funny and enjoyable, often describing it as cute and lighthearted. However, some critiques mention that the humor can become repetitive and is occasionally overshadowed by gameplay issues. Overall, it provides a fun and amusing experience, particularly for those looking to unwind.

    • “The story is pretty funny, 10/10.”
    • “The concept is funny, the gameplay is addicting, and the game is harder than expected!”
    • “This is a really good game with a nice bit of humor.”
  • grinding
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, often requiring significant effort to progress. While some appreciate it as a cooldown activity, many feel that it detracts from the overall challenge, making puzzles feel more like a chore than an engaging experience.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “Addictive and cheap, but tedious.”
    • “Many of the puzzles are more tedious than challenging, with the biggest obstacle being able to take your time through an area without challenge in order to be ready for the spikes you were moving too fast to stop for.”
  • atmosphere
    4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The atmosphere of the game is characterized as chill and relaxing, enhanced by atmospheric music and a simple yet poignant story that evokes deep emotional connections. Players appreciate the escalating tunes that complement the gameplay, while the cat's movements and textual commentary further immerse them in its unique and absurd journey.

    • “Everything about it I love so much; the simple gameplay, the atmospheric music, and the simple, yet heart-crushing story that leaves so many questions.”
    • “The simple, escalating tunes that play as you go level to level help build the world and its atmosphere, setting the mood for what's to come.”
    • “The different ways the cat can move are fun, and atmospheric textual commentary makes one connect with the cat and its absurd plight.”
  • character development
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game features unique and innovative character designs, particularly the cat character, which users find appealing. Overall, the character development is seen as simple yet clever, contributing to an engaging gameplay experience.

    • “I think the game is very interesting already, and I love the cat character design; it is very unique.”
    • “Excellent time-waster with innovative mechanics and simple but smart character design.”
  • stability
    2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Users report frequent freezing issues and glitches, despite attempts to verify file integrity, indicating significant stability problems with the game.

    • “Very cute, but it keeps freezing on me. I don't know what to do; I tried verifying the file integrity, and it still freezes.”
    • “Glitches.”
  • monetization
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of "cats are liquid - a light in the shadows" has been criticized as a cash grab, with users noting that it feels like a poorly ported mobile app rather than a genuine PC game. The minimalist design and lack of depth further contribute to the perception of it being a money-making scheme from developers.

    • “Cats Are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows is a mobile app that's been dumped on Steam as if it were a real PC game (it's not). It's a cash grab from greedy mobile developers. This mobile app is a minimalist 2D retro platformer that exemplifies everything wrong with game development.”
    • “The monetization strategy is purely exploitative, with in-game purchases that feel mandatory to progress. It's frustrating to see a game that could be enjoyable turned into a paywall.”
    • “The game is riddled with ads and microtransactions, making it nearly impossible to enjoy without spending money. It feels like the developers prioritized profit over player experience.”
  • replayability
    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability is considered average, with a total of 90 levels and 13 bonus levels that provide a reasonable challenge for beginners, but may not offer enough incentive for repeated playthroughs.

    • “The game offers a staggering 90 levels and 13 bonus levels, providing plenty of content for beginners to enjoy and explore.”
    • “With so many levels to conquer, the replayability factor is significant, ensuring players can return for more challenges.”
    • “The variety in gameplay and level design encourages players to replay the game multiple times to experience everything it has to offer.”
    • “Replayability is mediocre, but there are 90 levels and 13 bonus levels, which should take a beginner a decent amount of time to complete.”
    • “Once you've completed the game, there's little incentive to go back and play it again.”
    • “The lack of meaningful choices and variations in gameplay makes replaying feel tedious.”
Skip Game Offers

Buy Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows

3h Median play time
3h Average play time
3h Main story
8h Completionist
3-4h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 5 analyzed playthroughs
Skip Videos

Videos

Skip Games Like Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows

Games Like Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows

Refunct Image
The Purring Quest Image
A Story About My Uncle Image
Nihilumbra Image
EDGE Image
Skip FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows is a platformer game.

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows is available on PC, Mac OS, Windows, Linux and others.

The main story can be completed in around 3 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 8 hours to finish. On average players spend around 3 hours playing Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows.

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows was released on July 25, 2016.

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows was developed by Last Quarter Studios.

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows has received very positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows is a single player game.

Similar games include Refunct, The Purring Quest, A Story About My Uncle, Nihilumbra, EDGE and others.