Copycat

If you own or take care of a pet – or if you have kids who’d like a pet – do yourself a favor and play Copycat in one sitting. Make sure you have tissues ready.

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"Copycat" is a single-player game with a deep, intriguing story centered around a sceptical shelter cat named Dawn who meets her new owner, Olive, a lonely older Aussie mourning the loss of her previous cat. Together, they explore themes of family trauma, abandonment, and the true meaning of home through a journey that intertwines beautiful visuals, delightful music, and an emotional rollercoaster of humor and heartbreak.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

79%

Audience ScoreBased on 476 reviews

story106 positive mentions

gameplay13 negative mentions

The game features a beautifully emotional story that resonates deeply with players, especially cat lovers.
The graphics and art style are stunning, creating an immersive experience that enhances the narrative.
The game effectively explores themes of abandonment and belonging, prompting players to reflect on their own relationships with pets.

The gameplay is linear and lacks meaningful choices, making it feel more like a guided story than an interactive game.
The ending sends a troubling message about returning to an abuser, which can be harmful and disappointing for players.
The game is relatively short, lasting only 2-3 hours, which may not justify its price for some players.

story
374 mentions
28 % positive mentions
66 % neutral mentions
5 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its emotional depth and ability to evoke strong feelings, often leading to tears. However, criticisms include its linearity, lack of meaningful choices, and perceived plot holes, which detract from the overall experience. While some found the narrative touching and well-written, others felt it conveyed troubling messages about abandonment and abuse, leaving them conflicted about its themes.
- “This game really moved me, so if you're looking for a heavily story-led game to tug on your heartstrings for an hour or so, this is it!”
- “The story is beautifully written with a roller coaster of emotions the entire time.”
- “Absolutely bawled my eyes out, the story pulled at my heart and was really well written, took me a little over 3 hours to finish and I loved every moment of it.”
- “The story is poorly written, all of the characters are unlikable, the main character quite literally develops Stockholm syndrome over the course of the game, as later on she begins wanting to return to her owner who abuses her repeatedly throughout the game.”
- “In the end, my takeaway from the story is that it's okay to stay with people who physically and emotionally abuse you.”
- “The story is very simple, but they still managed to make it make no sense.”
emotional
195 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The emotional aspect of the game is overwhelmingly impactful, with many players reporting that it brought them to tears multiple times throughout the experience. The narrative effectively fosters empathy by immersing players in the emotional struggles of the characters, particularly the pets, leading to a rollercoaster of feelings ranging from heartbreak to joy. While some critiques mention a lack of depth in certain story elements, the overall consensus is that the game delivers a touching and memorable emotional journey, especially for cat lovers.
- “I cried for most of the game story and couldn't help falling in love with it.”
- “This approach is meant to foster empathy by placing players directly into the emotional turmoil pets experience, forcing them to grapple with the helplessness, confusion, and emotional scars animals accumulate when betrayed by those they depend on.”
- “I found it incredibly moving, and I cried several times.”
gameplay
80 mentions
15 % positive mentions
69 % neutral mentions
16 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players noting its repetitiveness, clunky mechanics, and a lack of meaningful choices that impact the story. While some appreciated the unique cat-themed experience and found the gameplay enjoyable in a casual sense, others criticized it for being overly simplistic and short, often overshadowed by a more compelling narrative. Overall, the gameplay is seen as serviceable but not groundbreaking, with a focus on story rather than engaging mechanics.
- “The writing is incredible, the music is beautiful, and the gameplay is fun and catlike.”
- “I appreciated that there were different mini-games or various mechanics to try along the way.”
- “The gameplay is unique and very well put together.”
- “The gameplay is repetitive and actually pretty boring; the choices have absolutely no impact on anything (I played the game twice just for that, and all you will get is like 2 different sentences through the whole game).”
- “Unfortunately, the story was over very quickly; the gameplay was somehow repetitive and you could not really influence the story.”
- “Controls were clunky and the gameplay overall was repetitive, which can be summed up to just running around as a cat and playing the same 3 mini-games.”
graphics
44 mentions
57 % positive mentions
34 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising their beauty and artistic style, particularly in certain scenes and dream sequences. However, some players criticize the animations and character models as lacking refinement, with issues like basic visuals and a lack of lighting affecting immersion. Overall, while the graphics are often described as pretty and engaging, technical shortcomings and inconsistencies detract from the experience for some players.
- “The graphics are stunning; the immersion you feel is incredible, even the nature expert grew on me by the end.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, especially when scenes take place in the afternoon.”
- “This game has really pretty graphics and an absolutely amazing story, and it also uses different art styles to portray the story's elements.”
- “The human NPCs are not very graphically refined, and the voice acting is fine but not a strength.”
- “It's a little rough around the edges on the technical aspect; controller and keyboard controls sometimes don't work properly, and the visuals are not the best. The humans in the game look pretty rough, and in the dream sequences, it's really easy to spot the exact Unity asset packs that were used.”
- “The game has weak graphics in some spots, animations are very janky, controls are wonky, and the gameplay doesn't offer a lot.”
music
35 mentions
49 % positive mentions
43 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with some players praising its beauty and ability to enhance the overall experience, while others find it repetitive or out of place. Many appreciate the relaxing quality of the soundtrack, which complements the visuals and narrative, though a few critics describe it as generic or annoying. Overall, the music is seen as a significant aspect of the game, contributing positively to its atmosphere, despite some dissenting opinions.
- “A touching story told from a unique perspective, with a lovely musical score and a dedicated 'meow' button.”
- “The music adds a lot to the whole experience the makers wanted to convey; played with headphones and it paid off.”
- “The music was especially charming and should be nominated for whatever awards there are for video game music.”
- “The music was annoying; I didn't understand the primal side of things when it's just supposed to be a house cat that got abandoned.”
- “I hated the music; it was either generic emotional music or out of place/tonal whiplash jungle music, so I ended up turning off the music and instead put on a Spotify playlist.”
- “The general sound design isn't very complex, but the music takes a bit piece of the cake.”
humor
11 mentions
91 % positive mentions
-18 % neutral mentions
27 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is a mixed bag, with some players finding it genuinely funny and engaging, particularly appreciating the narrator's comedic moments and amusing minigames. However, others felt the writing was poorly executed and the humor inconsistent, leading to moments of confusion rather than laughter. Overall, while there are enjoyable comedic elements, the emotional depth of the game often overshadows the humor.
- “This game made me laugh, cry, and really think.”
- “Had me laughing one minute & bawling my eyes out the next!”
- “The narrator is pretty funny too at times and being a cat doing cat things is also quite enjoyable.”
- “Not funny.”
- “The jokes fell flat and lacked originality.”
- “I expected more clever humor, but it was mostly cringeworthy.”
grinding
5 mentions
0 % positive mentions
40 % neutral mentions
60 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and time-consuming, often requiring multiple playthroughs for achievements. The overall pacing is criticized, leading to a frustrating experience that detracts from the game's atmosphere and message.
- “Playing through it twice just for the achievements can be quite tedious.”
- “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
- “This game is a tedious slog with a downright dangerous message ('go back to your abuser if they say they need you').”
atmosphere
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
-25 % neutral mentions
50 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is praised for its beautiful music and immersive qualities, effectively capturing emotional highs and lows throughout the journey. However, some critics feel that the atmosphere can sometimes lean towards forced sentimentality, detracting from the overall experience. Despite this, many agree that it enhances the narrative of belonging as the game progresses.
- “The music and atmosphere of the entire game are wonderful.”
- “You go through so many ups and downs, and the atmosphere truly captures how things can change.”
- “A beautiful story about belonging that hits deep, becoming increasingly atmospheric and immersive as the journey progresses.”
- “I feel like some of the atmosphere was used to evoke a forced sentimentality (makes sense, the writers worked in advertising), over what is ultimately a tedious game that cannot figure out its pacing.”
- “The atmosphere feels inconsistent and fails to immerse you in the game world, making it hard to connect with the story.”
optimization
3 mentions
33 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
67 % negative mentions
Overall, the game's optimization has received mixed feedback, with users noting significant performance issues, particularly on the Steam Deck. While some players experienced problems, they generally felt these did not detract significantly from the overall gaming experience.
- “Had some performance issues, but it didn't really ruin the game.”
- “Somehow it still manages to be very unoptimized.”
- “My only complaint is the performance; it's bad, especially on the Steam Deck.”
replayability
3 mentions
33 % positive mentions
-33 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The game offers limited replayability primarily through achievements and choices, though some players feel it lacks significant value for multiple playthroughs. While the achievements are relatively easy to obtain, the emotional weight of the narrative may deter players from replaying.
- “There are choices that might offer some replayability - I haven't tried yet to see if I could handle a second round emotionally.”
- “However, it has no replay value.”
- “There are choices which might offer some replayability - I haven't tried yet to see if I could deal with a second round emotionally.”
- “There is some replayability to get the other achievements, and they aren't too hard.”
stability
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
-50 % neutral mentions
150 % negative mentions
The game has been noted to have stability issues, with users reporting it as "a little buggy."
- “The only negatives I have to say is it's a little buggy.”
- “It's quite buggy.”
- “The game suffers from numerous stability issues.”
monetization
2 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for creating a misleading sense of choice, as it primarily functions as a story-driven walking simulator with minimal interactive elements. Reviewers feel that the game's pacing issues detract from the overall experience, suggesting that the monetization strategy may prioritize emotional manipulation over genuine gameplay engagement.
- “The advertisement delivers the illusion of choice in what turns out to be a storybook walking simulator with a couple of mini games.”
- “I feel like some of the atmosphere was used to evoke a forced sentimentality, which makes sense since the writers worked in advertising, over what is ultimately a tedious game that cannot figure out its pacing.”