WHERE IS MY CAT?

The guy wakes up to a strange event unfolding outside that might be signaling the end of the world, but his biggest concern is finding the cat that somehow wandered off. It turns out the whole thing is actually a game staged by an entity that has possessed his TV, which tells him he has only a limited amount of time to find the cat. Movement is restricted to a single plane, so you can only walk left and right, but the building still has multiple floors that you explore by using stairs and doors. Interactive objects are easy to spot thanks to large on-screen prompts whenever you approach something important. There are also icons for talking to people or using objects, although those interactions are fairly rare. Even though you start in your apartment, you're free to explore the entire building. It has several floors, extra locations like a bathroom, and numerous numbered apartments. Almost all of them can be entered, each with its own distinct look and, sometimes, one of your neighbors inside. Unfortunately, none of them seem happy to see you. In fact, nearly everyone is incredibly rude and throws insults your way, whether that's because the world is ending or simply the result of a rough translation. Your objective is simple enough, find the cat before time runs out. To do that, you'll be running all over the apartment building trying to figure out what you're supposed to do. The game offers almost no guidance, and some rooms are bizarre. One launches you into an endless fall unless you manage to drop into a small hole, while another traps you in a maze of doors that you somehow have to solve. The timer never stops ticking, not even during conversations, which means you'll probably end up mashing through dialogue just to avoid wasting precious seconds. Some characters occasionally offer a useful hint, but you're still expected to figure out almost everything on your own. When the timer finally reaches zero, the world explodes and you're sent back to the beginning with the clock reset. The looping structure lets you gradually learn more with each attempt, although having to repeat the same steps every single time quickly becomes repetitive. Thankfully, there is a way to stop the timer by reaching a room with a bomb. Once you've done that, you're finally free to explore without constantly worrying about the countdown, though you still have to solve the remaining puzzles to reach the cat. Sadly, those puzzles are easily the weakest part of the game. One of them takes place in a platforming room where different colors change your movement by slowing you down or reversing the controls. Instead of feeling clever or rewarding, it just becomes frustrating because a single mistake sends you falling back down and forces you to repeat the entire sequence. The game features an auto-save system, so there's no need to finish it in a single sitting. However, every time you load your save, you'll start back in your apartment and have to make your way to wherever you left off. Fortunately, any major actions or progress you've already made remain completed, so you won't have to repeat them. Overall, very weird title.