Realistically, Little Kitty, Big City is probably a 6/10, maybe a 7/10. It's not doing anything particularly new or interesting. The platforming is rote and sticky, it's buggier than it should be, the music is nondescript amd it's very short (maybe three hours if you're not going for all the achievements. Counterpoint: cats are cute and I like them.

Perhaps that sounds like I'm being deliberately facetious, dismissing any possible criticisms of the game with flippancy. But I honestly believe that the theming and charm of Little Kitty elevates a flawed and generally average game to an experience that had me consistently smiling for four hours.

I've resisted the temptation to compare Little Kitty to Stray so far, but it's a comparison that is as necessary as it is inevitable. Where Stray felt like a pretty bogstandard linear adventure game with the idea of a feline protagonist added in later, Little Kitty's design document is probably just the word "CAT!" written over and over. Every interaction in the game is designed to evoke true kitty immersion and it works. From a varied selection of cat nap spots, the ability to catch (and release safely) birds, the ability to knock fragile things off of shelves, all of these and more combine to provide a deeply entertaining digital depiction of an animal's whole vibe akin to what Untitled Goose Game did for geese.

Overall, Little Kitty, Big City is a fine game. Its building blocks are nondescript, but the sheer amount of charm pushes it to a higher level than you'd expect. I do still wish the game was a little bigger and that its moment to moment interactions were more varied, but in the end, I had a great time and I will likely think back on Little Kitty a lot as time goes by. If you adore cats, then you've probably already bought this.