---
title: "Five Games Where You Play as a Cat: From Cyberpunk to Noir Detective"
description: "Styler editor Yulia Lyushneva has gathered a selection of five atmospheric PC games where the protagonist is a cat: from cyberpunk Stray and noir detective Albert Wilde to the family drama Cats and the Other Lives."
date: 2026-11-04T17:48:29.598Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/five-games-where-you-play-as-a-cat
tags: [video-games, cat-games, pc-games, stray, gaming, indie-games]
author: "Marina Slivenko, Darya Fomina"
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# Five Games Where You Play as a Cat: From Cyberpunk to Noir Detective

![Collage of four cats in different video games: a black cat on a street, a white cat in flowers, a ginger cat, and a detective](https://xab.info/media/2026/11/04/igry-gde-glavnym-geroem-kot-podborka/igry-gde-glavnym-geroem-kot-podborka-1.webp)

## Key Points

- The selection includes five atmospheric PC games where the player becomes a cat
- Stray by BlueTwelve Studio places a cat in a cyberpunk city of robots
- Little Kitty, Big City turns the urban landscape into a playground for feline curiosity
- Cat Detective Albert Wilde combines 1930s noir with quantum sci-fi
- Cats and the Other Lives tells a family drama through the eyes of pet cat Aspen

Neon streets, historic estates, mysterious forests, and ordinary city backyards look completely different when explored on four paws. In some video games, cats are not just companions to the main characters, but find themselves at the center of unusual adventures. Styler editor Yulia Lyushneva has gathered a selection of five atmospheric PC games where the player turns into a cat — from exploring a cyberpunk city to mystical journeys and emotional stories about finding a home. Each of them offers a unique perspective on a familiar world, where human rules of behavior take a backseat, and curiosity and instincts become the main driving forces of the plot.

### Stray: Cyberpunk Through the Eyes of a Stray Ginger Cat

The adventure game by BlueTwelve Studio tells the story of a stray ginger cat who, separated from his family, ends up in a mysterious cyberpunk city. Robots live here instead of humans, and neon signs illuminate abandoned buildings and rusty structures. The player must explore narrow alleys, jump across rooftops, crawl through ventilation shafts, and solve puzzles. Throughout the journey, the cat is accompanied by a small drone, B-12, which helps interact with the unfamiliar world. At the same time, the developers preserved familiar feline habits: you can meow, scratch furniture, knock over objects, and settle down to rest in the most unexpected places. The key strength of Stray is the contrast between grim science fiction and the behavior of an ordinary cat: among robots and dangerous creatures, the main protagonist remains an animal for whom curiosity is sometimes more important than caution, and it is precisely because of this perspective that familiar cyberpunk elements are perceived in a completely new way.

### Little Kitty, Big City: The City as a Huge Playground for Feline Curiosity

In the adventure game by Double Dagger Studio, a little black kitty finds himself in the middle of a big city after an unsuccessful awakening. He needs to find his way home, but there is so much of interest around that returning to routine life is completely out of the question. The player can explore streets, meet other animals, complete small quests, and collect funny hats. A special place is occupied by so-called cat mischief: players are allowed to knock over objects, bother passersby, sneak into unusual places, and rest right in the middle of urban hustle and bustle. The game doesn't force players to constantly follow the plot, leaving plenty of room for independent adventures. The bright cartoon style emphasizes the main idea: objects usual for humans become obstacles, toys, or resting spots here, and the greatest pleasure comes from the opportunity to temporarily forget human rules of behavior.

### Cat Detective Albert Wilde: A Noir Detective with a Quantum Twist

The atmospheric detective adventure from the Greek studio beyondthosehills unfolds in 1930s New York. The main character is private investigator Albert Wilde, an anthropomorphic cat experiencing financial difficulties who takes on a mysterious murder case that gradually takes an unexpected turn. The player will have to explore the city, interact with unusual characters, conduct interrogations, and unravel secrets. The game combines elements of interactive cinema, detective fiction, and science fiction: the plot touches upon quantum theory and parallel universes. Black-and-white graphics, jazz motifs, and humor typical of classic noir film parodies create the feeling of accidentally stumbling into a forgotten detective movie where something went completely off script. The developers rethought the image of the detective from old Hollywood cinema: instead of a stern man in a hat, we get a cat with a difficult character, financial problems, and dubious acquaintances.

### Cats and the Other Lives: A Family Drama Through the Eyes of Aspen the Cat

The narrative adventure from Cultic Games unfolds in the old estate of the Mason family. Following the death of Bernard Mason, his relatives return to the family home, where long-standing conflicts, unfulfilled expectations, and hidden secrets gradually emerge. You must observe the family through the eyes of the household cat, Aspen: he moves through rooms, explores furniture, interacts with objects, and witnesses conversations between the estate's residents. The game combines pixel art, interactive story elements, and simple controls built around natural feline behavior. Gradually, the history of several generations of the family unfolds before the player, with the cat acting simultaneously as an observer and a participant in events — his presence in the frame sets the scale and emotional distance, allowing a look at human dramas from the outside.

### Why a Cat is the Ideal Game Protagonist

A common trait of all five games in this selection is the shift in optics. A cat does not understand human contexts, knows no social norms, and is incapable of complex verbal communication, and this is precisely what makes its view of the world fresh and unexpected. Cyberpunk in Stray stops being just an aesthetic and turns into a set of obstacles and shelters; the city in Little Kitty, Big City transforms into a giant playground; noir New York in Cat Detective Albert Wilde takes on an absurdist tint; and the family estate in Cats and the Other Lives unfolds through the quiet observations of a four-legged watcher. This selection demonstrates that a cat as a game character is not just a cute visual trick, but a fully-fledged narrative tool that allows authors to rethink genre clichés and offer players a unique experience of immersion in familiar worlds from a completely new angle.

## Fact-Check & Sources

- [Игры, в которых можно стать котом: Stray, Copycat, Cats and the Other Lives](https://styler.rbc.ua/ukr/trends/igri-kih-mozhna-stati-kotom-stray-copycat-1793807899.html) - Source: Editorial selection by Styler (RBC Ukraine), author Yulia Lyushneva. Describes Stray, Little Kitty Big City, Cat Detective Albert Wilde, Cats and the Other Lives. A fifth game (Copycat) is mentioned in the headline but not detailed in the provided text.

## FAQ

### How many games are included in the Styler selection?

Editor Yulia Lyushneva's selection features five atmospheric PC games where the protagonist is a cat. The provided text details four of them: Stray, Little Kitty, Big City, Cat Detective Albert Wilde, and Cats and the Other Lives.

### Which studio developed Stray?

Stray was developed by BlueTwelve Studio. It is an adventure game in which a stray ginger cat explores a cyberpunk city inhabited by robots.

### How does Cat Detective Albert Wilde differ from other games in the selection?

Cat Detective Albert Wilde is a detective adventure set in a 1930s noir aesthetic with black-and-white graphics. The main character is an anthropomorphic cat detective, and the plot touches upon quantum theory and parallel universes, combining interactive movie elements with science fiction.

### What is the genre of Cats and the Other Lives?

Cats and the Other Lives is a narrative adventure by Cultic Games featuring pixel art. The player observes a family drama in the Mason estate through the eyes of household cat Aspen, exploring rooms and objects.