Hidden Cats in New York

Developer: Nukearts Studio | Publisher: Nukearts Studio | Release Date: 2023| Genre: Casual / Hidden Object / Indie | Website: N/A | Purchase: Steam

The cats are back, and this time they are hiding in the Big Apple. Hidden Cats in New York, the follow-up to Hidden Cats in London by Nukearts Studio, switches the scenery but retains the casual and relaxing gameplay. Players are once again challenged to find all the hidden kittens lurking about the massive hand-drawn illustration.

As with the previous game, players have access to “Normal” and “Advanced” modes. Both feature the same monochromatic sketch of New York City and are filled with cats to find. The Normal Mode features 120 cats that can always be found in the same spots, and players are provided with five hints to use if they get stuck. Advanced Mode ups the ante with 200 cats that are scattered about in random positions. In addition, Advanced Mode also has 12 “special” cats to locate, which unlocks bonus levels. Finally, Advanced Mode also challenges players to find 20 city people in order to earn hints. It will all feel very familiar to fans of the previous games, but the increased kitty count and new map are welcome additions.

As before, the cats can be found by simply clicking on them, which will then fill them with color. Players can zoom in or out to get a better view, and the maps are also large enough that they can scroll horizontally or vertically. If enough cats are found in close proximity to each other, the entire section will be filled with color. This not only looks great but makes it easy to see in which areas hidden cats might still be lurking. Nukearts Studio has also included some handy accessibility options, such as dark Mode, inverted mouse zoom, mouse drag sensitivity, and edge screen scrolling to accommodate all types of players.

The New York City map looks great and features all the expected landmarks, such as the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. The city is viewed from the side, with traffic visible in the foreground, buildings towards the back, and even the river with a few boats in the background. This leaves plenty of spots for the cats to hide, and once again, most of them are easy to spot, but there are a few that requires more effort to track down. The six bonus levels can be unlocked by finding the two special cats that are associated with each one. For this game, the bonus levels are Smellie Cat Caffè, a rooftop, metro, museum, town’s park, and our favorite, Ninja Cats Headquarters. These levels are smaller than the main one but are big enough to hide between 50 and 100 kittens. Despite being smaller in scope than the city level, finding all the cats on the bonus levels can be tricky as some of them hide behind objects. Fortunately, there’s usually a small animation that will give away their position to eagle-eyed players.

Hidden Cats in New York features a relaxing soundtrack that is a good match for the casual nature of the game. Scrolling around the map will still elicit “meows” from any cats that are hidden in the vicinity. This is useful for tracking down particularly elusive cats, but it can be a little annoying when scrolling around a map only to be greeted by a chorus of meows. Of course, players can also reduce the volume of these meows or disable them altogether if preferred.

Overall, Hidden Cats in New York is just as much fun as the previous entry, and while short, it is definitely worth the reasonable asking price. The game is addictive enough that most players will probably complete it in one sitting, so thankfully, the Advanced Mode offers some additional replay value. The cats are adorable, especially the photos of the “special” ones, and the artwork also contains plenty of neat easter eggs that we won’t spoil. Suffice it to say if you were a fan of the previous games or want a stress-free and enjoyable hidden object game, then Hidden Cats in New York won’t disappoint.