Six Cats Under is a short point-and-click puzzle game made as a game jam. You play as an elderly lady who’s just met an untimely demise, and must now use her limited ghost abilities to help her cats escape the apartment. Despite this slightly morbid tone, though, the game shines with a lighthearted sense of humor and a very cute presentation.
Your entire goal is to figure out which items you can or can’t interact with. You must then use them to gain your cats’ attention and influence their actions, causing a chain of events that will ultimately lead to the opening of the front door. The entire apartment, and the kitties themselves, essentially serve as one big puzzle.
This puzzle is much more difficult and intricate than I’d expected, too; I honestly had a tough time figuring out a few of these interactions. I definitely appreciate the creativity and complexity of the gameplay, but I do wish these parts were a bit easier so that the entire game didn’t drag itself out as much. I think it would help a lot even just to have a clearer way to tell what you can and can’t use. Over half of the items in the apartment serve no purpose, but you won’t actually know which ones matter until you’ve clicked through all of them. Sometimes it feels like you’re stumbling around blindly trying to figure out the next step. I was especially lost at the beginning.
Despite these flaws, the gameplay still has a really neat idea behind it and mostly satisfactory execution. It’s very rewarding to see the cats interact with their surroundings and the amazing animations that come along with that. And I still enjoyed most of the answers, anyways - it was just a select few that I took issue with. So I still think the creators did a good job!
As for the story, it doesn’t really extend beyond your singular goal. The game is about 15-20 minutes long, most of which is dedicated to figuring out the puzzle. It’s understandable, since again, this was made for a game jam - but it unfortunately still means that there wasn’t enough time for things like worldbuilding or plot progression. All you can really discover is a bit of information about each car by clicking on them. The apartment is a studio, so there’s not much room to fit items that would give more personality to our protagonist or her pets, either. There are definitely a few nice details - portraits of loved ones hanging on the walls, a yarn basket - but it’s pretty limited. One of the best details though is the main menu, which shows a framed picture of the elderly lady holding one of her cats.
Really, what makes everything work for me with Six Cats Under is the presentation. Even though it’s a simple setting, the apartment is still very visually pleasing. The pixel art is just so beautifully done and detailed. Its main color scheme is composed of warm browns and yellows that are accented by dark green, creating a very cozy atmosphere. Plus the kitties are, of course, particularly adorable!
As for the audio, it’s also quite well-done. The looped song is both cheerful and relaxing, and thankfully just long enough that it doesn’t become annoying. Besides that, there are cute little sound effects to accompany you or the cat’s actions (my favorite of which are easily the meows.) It’s all perfect compliment to the adorable pixel art.
Overall, I definitely think Six Cats Under is worth playing. It’s fun and endearing, and has a very strong vision for what it wants to accomplish. I honestly did feel bad about having to scare virtual cats in order to manipulate them, then allowing them to wander out of your apartment aimlessly - [SPOILERS] not to mention boiling your pet goldfish in the process [END SPOILERS]. But if you don’t think about it too hard, it’s a really delightful experience.

Visuals: 4.5/5
Sound: 3.5/5
Story: 3/5
Gameplay: 3.5/5
Worldbuilding: 2.5/5
Overall Game Score: 3.5/5 [3.4/5]