Have you ever wondered why your cat knocks everything off your shelves? You could try it out by setting something on your counter and give it a good hard swipe, but in the end you’re going to be cleaning it up. So what can you do? Thankfully, Fire Hose Games has developed the cel-shaded adventure, Catlateral Damage!

In Catlateral Damage’s Objective mode you play as a disgruntled cat who is upset with their human. Your goal is to knock over a certain amount of objects before your owner gets home. This means climbing on dressers, opening the refrigerator and swiping out all the contents, jumping on bookshelves and sending those classics to floor. There are multiple ways to accomplish your goal. You can pick items up with your mouth, ram things with your head, hold one of your legs straight out and runinto things, or swipe left and right with your paws. The absurd nature of the game, along with the cel-shaded graphics may remind some gamers of the Katamari series and that is never a bad thing!

When you first start a level your cat is slow and weak, but as time goes on you pick up a ton of upgrades that increase your speed, jump, and swipe ability. If you focus on finding upgrades you’ll be in great shape to dominate your owner's home. Some of the ways you find these upgrades is by interacting with objects such as the litter box, unraveling a roll of toilet paper, and interacting with cat toys that are around the procedurally generated levels. By the final levels your cat will be able to jump halfway across almost any room.

There are a guarantee of five levels per play through, but if you find a hidden object you can actually increase this amount. I personally was only able to find two extra levels during my play through, although I think there are more. To finish all of the levels will probably take you around 45 minutes to an hour. If you’re a trophy collector, you can pretty much guarantee that you’ll need about 5-6 hours to get all of them. Besides levels, you can also unlock different cats to play as by knocking over pictures of cats or by completing specific objectives that are related to trophies

Catlateral Damage also has a Litterbox mode where you can choose around 10 levels to play in without a time limit. This gives you the opportunity to play without the stress of a constant countdown. There are a few trophies tied to Litterbox mode, but other than that there’s not much to do.

The questions with all reviews is if the game is fun and worth a purchase. The simple answer is yes, however this does depend on what you’re looking for. If you’ve ever dreamed of playing as a cat whose main goal is to cause the destruction of a home then this is the game for you. It’s also a great game for anyone who is new to gaming or someone who likes games, but isn’t too hardcore. I honestly believe that a grandparent who has had limited exposure to video games could pick up Catlateral Damage and have an absolute blast. If you’re a casual gamer or have someone in your life who is, then 100%, no question Catlateral Damage is for you, but if you consider yourself somewhat above casual you may be a little disappointed.

Final Score: 3.75/5

Thank you to Fire Hose Games for providing the review code!

Catlateral Damage Review