A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, and Linux

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***Do NOT Take This Cat Home***

It's your day off, but the weather is really bringing you down.

Among other things. 

But... you're drawn to the distant sound of something calling out to you...

You follow it to a dark, lonely alley. And at the back of the alley, in a cardboard box...


...is a cat.

A very cute cat.

What will you do?

Will you selfishly ignore it and go enjoy your day off?

Will you befriend it only to abandon it anyway?

Or...

...Will you take it home with you? Surely you will, right?

Right. Who could say no to  that face~?


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32K+ words! (3-4~ hours of gameplay, depending on reading speed)

39 unique endings + 1 true ending

Original Soundtrack (available for download!)

Surreal atmosphere, animations, minigames and more!


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WARNING!

This game is not suitable for children or the easily disturbed. It includes depictions of horror elements, human/animal violence and death, abuse/abusive relationship(s), disturbing images, loud noises, flashing images/lights and more. 

Individuals suffering from anxiety, depression or certain fears/phobias may not have a safe experience playing this game. For full list of content/trigger warnings go to 'About' section in the game's main menu. Or download .txt file below!


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I DID NOT UPLOAD "DO NOT TAKE THIS CAT HOME" TO THE GOOGLE PLAY STORE AND I DONT PLAN ON DOING SO FOR NOW.

Please don't download any apps claiming to be my game as they might be viruses!

Updated 14 days ago
StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(437 total ratings)
AuthorPixeliminal
GenreVisual Novel, Interactive Fiction
Made withRen'Py
TagsCats, Creepy, Horror, Indie, Multiple Endings, Psychological Horror, Ren'Py, scary, yandere
Average sessionA few hours
LanguagesEnglish

Download

Download NowName your own price

Click download now to get access to the following files:

DoNOTTakeThisCatHome-1.0-pc.zip 924 MB
DoNOTTakeThisCatHome-1.0-mac.zip 890 MB
Content Warnings Full List.txt 1.4 kB
Endings guide.txt 5 kB
DoNOTTakeThisCatHome OST.zip 145 MB
if you pay $2 USD or more

Development log

Comments

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Viewing most recent comments 1 to 40 of 429 · Next page · Last page

Great!

https://thecatgamecompany.itch.io/thecat

Is the main character (the one that finds the cat) the guy who joins the literature club?   xD  Expecting to have a little fun with the cute cat.

(1 edit) (+2)

Ending 17, 21, 6

 3 TERRIFYING Endings. Game starts at 2:55

Love your videos man. HUGE fan 

(+1)

played all endings in maybe 3 hours or so. fucking amazing game, maybe even my favorite now. it actually made me emotional. the whole game just felt like a metaphor for toxic, consuming love that you cant escape from. i also love the option to go back and "play with it" even after the game is over, it shows how sometimes you fall back even after you heal because you miss the sweet, twisted words they gave you at your lowest.

(+1)(-1)

Please make it for mobile

(+2)

This game was HEAT. First ending already scary

I Took the cat home

(1 edit) (+1)

Seriously… this game keeps getting more and more interesting… Quality Game With A Quality Cat. At least I think it’s a cat?

This has to have been one of the best games I've played in the last few years. 


Thank mew

(+1)(-1)

(not my video) Imagine this was this cat. The world would be doomed

OFFICIALLY addicted to this game! It is cute, it is fun, it is disturbing and there are SO MANY outcomes making replayability a MUST. Do NOT sleep on this game!

Damn this game is relatable, the visuals are amazing, and the spooks got me good, I love it!

9.5/10

half a point deducted for ~✨Traumaaa ✨~

(+1)

I heard this game has 40 endings......No further comment 

Hey., sorry to disturb you but i need help. i'm not a gamer so a don´t no what to do. The  game came in a zipped folder, how do I make it run? Thank you.

hello, you should unarchive this folder (right click > extract > choose folder where you want this game to be) and run exe file inside extracted folder ☺️
hope it was helpful (I'm not native speaker)

Thank you for your time!

Very fun! Beat it in one very long sitting. Gonna show it to some other people!

Story is amazing! Thank you for the great time!

one of the best games ive plated so far on her

this game is amazingly well done! love the story :D

(1 edit)

greatest 4 hours of my life

(1 edit)

Lovely and wonderful game <3 watch a preview below!

My experience <3

(+4)(-1)

-Download the game

-Don't take the cat

-Delete the game

Just finished this, started about same time yesterday. Beautiful game, so much thought and detail given in every scenario. The ending almost made me cry. Recommended it to all of my friends and can't wait to see more. I kinda wish it was a bit longer cuz I am a speed reader, but other than that miniscule thing there's really nothing wrong with it.

HELL YEAH I LOVE THIS

(+1)

I love this game, it's so good. I'd give it like a 9/10? It'd be a 10/10 if it was longer, but I'm a speed reader so that doesn't help lol.  I also feel weirdly connected to the main character, just through the description we get of them and their life. Love it <3

This is one of the best games that I have played! I would love to see similar ones! My only critique is that I would love for a way to make all the minigames more difficult. Overall, a 10/10! Here's my playthrough on the game:

非常寓意丰富的、代入感强的、交互有趣的,视觉小说。半夜4点通关的(乐)

一开始只是随便玩玩,觉得:“好!邪神猫猫!可爱!”但是慢慢通过主角的自述可以感觉到,这并非单纯的相遇,而是一种阴谋。

整个玩完我的第一反应是:PUA。一直以来,也可能是作为玩家的剥离视角,我会是同情猫猫,甚至觉得“对啊它不是陪的挺好的吗?”,但逐渐玩下去,是的,这不是正确的,朋友的陪伴,不是爱。是一种控制与折磨。即使猫猫可爱,自己孤独,猫猫会说一大堆“爱你”的话。但是不要把这种会折磨你的人带回家。你值得更好的,你可以有自己的人生,哪怕真的孤身一人,买只/救助真猫都比只寄托于一个烂人好。很多时候生活没有那么糟,豁出去了会发现地球online的自由度真的挺高的:)

(1 edit)

nah imma still take it home

very amazing game had me hooked and didnt wanna stop till i got the true  ending 10/10

Wow, What a roller coaster of emotions. Absolutely amazing game with beautiful artstyle, cool story, mindblowing twist and so much muuuch more. I dont know what else to say. One of the best psychological horror games in the world!! <<<3

(+4)

Dear creator, and the lovely team,

I have never written a love letter to anyone in my life, let alone for a game. However, after having played this game with all 40 endings at last, I feel compelled to write one.  It is only fair to do so.

I decided to download this game after seeing it on Instagram (during the countless hours of doom-scrolling, of course), I thought of giving it a go since it's free. Who says no to  a free game, especially when it involves a cute little cat? I obviously knew it was a horror game, but just how long will it take me to complete it? I have guts of steel, I obviously would've finished it in a day.

Spoiler alert: I did not finish it in a day. In fact, it took me two nights to finish the game because I started to feel a little unsettled (probably because I played it at night like a dumbass), the repetitive endings and constant blood did not help my case either. 

I am not eloquent by any definition, but that does not mean I will not do my darndest to express my love for this game. I've read the other comments and this one in particular might bore you. Mine will be quite the long read. Sorry in advance. 

 Firstly, I'd like to talk about the art style. It's not a style that is necessarily complex or detailed but it serves the game design absolutely right. Its simplicity is what makes it so eerily beautiful (or beautifully eerie. Either works.). The contrast, the lighting, the gore, the specific amount of details in each jumpscare, the transitions, they're all really well done. My personal favourite was the D O G ending. It made my heart race the fastest, the puppy even made me feel a bit scared in the N/A ending! That's how you know you've done a good job - when you've traumatized the player enough to have your imagery be burnt into the back of their retinas. 

Every image must tell a story, and every story is a carefully put together painting. The way the storyline ebbs and flows, each creative ending is insane. However, it did get repetitive after one point and I felt like I was running around in circles (re: ending 23: Feedback loop) but hey, we made it out. The narration does a great job at depicting how utterly despondent we are - after all, the perception of the self does not exist if the perception of us through others has been long lost to the winds of isolation. I will talk more about the ending later; the very thing that prompted me to write this comment is the true ending after all. 

The music design excels at immersing the player in the game's environment - personally, I felt like the music was simple (following a set of 4-6 beats in consecutive succession) but that is a part of its charm.  The jumpscares and the horror aspect of the game really intrigued me. I don't do well with horror games and I get easily scared. VERY scared. The combination of the art style, the music, the framing and the timing of each second here was great. I was constantly anxious, thanks. 

The concept of being trapped in an endless time loop of uncertainties, warping reality into a fabric into an known stream of (un)consciousness is not new, but the execution of it is what makes all the difference. I was as exasperated as the protagonist by the end of each twist and turn. It was exhausting in the exact same way toxic relationships are. It was tiresome having to deal with the cat's boredom, only for me to be its little lab rat - a game for it to enjoy as I slowly let my brain matter turn into mush for its amusement (IT might even call the feeling "love", but I beg to differ). 

If I'd played this game ~2-3 years ago, I would've scoffed and tuned it out instantly, "of course the ending goes this way, of course I'd never go back to the 'cat'. Duh." But now... it was healing. I felt myself wanting to make the same decisions as I did with my own personal life even in a game. To my pleasant surprise, I found that there were options for going that route. The N/A ending sequence is on repeat as I type this particular line out - each dialogue from the scene feels like tiny knives right to my heart. Oh, it hurts so beautifully. This is absolutely lovely. I shed physical tears as the ending played out before my eyes. I will definitely have this part on loop for a while now. 

Oh, and the best part? The aftermath of the cat. The inability to move on, the shock of the past, the having to go back to the alley to see the cardboard box only for me to have a break down right in front of it, going to all the places in my city only for me to find out the world is bigger than I thought, it is much bigger than the nightmares I was handed and definitely bigger than what was once a cute cat I wanted to take home. The explanation for the feeling of relief is just what I needed right now. I might be getting a little personal here, but after finally cutting out an incredibly toxic 'friendship' where I was abused in every way possible, I felt like feeling relief was not something I'm worthy of. I had hurt the other person "as much as they hurt me", but I know full well it is not the case. Lady Justice does not know how imbalanced the scales are when she believes that her blindfold serves true justice. 

This ending in specific will be played over and over again for the next few days, I will be thinking about this game a lot. I will finally be letting myself feel the rage, the grief, the guilt, the shame, the hatred, and most importantly - the relief of letting go. The absolute relief of not going back, the relief of having lived through it to see the light at the end of the alley. What once may seem like the one thing that saves you has the full ability to be the one to demolish you. Your ability to persist and tell a story, be an example to the others stuck in the same cycle is what makes you be a stronger person for yourself more than anyone. No matter how much the other person begs for you to stay, even threatening you with their perishment, they have no control over you. You are what makes them powerful, you are the one they need, they need your power to have power over you.  

The very fact that I am still unable to grasp the right words to type into my keyboard that perfectly encapsulates just how much I am in love with this experience of a game.  

I am beyond grateful for you to have made this game. I cannot express my thanks enough financially yet, but I hope one day I will be able to support you. You have my utmost gratitude, especially considering you've saved me a lot of money that could've been wasted on therapy. It could never compare to this project.  

Thank you once again. I am eternally indebted to you. I hope you continue to make games knowing that you've helped every single one of us who've played this game in some way or the other - be it the way they brace for jumpscares better now, or the way they brace life with a raised head and a heart full of hope. 

Sincerely,

Stae.

Show post...

 Guys, can you tell me if I found the site, is it a fake game or the original? https://donottakethiscathome.com

(+1)

Fake game, its on one of those stupid "FREE GAMES" websites. Don't play it.

Deleted 1 day ago

amazing game, i absolutely love it, for some reason the good endin made me a bit sad (due to the HIM dying), hope you liked making this game an hope that if you continue making games that you have a fun time making them (sorry that im not good with words) 

please please please there has to be a way to play it again, i uninstalled it and reinstalled it so i can't delete save data anymore and i think i messed it up its been a week pleaseee-

i just set up a whole VM just to replay it, there's something seriously wrong with me but ELDRITCH KITTY!!!

Incredible Game, 100/10

(+1)

10/10, cried a lot.

Please Do Not The Cat | Know Your Meme

in love game

in it,s good game 

ou se n saber

oq é br

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