Cats Who Stare At Ghosts (Android)

four-lights

Trakanon Raider
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I've been lurking this forum and its ancestors for a long time, actually since I was admiring Lady Vox loot on noows. Some might remember me from EQ days as Tolpan the Battlemaster (Bard / Mortalis Guild).
Anyways, my fiancée and me just released our first game, so it's time to actually write my 20th posting in about 18 years or something ;)

It's an incremental / semi-idle / role playing game called Cats Who Stare At Ghosts

The game itself is free, with optional microtransactions. Everything can be unlocked without spending anything. We have no advertisements in the game and will continue to keep it ad-free.
It would be nice to get some constructive feedback in this thread from you, thanks :)

Game description:

See what only cats can see. Be one of them and constantly improve yourself.
Dozens of rooms await you in a mysterious mansion full of secrets, filled with more different ghosts than all your friends have paws to count them with.
Improve your stats, gain new expertises, find curious items, forge friendships with ghostly companions and other cats, unlock new skills and abilities or upgrade existing ones. But always beware how you spend your catnip, after all you might rather want to eat it yourself?
Only sleep when it's daytime, for the night is thrilling and full of things to play with.

QR_cwsag_firesofheaven.org_release_25.png
 
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pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
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Been playing this a bit since I actually dig these sorts of games. I don't think FoH is the best place to look for idle game fans tho.

Anyway, game is interesting, tho it starts off a little slow. Lots is unexplained, but maybe you're going for mystery?

One thing I can't figure out is what the various glowing colors mean when they happen to my cat. Looks like there's an icon in the glow that might help me figure it out, but it fades so quick I can barely see it.
 

four-lights

Trakanon Raider
10
2
We are trying to find a balance between explaining the necessary essentials and letting the players discover a lot of things for themselves. In versions 1.0.3 and 1.0.4 we actually added some more tutorial text to the first room to provide a bit more guidance at the beginning.

Regarding the various glowing colors on your cat: They are meant to further visualize the different ghost type special effects described in the games hint section:
effects.png

- Boss ghost shock, that is also visualized by the white progress bar and the actual shock counter in your endurance bar.
- Comsumption effect, also visualized by a red floating +X number when the ghost heales itself.
- Gadget effect, directly calculated into your floating blue endurance loss number.
- Light effect, also visualized by a yellow floating +X number when the ghost regains invisibility.
- Water effect, additionally indicated by a frozen tail animation (or the simple fact that it takes longer until the ghost looses invisibility or hitpoints again)

I'll test later, how it will look like if we display those visual cues longer, thanks for your feedback :)
 
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pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
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It's definitely a fun quirky game btw, even if my girlfriend rolls her eyes when she sees me playing it. ¶=
 

Lenas

Trump's Staff
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I'll be honest, I couldn't get through the first level. The game feels unresponsive and the cat only paws at things after like 5-6 taps.
 

Lenas

Trump's Staff
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Then what the hell are you even supposed to interact with? Tapping a yarn ball every minute or two?
 

pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
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yeah there is very little interaction compared to most games. you get one point per level to put into one of five stats. once you beat a room you can move to the next room. and later on you get some abilities that you can activate as needed, but i haven't unlocked many of those yet (focusing on stuff that improves my cat's power without requiring much attention).

the "idle game" genre started being popular ~5 years ago. basically just gives you something to do in small spurts every few minutes... another incremental advancement to check between EQ pulls or w/e.

definitely not for everyone. my niece and nephew can sit there and stare at games like this all day (come to think of it, i should have my niece try this, she'd love it). but for the most part idle games aren't really something you're supposed to pay much attention to.