Copycat Review — A Claw-some Adventure

Copycat is a narrative-heavy adventure game developed by Spoonful Of Wonder, also known as  Australian-Ukranian duo Sam Cable and Kostia Liakhov. The game follows Dawn, a cat recently adopted by an elderly lady, Olive, who is not in the best health condition, as you find out quite early in the game. Copycat explores some deep narrative themes that are sure to spark an emotional reaction out of most players.

The 3-hour narrative follows the relationship between Dawn and her new owner, Olive, which starts off a bit rocky. It is evident that Dawn’s last home was not kind to her, and this is where the emotional connection between myself and Dawn initialised. As someone who has lived in a house with a feline friend for most of their life, it wasn’t difficult to care about Dawn. And as someone who lost their beloved grandmother a couple of years ago, the same applies to Olive. This, paired with the authentically Australian accent of Olive, streamlined my feelings towards these characters – something I believe is vital for a shorter game like Copycat to achieve early on.

One day, Dawn finds that a copycat has taken her place in her new home and is determined to reclaim her rightful place in Olive’s home. It’s from here that the story really takes the reigns and captivates you. I think the narrative itself is quite heartfelt and emotional and told well, even though it does feel like it loses its way a little bit in the final hour, but it reels it back in quickly for a fitting finale. 

Accompanying the story, is some platforming and exploration across different environments in the neighbourhood. This ranges from your quintessential feline activities like scratching furniture, catching prey, climbing trees, and, of course, knocking things off of tables. Outside of those activities are decent areas to explore, which I had fun doing, particularly in the areas towards the end of the game. And, of course, it wouldn’t be a cat game without a dedicated meow button (yes, I absolutely spammed that button). I was, at first, concerned about the lack of gameplay variety in the first hour of the game, but that concern was alleviated once other areas became explorable and the gameplay really diversified.

While the movement of Dawn feels ridiculously cat-coded in the best way possible, the platforming can feel like it could be more refined at times. Cats are quite fluid in their movements and sometimes that felt lost in Copycat. This rarely deteriorated my enjoyment of the game, though. Stepping into the paws of a cat, in particular, Dawn, was a delightful experience I would definitely do again and again.

A Nature Expert (think David Attenborough) narrates much of the game and provides an inner dialogue between himself and the cat, which definitely assists in progressing the meaningful narrative and articulating what the cat is actually thinking or feeling. The narrator often provides comedic relief, particularly when the story has just been encumbered by an emotional scene. 

Copycat is visually beautiful. The landscapes you encounter during the game make for some beautiful screenshots (you can see some in this review), and it allowed me to decompress after some tense interactions with other characters. The textures of the fur on the animals in this game are remarkably well-detailed, too.

I really loved my time with Copycat. I was fortunate enough to play a demo of this at PAX Australia last year and I genuinely had a really good time with it back then, and that hasn’t changed after playing through the full game. If you have an affinity for cats or animals in general, you will love this game, too. It’s worth highlighting again that this game was developed by two people. So, creating a wholesome, unique, and emotional story about a cat finding its place on the earth that grips you from start to finish is an astonishing achievement that they should be proud of.