I am Cat Is as Silly a VR Physics Game as You’d Expect

Games like Goat Simulatorfill a certain type of niche. A player gets to be an animal, with different objectives and purposes beyond the understanding of a human, and often engage with the world in unexpected ways. This is especially true when a title in these sim genres also offers an open environment to explore and physics-based gameplay that can result in exaggerated reactions to your limited input options. I am Cat is that same sort of VR game, as New Folder Games offers the option of structure, but also an opportunity to do what we want and play around within the simulation. This means your enjoyment can vary based on your tolerance for such things.

In I am Cat, you are a cat who lives in Granny’s house. Your goal in this VR game is to basically be a cat with human-level intelligence without the guaranteed opposable thumbs and perhaps dexterity. Hijinks ensue. Especially depending on whether you choose to go along with the missions or do your own thing as an agent of chaos in the world.

Now, just because you are a cat in I am Cat doesn’t mean you need to be a jerk in this VR game. As I’ve mentioned repeatedly, this is an open-ended sort of experience. Once you get settled, you can follow along with the missions that come up. You could attack Granny, destroy her home, and ruin her day. However, it is also possible (and I feel preferred) to exist alongside her and see everything you are capable of in this experience. Accomplish goals. Get to do new things. Though of course, I often found I had more fun when I wasn’t attempting to do exactly what New Folder Games expected, as that made it easier to deal with learning to deal with the controls and feedback from them.

The different tasks and objectives feel like they balance between common sense and watching a cat accomplish silly things. If you head to the piano upstairs, there will be notes carved into it as a clue to play a song. Getting a certain score in the whack-a-mole cat toy completes a task. But then, you might also find yourself working out how to have a cat cook as you play or carry a vase while scaling a wall. Since my issues involved I am Cat sometimes not registering properly when I was performing certain grabbing motions, it made those types of tasks involving moving, breaking, or grabbing items quite difficult at times. Sometimes even actually running and jumping forward could be difficult, which means Granny would catch me get in the way of my current progress, and force me to recenter myself.

I’m also disappointed at the degree of unlocking in I am Cat. There are some spots gated beyond accomplishments. So you’ll always be able to see the street and outdoor area while in Granny’s house, but you need to actually unlock access to that area. (There is an “unlock” DLC you can buy for $19.99 that immediately lets you into those places and gives you extra costumes and weapons like a taser.) I also had a bug that caused the garage key to not spawn where expected, forcing me to exit, perform a hard reset, and then fortunately be able to go back and find it where it was supposed to be in a safe.

The one thing I will note is that I am Cat is one of the VR games that left me quite motion sick. I couldn’t play for more than 15-20 minutes before feeling queasy or developing a headache. There can be a lot of running, climbing, and jumping involved, depending on if the player is performing evasive maneuvers or just trying to scramble to the top of a wall or platform. Again, the actions you’re performing and pace at which you’re playing could affect how you feel, and it could just be I ended up being especially sensitive to it.

Basically, I feel like you need to go into I am Cat expecting it to be a silly VR experience due to the way all physics-based games work. Will you be able to accomplish your goals? Maybe, if you figure out the controls and move just right. Will you find yourself in funky and potentially funny situations due to the reactions between objects, elements, and your avatar? Definitely. As such, I almost wish there was a demo to help people figure things out. But if you’re willing to take the risk and understand things might not go to plan, it could be a fun way to spend a a few days or weeks.

I am Cat is available on the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest Pro, and PC VR headsets.