Explore the Night Sky in Cat's Cosmic Atlas

Cat's Cosmic Atlas is a digital storybook where players explore the night sky. It's cozy and wholesome.

Some of the first memories I have of video games are CD Rom educational games. Titles like Reader Rabbit or Putt Putt captivated me for hours.

I was absolutely fascinated by all of the interactions. The exploration was everything to me. It opened up worlds, it opened up curiosity.

Cat's Cosmic Atlas released to Switch and Steam on Aug. 17, 2023. It describes itself as an "interactive picture book," and follows along a little blue kitty named Fellie as she hops across the night sky.

Fellie is the protagonist.

As you boot up the game, you are welcomed into a cozy nighttime world of night-blue and star-yellow tones. You start in Fellie's house and then head out the windows to explore.

Fellie hops up and across clouds to reveal various constellations and their stories. Eventually, she makes it up to space to explore the solar system. It is simple in terms of gameplay, but charming. Constellations come to life with animations and sounds (I highly recommend playing with headphones).

Cat's Cosmic Atlas is true to its picture book description. While animations reveal the constellations, it is up to the player to read about the features of the night sky.

"We wanted to make a cute little game about space and the universe that would be accessible to everyone," said game publisher RedDeer.Games. And as far as featuring a kitty as the protagonist goes, "We just love cats! Many of us have our kitties, we often talk about them or we show each other pictures. They are members of our big family so it was a natural choice for us."

One of the more visually striking moments of the game is Fellie swimming in space past planets, asteroids and the sun.

Younger me would have loved this game. That being said, it's not for everyone. But what game is?

I recently had my first kiddo and it has been a delight watching him pick up books and stare intently at the pictures. When he gets a bit older we will be revisiting this game. I can't wait to see his eyes light up as we explore the night sky.

A review copy was provided for this game. It was reviewed on Switch.