"This is a story of how we, cats, became the dominant species on Earth."
That exact line is the way Kitty Krush, a new game by The Slanted Room, opens its cute but incredibly weird premise. In this game, you take on the role of a hive mind behind a secret cat civilization. Your goal is nothing short of enslaving the entire humanity as you work behind the scenes to turn domesticated cats into the only rulers of planet Earth. Check out the game's trailer right here:
Immediately, it's clear that Kitty Krush is not your ordinary cozy game, despite its heartwarming casual graphics and many tones of pink and white. The same goes for the voiceover in the game, which features English with a heavy Japanese accent, making it again reminiscent of anime content. However, below this cute exterior lies a cleverly devised deck-building game. Of course, The Slanted Room is no stranger to complex games. Previously, the same development studio created Idle Trillionaire and Turn Based Boxing: Legends. Both games dive deep into intricate systems that players need to figure out and then gradually manage.
Here as well, Kitty Krush operates by blending its strange and slightly unnerving narrative of cats turning human civilization into their minions with a system of run-based deck building. This involves players trying to achieve their goal through multiple runs. Between each failure, the player can upgrade their decks of cards and push their kitty-civilisation to the next phase - basically using a roguelike system. To do that, there is the mechanic of Kitty Points, which are spent on improving decks and their cards. The same combines great with a notion of the game's story being broken up into small chapters that are easy to follow and not overbearing.
The Slanted Room has built a reputation in the indie strategy, simulation, and management gaming space. Now, with Kitty Krush, the studio is branching out into roguelike deck-building games, which is amazing to see. If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, find the game on Steam and Itch, but also check out its official website, where you can play the demo for free. The game will also appear on Android and iOS devices in the near future, but for now, check it out on Steam and wishlist it immediately if you wish to see cats rule us all!