Hidden Cats in Tokyo

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

(Note: Review code provided by the kind folks at Silesia Games)

Hidden Cats in Tokyo is a family-friendly “hidden object”-style Puzzle Game released on PC in 2024 and ported to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2025. As the title indicates, this game has you searching for cats hidden in locales emblematic of Tokyo – a cat cafe, a sushi restaurant, a karaoke bar, and so on. In addition, you’ll also be looking for specific people, a hidden object in each stage, and a monstrous mutated cat creature.

Yes, Hidden Cats in Tokyo has a story involving vaccinating cats to prevent the spread of a disease mutating them into monsters, which you’ll do with the help of a cat scientist and a cat superhero and… look, this is all really silly and disposable, but I can’t say I ever played a hidden object-style Puzzle game with a story that played out like Shakespeare or Scorsese, and I suppose the cute story may entertain younger players.

As for the rest of the presentation, there’s nothing special here. The game uses a cartoony 2D art style that gradually colors in as you’re discovering hidden objects, which works well for the gameplay but I wouldn’t call it especially beautiful. And this is backed be a lighthearted soundtrack that I found to be completely forgettable, but it suits the relaxed gameplay well enough. I will warn you to expect to hear a lot of meowing as you play, though. Oh, also, expect long loading times, something that has me scratching my head since it doesn’t seem like anything here should require that.

While the presentation felt a bit wanting in my eyes, the gameplay here is pretty solid for this genre, letting players zoom in and out as they please, move the screen, and select objects using either a gamepad of the touchscreen in handheld mode, with the touchscreen controls working pretty well. Cats can be hidden behind or inside objects, but these are given away by small animations that draw attention to these areas, so it’s not like this feels unfair. There are also areas with characters scrolling across the screen, which was a nice dynamic element. In addition, the game has a nice help feature that acts as a compass toward the object you’re looking for rather than outright giving you the answer, which I feel is a good mechanic that works well here.

Honestly, the only gameplay complaint I can think of is that sometimes objects can be hidden behind the HUD, requiring you to move the screen around to see and access them. There’s also a “boss fight” minigame that not only has nothing to do with the rest of the gameplay, but is pretty dull, making it seem really superfluous. Beyond these issues, the gameplay works quite well.

At $6, Hidden Cats in Tokyo seems a little pricier than some other hidden object games, though this game boasts over 1700 hidden objects spread across 15 levels, which I think works out to a decent enough value. This game does little to transform the genre or present it in a way that’s likely to win over anyone who isn’t interested in this sort of game, but Hidden Cats in Tokyo is still a decent take on the genre that should satisfy those who do like this style of Puzzle game. If that sounds like you, you may find this game worth trying out.

tl;dr – Hidden Cats in Tokyo is a family-friendly hidden object-style Puzzle game where players try to uncover the 1700+ hidden cats and other objects within a contemporary Tokyo setting. Mechanically this game works pretty well, but mostly this is a decent but unspectacular take on the genre that should be worth its $6 price tag for players who enjoy this style of game.

Grade: C+

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