Hidden Cats in Istanbul

Genre: Puzzle

Players: 1

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Review:

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

Hidden Cats in Istanbul is a family-friendly “hidden object”-style Puzzle Game released on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One in 2025, and Nintendo Switch in 2026. As the title indicates, this game has you searching for cats hidden in locales emblematic of Istanbul – the a hookah bar, a bazaar, a mosque, and so on. In addition, you’ll also be looking for specific people in each stage.

This game shares a lot in common with its predecessor, Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro, and as such I will be reusing much of the text from my review of that game for this one, changing the details as necessary.

When it comes to the presentation, this game uses a cartoony 2D art style that gradually colors in as you’re discovering hidden objects, with levels that have a fair amount of detail to them, and some nice animations, though these animations throw in contrast characters who are static and still even if they’re in the middle of an action. These visuals are backed by a acoustic string and percussion soundtrack that seemed reasonably evocative of this game’s location, and it suits the relaxed gameplay well enough. I will warn you to expect to hear a lot of meowing as you play, though.

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 or the touchscreen in handheld mode, with the touchscreen controls working pretty well, letting you pinch-zoom as 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. Otherwise, the gameplay works quite well and it’s hard to find much to complain about.

At $4, Hidden Cats in Istanbul is a pretty good price for a hidden object game, with the game boasting 900 hidden objects spread across 8 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 Istanbul is still a good 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 Istanbul is a family-friendly hidden object-style Puzzle game where players try to uncover the 900+ hidden cats and other objects within a contemporary Istanbul setting. Mechanically this game works pretty well, and mostly this is a good but unspectacular take on the genre that should be well worth its $4 price tag for players who enjoy this style of game.

Grade: B-

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