Be Like a Cat: Exploring from a New Solo RPG Perspective
Stretch out, keep an eye on butterflies, get into mischief, and enter a solo journaling RPG adventure with Be Like a Cat.
How delightful! I’ve been exploring more solo RPGs lately, and some of those haven’t ever made it onto my blog. So it was a nice surprise to have the publisher reach out regarding Be Like a Cat. Am I more of a dog person? Sure, yet that doesn’t detract from my love of playing as a furry feline! Prepared with everything I needed, I pounced into my story!
Disclaimer
I received the PDF version of the game for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Everything else seen below comes from my own collection, while I also printed out a few sheets to help me play. These are my own opinions, partially based on my plays of Be Like a Crow, which I purchased on my own a couple of years ago.
Game Overview
Game Name: Be Like a Cat
Publication Year: 2023
Designer: Tim Roberts
Artist: Uncredited
Publisher: Critical Kit
Solo Mode: Designed for Solo (Included in the Base Game)
This is exactly the sort of solo RPG it sounds like, with the focus on the life of a cat. Skills help drive the story forward within a variety of settings and life stages. From the short summary of being a kitten to the busy adventures of a mature cat, there are all sorts of lovely moments to enjoy!
Over-Prepared Cats
With my previous experience with Be Like a Crow, I had the perfect deck of cards handy! But in a hilarious twist, I immediately discovered this uses dice, not cards. Ha!
Still, I had the best deck nearby and could always draw cards to introduce various sorts of cats into the world.
And you might notice this very curious kitten climbing up the side… Hello, 1990s Littlest Pet Shop! I used to love them, and found some absolutely perfect figures.
As a funny bonus, this kitten is magnetized and could scale the metal tin in some very acrobatic ways. Ha ha!
The Lazy Kitten Days
There he is! All ready to play in a pose that seemed fitting to describe his entire personality. Meet Penny, a playful cat who was once part of a busy household. But no more…
He turned out to be a stray, as that background seemed the most interesting to me. I loved how I developed his skills during his kitten days, and added some visual prompts.
Once Upon a Time: The Storytelling Card Game is basically a solo RPG staple for me at this point. I love these cards!
To bring out the cozy, countryside village I wanted to explore, I also brought in the Meadow cards. So pretty!
Writing the Details
A lot of my recent solo journaling has been focused on keeping everything short and focused on the action. Yet I forgot about my giant notebook and used this one.
Driven by a combination of the in-game prompts and my visuals, Penny’s life started to take shape. It was a little more seriously written, but still very pleasant!
I knew I would need to bring his playful nature into his adult life, and that was the perfect idea to build off of.
My favorite line: “And I made my way across the narrowest of places to reach those far away places.”
Maturing and Playing
A-ha! With even more Littlest Pet Shop figures around, I found the adult version of Penny in one of my favorite cat figures. I vividly remember this one from my childhood!
Another tiny kitten sat on the map, which I would build out and explore. Perfectly sized to fit in a single square!
Dice were plentiful, including a sparkly purple version with a cat on one face. And I loved coming up with stories from the watercolor images I had in front of me.
Although I used the standard setting, I modified it ever so slightly to make it extra cozy for Penny to explore.
Digging Into a Narrative with SOlo Journaling
As I previously mentioned, a lot of my solo RPG adventures lately have been about taking very few notes… Or even none! I can get very wordy, taking up pages to describe the most minute detail. That exercise seems to have worked out nicely, though. I didn’t set any specific limits here, but I found that my writing stuck to the action, with just a few extra details.
Another important thing to consider when journaling is that this is not supposed to be a perfectly written piece that will ever be published, nor even read in its entirety. It’s all about enjoying the moments, exploring a new character, and seeing where the story will take you. At the end, there’s an account to look back on whenever it might make sense!
Some of the sentences or sections didn’t flow perfectly, and I kept everything rather condensed to fill up the pages. No problem! To keep my narrative rolling, I also put myNoise to use with a custom playlist that was fantastic:
- Cat Purr: Does this even warrant a description? Ha ha! Definitely made it feel like I had a real cat nearby.
- Forêt Ouareau: A Canadian forest noise generator that felt like it had the right vibes for this cozy countryside.
- 88 Keys: Light, calm, random piano tunes that felt like a grounding element for the story of a stray cat.
I’ll likely try some other noise generators as I go along, possibly adjusting to the setting as it gets built out. This felt like the right soundtrack for my adventure, though, and I’m really enjoying the process of adding sounds to my sessions!
Lots of Encounters
Not only were there locations to build out and main encounters, but another random element sometimes made each square a little more interesting. Watch out!
This table was a lot of fun, as these didn’t happen all that often. I saved some surprises for myself and avoided reading all of the entries. Lots to look forward to!
I enjoyed the simple system and the ability to choose how much I would keep track of to follow Penny’s adult life.
Prompts felt like they might happen on the same day, or span weeks. Just focused on the memorable adventures!
Interpreting Meadow
It wasn’t necessarily the most conventional approach, yet using my Meadow cards for inspiration was amazing!
Many of these gave me feelings of certain scenes, rather than strict interpretations. A bird’s nest and ferns were central elements, but there wasn’t a deer here…
Just a reminder of cozying up and being comfortable looking around! That seemed to match the scene.
Penny discovered a giant oak tree and climbed far, far up into its branches to have a look around. And that was where he fell fast asleep at the end of this cozy session.
Mapmaking Skills
I know… You probably think I’m a regular ol’ master cartographer over here. Ha ha! That’s the beauty of playing solo RPGs: No one is there to judge your work.
This area had bird’s nests along a cliff, along with lots of country houses with enormous gardens. But, there was definitely an abandoned and possibly haunted house.
Plus, street market carts! I figured Penny would need to make friends with some vendors to pick up some scraps.
This was a wonderful introduction to this cat-centric adventure, and I’m excited to see what happens next!
Continue the Conversation
Have you had an adventure in Be Like a Cat? Are there other solo journaling RPGs you’re enjoying? I loved taking on the persona of a new character and considering the world from his perspective! The world is taking shape with little details about the area, and I could even see this being a combined setting with other solo RPGs. Such a delightful day as a stray!
Well that does sound like an interesting game!