CATO

Charming puzzle game. Keeps the brain from rotting by making it think - very useful in this era. Has a meow button. Realistically follows the laws of the Universe. Has a meow button.

Cato is an obvious play at the myths that cats always land on their feet and toast always lands on its buttered side. Together this makes for an interesting anti-gravity game mechanic that, joined with exceptional level design, results in interesting puzzles to overcome. The majority of the levels are on the easier side, especially if you are not new to puzzle platformers, but beginning with world 3 there are quite some brain teasers that challenge your skills but not in a frustrating way.
If you love cats and adore this art style that is a mix of 3d and pixel art I can definitely recommend giving this game a shot.

Whilst not typically a lover of puzzle games myself, I still aim to give the odd indie of the genre a try when it has such an intriguing premise as the one shown here as CATO: Buttered Cat plays around with the 'buttered cat paradox' whereby a cat always lands on his or her feet whilst buttered toast is known to land on the denser buttered side practically 100% of the time. When you mix these two together in a rather comedic fashion, gravity mishaps ensues and, as such, is a key theme of this particular puzzle platformer!
Seeing as we have both a charming feline as well as a toast well-buttered to guide here, the goal is to enter a warphole at the end of each stage with the cat and butter combined together. However there will very much be obstacles between both of these titular characters as well as towards the exit itself, which is where a key factor of CATO comes into play with how both the cat and toast get around as far as the platforming itself goes.
Touching upon the controls of CATO between the duo here, the feline can move horizontally freely and scale up spiky walls for vertical height but has no means of actually jumping across platforms, meanwhile the butter toast can leap from one place to the next between two arcs of distance (depending on how long you hold down the button to jump) and sticks to walls and ceilings alike, however it can't reposition itself so easily and icy surfaces render it immobile. Naturally when you combine these two together then, the famed paradox takes full effect as now you control both of them as one character, being able to freely move around as well as jump/'fly' as high as your heart's content with the extra versatility often being required to solve a good few puzzles as well!
How this progresses throughout the over 200 levels spread across this game's five areas is quite fascinating, not just in the lovingly-made artstyle that truly brings out the colourful visuals in a way that I can't quite describe given how much detail is given to each of the environments with a minimalist approach to the very much cute aesthetics but also the many new game mechanics they introduce over time and then mix with each other in multiple layers as you become more familiar with the controls and how to approach the platforming puzzles that CATO throws at you.
To give some examples on this front, learning how cats can fit into pipes alongside climbing up spiky walls whilst the toast can insert itself into sockets that fire it in a straight line is one thing, dealing with said socket that can power up a flipper (buttons that both the cat and toast can press, coloured pink and yellow respectively, also have their own powered versions that stay on) to either remove it as an obstacle or to aid the cat in moving to an otherwise-unreachable spot is another. Adding onto this is certain transparent blocks of goo that the duo can only pass through at high speeds as well as 'paradox' spaces whereby you can only pass by if either the cat and toast are separate in some instances or combined together in others.
Yet it is when you begin adding even more intricate mechanics into the game, such as cloned toasts that the cat can stack on top of it whereby the last-touched toast is the one you can freely control whilst the rest serve as inactive weights or peculiar 'shatows' which act as independent cat duplicates that move only when the toast is stationary and will attempt to reach it where possible, that you begin to see the true beauty of CATO's puzzles and how well-designed a lot of these are.
What also helps is that these puzzles are by and large fairly easy to work out for the most part, noting that Team Woll here aimed at a more casual audience that would enjoy a brain teaser but not feel stumped or frustrated at trying to work out what comes across, in their eyes, as a deeply-convoluted enigma to crack. This is backed up by the inclusion of a handy 'hints' system that loosely guides those stuck with cute paper stickers of both the cat and toast (alongside other deities not directly linked to the main duo) to help lighten up that 'bulb' above the player's head. And even if this should prove inefficient, one can choose to entirely skip a level after spending some time in it without being barred from progression.
It is also a pleasant surprise to see just how many secrets there are awaiting discovery in this indie, as some are simple rooms with skins for either the cat or toast to unlock that also expand upon the world's lore. Though for those who aren't fussed about CATO's story, many of these secret paths often lead to additional levels that are completely optional and tend to lean a little more on the difficulty scale of things, though again nothing that will prove impossible if you explore the various contraptions thoroughly enough! (Out of all the levels in this game, I only had to use the hints system a handful of times, these being '2-12', '3-10', '3-21', '5-17' and '5-23' alongside three of the secret levels)
Some people will naturally have concerns over how much of the focus goes into the 'platforming' side of things, though I can say here with confidence that the platforming is secondary to the puzzle experience and very little skill is required of the player in order to successfully solve the many puzzles of CATO. The closest I can think where a bit of platforming finesse is required would be with this game's on-rail 'rollercoaster' sections alongside several boss battles that make use of some of the contraptions that the duo encounters in order to face off against the mechanical foes in their arenas.
Honestly, I can not think much of as far as flaws within this indie go, seeing as even the music and audio is on point as far as a retro game with a cutesy premise goes in this futuristic world that CATO takes place within. Although if I had to point out a couple of things that could have been improved upon, I wouldn't have minded an extra rollercoaster level as the boss battles have enough variety between them whilst not overstaying their welcome either, however I feel the on-rails speedy platforming experience could have been explored further as a secret level of its own. Also the physics feeling a little off at times as far as the usage of flippers goes alongside the toast not always co-operating when it comes to specific tight platforming sections although thankfully these are few and far between.
I haven't even spoken about one extra side-activity that takes the form of an interactable 'gaming console' which starts off with the one playable minigame that unlocks more of them as you progress throughout the game's five areas. Something like this is entirely optional outside of the usual scope of game development, yet it serves as a neat little addition for fans and is something I can only commend the developers over at Team Woll for including these as no doubt it helps to take a nice short break inbetween all of the puzzle solving with a nice cat-themed homage to the likes of Flappy Bird, Snake and Stacker-styled games among others!
Truth be told, I am normally more reserved when it comes to giving significant praise towards puzzle games as it isn't a genre that I'm all that fond of, and yet CATO is a rare kind of indie gem that does what it sets out to accomplish and in such a manner that it delivers a high-quality experience without padding it out for too long or cutting corners either.
Though I still would advise to wait for a discount for anyone who may not be so sure if they'd enjoy a puzzle game, even on the lighter side of things, it is an easy recommendation for anyone who loves to tease their brain and have a good time doing so as CATO: Buttered Cat is one indie that I can say with confidence that you'll have fun immersing yourself into and helping a fuzzy cat and a well-buttered toast solve many varied puzzles together whilst putting that fun 'buttered cat' paradox thought experiment to good use!

Clever and fresh puzzle game that forces you to think with two seperate character's unique movement sets. Thankfully not too difficult with a gentle curve, very pleasing visuals and soundeffects as well. My only complaint is that there is not enough variety in the music. The music that exists is nice, but that doesn't mean I want to hear it in an endless loop for an hour.

This is the game I didn’t know I needed. Tight, responsive controls mixed with mechanics that have a fair amount of depth. Some puzzles have multiple solutions and the game never felt overly difficult even when the solution required more precise movement or timing. Plus, if you do get stuck, you could always try to hunt for secret rooms/costumes or play the minigames. (My favorite is COLL, reminiscent of Terry Cavanagh’s Super Hexagon.)
At the time of writing I have 100% the game with all secrets and unlock-ables so there is a lot of value for your money, especially when it’s on discount. CATO also works well on Deck so it was a great way to unwind before bed or when I had some downtime. My only wish at this point is more levels in the form of a secret world, or Workshop support so the community can really break the mechanics open and add even more playability to this hidden gem.
Lastly, more on a personal note, the titular CATO reminds me of my soul cat that sadly passed earlier this year and it’s been really hard without him. When I unlocked the 1st anniversary skin I cried a little because it reminded me of how my little guy chonked up so fast too. I’d like to think he’s enjoying all the butter and milk he can handle until we meet again.

My 7 y/o daughter loves this game! Great puzzle game!
Fun together time with kids. Definitely recommend!

lovely puzzle game, even tho most of the puzzles are on the easier side