Game: Cat and Onion
Genre: Adventure, Indie
System: Steam (also available on SteamOS, Linux & macOS)
Developers | Publishers: Zylinski Games
Controller Support: Full
Price: US $3.48 | UK £2.96 | EU € 3,48
Release Date: March 12th, 2024
Review code used, with many thanks to Zylinski Games.
Cat and Onion is a simple game developed and released by solo developer Zylinski Games. Sometimes, when the mood for gaming grabs hold of you, but you don’t want anything too complicated, a simplistic short game with a nice story is all you need at that moment. This is where Cat and Onion comes into play. While it may be short, sometimes quality over quantity is all you need.
Orange Cat and an Onion

Cat and Onion stars a cute little orange cat who I named Bob. Bob the cat goes on an adventure and discovers a lot in a short space of time. He has one goal in mind, and that is to make some tasty pancakes. However, before he can make some pancakes, he has to help out a few forest friends he meets along the way.
First off, the cat meets a squirrel standing beside a majestic oak tree; the squirrel needs help as he wants the cat to gather some ingredients for the pancakes they plan to make.
Collect the Ingredients

Butter, flour and eggs are on the shopping list, so the cat starts on his quest to retrieve the items. But where do you find such ingredients in the forest? Why, by talking to the Flour tree and a Mother bird who no longer wants to be a parent to the egg she laid? That leaves one ingredient to find, but the cat was smart and had already picked up a slab of butter on his way to talk to the squirrel.
On returning to the oak tree, Bob, the cat, discovers that the squirrel is upset because the oak tree has been cut down during deforestation work. Now, the squirrel has nowhere to live. It’s here that the story changes track, and you must help the squirrel grow a new oak tree in which to live. To do so, you must plant an onion seed and grow an onion spaceship to transport the cat to find an oak seed.
That’s where my storytelling ends; since Cat and Onion is a short game, I’ll reveal too much of the storyline if I continue.
A Cat That Swings a Baseball Bat

On the cat’s journey through the forest, he has abilities to use. Naturally, the cat can climb and jump, but this cat can swing a baseball bat, too. I’m glad my cat Socks doesn’t know how to use a baseball bat; I dread to think what she would use it.
The flour that is found can be used to help the cat climb higher by throwing the flour on a slippery surface. It gives Bob the cat some traction to climb.
Cat and Onion doesn’t have combat. It’s just a relaxing stroll through the forest with a cute storyline. The cast of entertaining characters the Cat and Onion meet are all fun to chat with. There are also a few secrets to be found in the game if you search each area thoroughly.
Cat and Onion Pixel Art

The game is set in an imaginative world of pixel art, with the developer using a total of 8 colours. While the artwork is simplistic, it gets the point across, and it is cute, too.
You’ll hear a jazzy soundtrack as you play Cat and Onion; it’s a nice addition to the game, as are the sound effects. Cat and Onion works perfectly on the Steam Deck; in fact, I didn’t play it on my laptop at all.

Conclusion
Overall, it took around 30 to 40 minutes to finish Cat and Onion, and I completed it fully in one sitting. Though the game is short, you will experience a lot in that time, and you can’t miss the love the developer has poured into the development of the game. Cat and Onion is a lovely journey with cute characters and feel-good vibes.
Final Verdict: I Like it a Lot