Game: Cats In Ancient China series:
Cats of the Ming Dynasty, Cats of the Qing Dynasty and Cats in the Ancient City of Gu Su
Genre: Hidden Object game
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: Catnip Studio
Controller Support: None
Price: UK £0.89 | US $0.99 | EU € 0,99
Release Date: 11th of March, 2024 | 31st of March, 2024 | 17th of April, 2024
No review code was provided; I purchased the games myself.
I love hidden object games, especially those of the feline variety. Recently, I happened upon a new series of games about finding hidden cats in a big scene- Cats in the Ancient City of Gu Su, Cats of the Ming Dynasty, and Cats of the Qing Dynasty. They all follow the same concept – we have a classical Chinese painting where different depictions of cats are hidden, and we have to find them. This review will cover all the games in the Cats in Ancient China series.
Some Historical Background
The first two games in the series use the same scene depicted by different artists as a background. The original painting is “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by the Song dynasty painter Zhang Zeduan (1085-1145), which was then copied many times by different artists during the following centuries. It proves an invaluable source of information about life and society during the era, and it’s considered a national treasure displayed in the Forbidden City in Beijing only for a short time every few years. The comparison between those paintings is invaluable when researching life in China during the Middle Ages.
Gameplay of Cats in Ancient China
The first game, Cats of the Ming Dynasty, features “Along the River During the Qingming Festival” by the Ming Dynasty artist Qiu Ying. Today, the painting is on display in the Liaoning Provincial Museum. This variation of the Qingming Festival scene uses the composition style of Zhang Zeduan’s original artwork and depicts social life in Suzhou during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644).
In Cats of the Qing Dynasty, the second game in the series, we find cats against the backdrop of Along the River During the Qingming Festival, created collaboratively by five artists from the Qing Palace Painting Academy in 1736, the first year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign. Today, the painting is displayed in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Once again, it vividly shows everyday life on the streets of Bianjing during the Qing era.
The Qingming Festival, called Tomb-Sweeping Day in English, is a holiday around the beginning of April when Chinese families visit the tombs of their ancestors to clean the gravesites and make ritual offerings to their ancestors. The paintings, especially the original by Zhang Zeduan, are praised for showing the celebrations and everyday life, rather than the solemn traditions, connected with the Qingming Festival.
The river in the painting is Huang, the Yellow River, on whose bank is the city of Kaifeng, once known as Bianjing, one of the eight ancient capitals of China.
The third game, Cats in the Ancient City of Gu Su, departs from the norm by using a different painting—”Prosperous Suzhou,” by the Qing dynasty artist Xu Yang. It is drawn in the style of “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” but it’s twice its length. It was completed in 1759 after 24 years of work and is currently housed in the Liaoning Provincial Museum.
The painting is exciting because it combines traditional Chinese art techniques with Western influences, which were already very popular in China. Once again, it shows the bustling streets and markets of Suzhou, providing invaluable information about life during the Qinglong reign (1736-1795), what many consider to be China’s golden era.
The games divide the scroll painting into several sections, each with a different number of cats to find. We have 600 cats of various shapes and sizes to see, each with its own sounds. The cats are depicted in traditional Chinese style, which is well suited for the background. Cats were often chosen for subjects in paintings in China – they were favorite pets among the poor and the wealthy and were especially popular during the Song dynasty.
About Those Cats…
Sometimes, a hidden cat can be a lion, a tiger, a panda, a red panda, or even a raccoon in these games. This is because, besides being traditional for Chinese culture, some variations of these animals’ names in Mandarin Chinese actually include 猫, the Chinese character for cat. Pandas have a lot of names in Chinese, but one of the more popular ones is literally translated as “Cat bear.” Red Pandas are known as “Little cat bears” and raccoons as “raccoon cats.” I thought it was a cute little detail about Chinese that would spark interest in a fascinating language.
Settings and Sounds
In all the games, we have basic audio settings, allowing us to lower the kitten sounds so we can better enjoy the soundtrack – a combination of ambient sounds and classical Chinese music. It does sound like guzheng- the traditional Chinese plucked zither. I wish the games included music credits. At the end of some tracks, we even have applause.
In the upper left corner, a hint button recharges every 60 seconds. Clicking on it takes us to a wiggling cat, so it’s easy to spot. Clicking on the game logo in the main menu will take us to a complete high-definition version of the painting used in the game. Clicking Escape on the keyboard allows us an undisturbed view of the painting without menus, hint buttons, etc.
All of the games have Steam achievements but no Trading Cards yet.
Conclusion
Cats in the Ancient City of Gu Su, Cats of the Ming Dynasty, and Cats of the Qing Dynasty have all the ingredients I really like in games—relaxing gameplay, a nice soundtrack, uncomplicated controls, and always something new to learn. And at such a low price, these games are must-haves for fans of the genre.
Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up
Do you like our content? Support LadiesGamers on Patreon!
Check out our Tiers and Benefits and join us.