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Horror Game Analysis: Do Not Take This Cat Home

Jul 9, 2024

Lecture on Horror Game: Do Not Take This Cat Home

Introduction

  • The speaker is excited and grateful for the audience's presence.
  • Topic: Playing a horror game called Do Not Take This Cat Home.
  • Personal anecdote: The speaker is a proud cat dad with two cats, Chester and Pumpkin.
    • Chester: Found in the speaker's old neighborhood, an immediate connection.
    • Pumpkin: Adopted later, born without back feet and half-length leg, special and joyful cat.

Thematic Exploration

  • Reflections on self-perception and treating differences:
    • Pumpkin's Perspective: Doesn't see herself as different, just another cat, focused on living (e.g., playing with laser pointers).
    • Human Behavior: Often sees perceived flaws, different societal treatment, reduced self-value.
    • Message: Learn from pets to see beyond flaws, treat others with the same love and acceptance.
  • Trigger Warnings: Flashing lights, other warnings in game’s description/comment section.

Game Summary: Do Not Take This Cat Home

  • Introduction: The protagonist is having a bad day, tries to go out but it rains, deciding to head back home.
  • Encountering the Cat:
    • Protagonist hears a distressed cat, finds it in a dark alley inside a cardboard box.
    • Cat: Large, yellow eyes, black fur.
    • Player Choices: Leave the cat or take it home; player opts to take it home.

In-Game Events After Taking the Cat Home

  1. First Night:
    • Cat exploring the apartment, protagonist sets up food but the cat doesn't eat.
    • The protagonist gets injured (cuts finger), cat strangely licks the blood off the knife.
    • Cat exhibits bizarre behavior, protagonist concerned but chooses to wait out the night.
  2. Power Outage:
    • Rain stops, power goes out unexpectedly, phone out of batteries.
    • Protagonist experiences increasing unease; encounters cat sitting eerily by clock working without power.
    • Aspects of supernatural implied, protagonist feels trapped and afraid.
    • Choices: Run or stay inactive; choosing to run leads to hallucinations, implied chasing and supernatural presence.
    • Ends with visual and psychological horror elements, cat not just ordinary but linked to deeper, sinister events.

Analysis and Impressions

  • Horror Elements: Use of darkness, isolation, psychological horror, and supernatural events to heighten fear.
  • Player Agency: Multiple choice paths leading to various endings, emphasizing different aspects of horror and psychological thriller themes.
  • Reflection on Pet Companionship: Highlights the comfort pets bring and how their non-judgmental existence can teach us about acceptance and self-worth.
  • Final Thought: The nuanced differences between humans and animals in self-perception and societal constructs of flaws.