Anyone who knows me, or who has read some of my previous content, will know that I love cats. So, when offered a chance to review Spoonful of Wonder’s Copycat following its release on PS5, I jumped at the chance. Although with a little trepidation, having read other reviews. Not because the game was meant to be bad, but because it’s an emotional tale.
The reason for my worries was whether I could hold myself together playing it. I’ve had my own emotional times with cats in recent years. It started with our cat Freddie getting hit by a car, then his brother Max dying of a broken heart shortly after (paid the vet a lot of money to tell us that). This left us with just Cassie, my little diva princess.
Then we adopted a new kitten, Willow. At a year old, she was also hit by something, which shattered her hip. I’m glad to say, though, after a panic where she hadn’t come home for two days, before finding her and having her go through a costly surgery, she’s now fully recovered. And you’d never know our little bundle of fur ever had a problem.
So yeah, you can probably understand why I was scared to play Copycat. But I soldiered on, and that brings us to now.
Pawesome storytelling
To set the scene of Copycat, picture an old lady (Olive) who decides to go to the local shelter to adopt a cat. She’s not a very well lady, coughing and going dizzy as she picks up her new feline friend. You get to pick a choice from one of six different cats during this, so there is a good chance that if you’re a cat lover, you can select one that looks similar to your own.
Then, you, Dawn, get in the car, and she tells you how you look just like her last cat, who went missing. My mind starts going to some warped places, having watched documentaries like Don’t F**K with Cats, and having read in the local news about a teenager who was arrested for kicking a cat into the road outside their school. But fortunately, Olive isn’t a bad person; she’s just lonely and wants someone for company.
You then spend some time settling in, making choices on how to react to Olive. You see, being in new surroundings and having had some past traumas, you don’t really trust her, and you’re looking for a way out. As a typical cat, you spend a lot of time taking naps, where you visit a dream world in which you’re a big wild cat, and not some cuddly little furball. This whole time of your life becomes narrated like you are part of a wildlife documentary that Olive has on the TV.
Slowly, you begin to warm to the old bird. Realising you’ve got it real cushy here and that Olive, she’s not actually a bad person at all.
Then she doesn’t wake up one day. You try your best to wake her. You manage to source some food from the bin, and when that doesn’t work, you try waking her up by making noise. Leaving painted paw prints on every carpet and piece of furniture you can. No luck though, until a nurse comes to visit, and calls for help when she doesn’t open the door. Then Olive’s daughter eventually arrives to make sure she’s ok.
Turns out, she wasn’t ok. Olive gets rushed to the hospital, and it’s days before you see her again. Forcing you to fend for yourself until her return. However, her daughter kicks you out when she sees you, stating she thought you got the message last time. That’s right, the old cat didn’t go missing. Olive’s daughter kicked it out. Abandoned it. It was at this point that I genuinely became filled with rage. How could she do that? But wait, it gets darker.
In an attempt to get back inside, you climb the fence and walk along window ledges until you reach Olive’s bedroom. Maybe if she sees you, she’ll let you in? But instead, you see her daughter standing over her body, as Olive lies asleep on the bed, contemplating smothering her with a pillow. If I didn’t hate the daughter before, I wanted to throw my remote at the screen now.
Fortunately, she doesn’t go through with her actions, and Olive lives to fight another day. There is another problem, though. Before you manage to get back inside, that other little kitty that looks just like you, the one that the daughter kicked out? It decides to return. And it ends up taking your place. But Olive doesn’t realise that it’s not you. That’s a Copycat. From here, it’s all about Dawn’s survival, and while her original dreams may have come true, because she was now free, in the wild. She soon learns what she lost.
It’s not often that I’m brought to tears. And apart from everything that my partner and I have been through with our cats, they’re usually brought on by watching football. But Copycat. Copycat did a number on me. It was just one thing after another. The whole journey was one big emotional rollercoaster.
But in-fur-rior gameplay
The plot of Copycat is by far the shining light of this entire game. And while the heading of this section may sound like the gameplay is bad, it isn’t THAT bad, I just wanted another excuse to include a cat pun.
For the most part, controls are easy and responsive. Although at times, movement can feel a little jagged. Especially when you’re jumping up to something. It just doesn’t feel as natural as it should. And while it almost feels like, at times, you have freedom to explore, there isn’t really a lot you can do.
Early on, when you’re in the house, you’re confined to the garden and the set number of rooms. And when you’re outside, well, you’re limited by the linear nature of the story. It’s not some GTA for cats. Which is a shame, because I think that would make a great game. The few times I did get to explore in Copycat, though, I enjoyed it. Specifically exploring Olive’s neighbourhood, meowing at doors and hearing the responses of neighbours.
But outside of those few moments, you are kind of forced along a path, one that will take roughly 2-3 hours to complete. There are some moments where you get to explore a little, usually to solve a puzzle of sorts. And then there are times you’ll need to run from dogs or try catching a bird. They’re like little mini-games that break the game up a bit. But nothing ever really feels like a challenge. Which, I understand, it’s not some Dark Souls game; it’s a narrative adventure.
But if it wasn’t for such a strong storyline, I don’t think there would be enough about the gameplay to have kept me playing. Especially when you compare it to something like Stray. And yeah, totally different studios and budgets, I get it. But bigger studios and more money don’t always get better results. It’s just that Stray felt much more fluid and enjoyable to play compared to Copycat, even though it, too, has a linear style.
Paw-sitively stunning visuals and cat-chy soundtrack
Despite being from a small indie studio, Copycat doesn’t skimp when it comes to presentation. Visually, it’s a treat. Every environment, from Olive’s cosy home with its floral wallpaper and fading family photos, to the gritty alleyways you’re forced to traverse after being replaced, is crafted with real care. It might not push the PS5 to its limits, but it doesn’t need to. The game relies on atmosphere and detail rather than hyper-realistic textures. And it works. Wandering through the streets at dusk, with shadows stretching out under flickering lamps? Beautiful and eerie in equal measure.
Then there’s the soundtrack; lowkey, jazzy and dripping in melancholy. Subtle piano melodies creep in when the emotion starts to swell, and even moments of quiet are loaded with tension thanks to some clever audio work. Sound design isn’t just for jump scares and action scenes; it’s storytelling. And Copycat uses it to tug on the ol’ heartstrings just when you think you’re safe. It’s not flashy, but it knows exactly when to whisper in your ear and when to go silent, and that’s powerful stuff. The score didn’t just support the story; it became part of it.
Tail-end thoughts on Copycat
Copycat might not be the purr-fect game mechanically, but what it lacks in polish it more than makes up for in pure, raw feeling. It’s a meow-tional gut punch wrapped in soft paws and quiet, reflective moments. The kind of game that sneaks up on you, just like a cat, really, and leaves a bigger impact than you expect.
Copycat is not a long game, and it doesn’t offer much in the way of replayability, but in its short runtime, it says more than a lot of games do in twenty hours. If you’ve ever shared your life with a pet, especially a feline friend, you’ll likely see shades of your own story reflected back at you, for better or worse.
Sure, the gameplay might be a little stiff at times, and the exploration is fairly limited, but honestly? That’s not what Copycat is here for. It’s here to tell a story, to make you feel something. And it absolutely succeeds at that. By the end, I didn’t care that I couldn’t climb every fence or sprint freely through a massive open world. I just wanted Dawn to be okay. I wanted to go and give both of my cats one big cuddle.
Developed by Spoonful of Wonder, Copycat is available to play on PC, and was released on Xbox and PS5 on May 29th, 2025. While you wait for your copy of Copycat to download, why not check out more of our game reviews right here?
