WARDOGS
WARDOGS
Game
Game2024
Copycat
Developer Spoonful Of Wonder
A poignant narrative-driven game about rejection, belonging and the meaning of home. It follows the story of a newly adopted shelter cat whose space in the home is taken by a copycat. Bring the tissues. From the Steam store page
375 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
84
LovedLoved
271 positive · 53 negative
95% range 79–87%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 271 | 53 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 19 | 0 | 27 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 1 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
2,756 of 3,143 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
84% recommend · 228 yes, 45 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 273 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (5,386 of 6,032 positive).
Players find the story deeply emotional and heartbreaking, often leaving them in tears. [1][2][3][4] Many reviewers praise the accurate cat movement and the important message about pet abandonment. [1][2][5][6] Some players criticize the human characters as unlikable and the story as forced or irresponsible. [7][6][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [8]
I'm convinced most of the positive reviews are bots. Gameplay is fine, cats are cute, but... EDIT: Positive reviews aren't bots. There is a msg at the end of the game claiming its a small dev team asking for reviews so this is likely the reason. The main human characters Olive and Mae are both horrid people with no redeeming qualities. Each of them abuse the cats throughout the game in multiple ways. At the very …
- [2]
Copycat is an amazing and deeply touching experience. Dawn’s journey being adopted from the shelter and then abandoned again was incredibly sad and difficult to watch. It highlights a harsh truth: animals feel loss, fear, and loneliness just as much as we do. But the game also shows something powerful: animals are capable of surviving and finding their own path without humans. They are not accessories or temporary …
- [6]
This is a mixed review for sure. 10/10 - for playing as a cat and how wonderfully accurate and fluid the cat movement is! And I was enthralled by the interactions with the world and how well the inner monologue was written for the cat. 0/10 - for humans ; their designs were unpleasant to look at, their personalities and reasoning were ghastly, and while I understand this is meant to be a cautionary and educational …
- [4]
I absolutely both loved and hated this game, more of the first one. It's interesting to play and the graphic is decent. The story is just wonderful.. BUT The big BUT in this is that if you're empathetic and love animals - you will cry. I finished this game in one go because of how much I was interested in what's gonna happen next, and I'll be honest - I cried for 2 hours out of 3 I played. It has some decision …
- [1]
Before buying the game, I saw a few negative reviews but decided to give it a shot anyway. Now, I want to leave my honest review, which will hopefully convince you to give it a chance too. This game is specially made for cat owners or people who absolutely love cats and would do anything for them. Before getting into the full review, I wanted to mention that this game was made by just two developers, Samantha Cable …
Summarised from 34 of the 315 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
84% of the 273 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Copycat. The complaint that keeps coming up: human characters are unlikable and lack redeeming qualities. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 375 · most liked firstI'm so proud to be in a video game! Has anyone else played the indie game Copycat yet?
positive · AI labelView post →I'm convinced most of the positive reviews are bots. Gameplay is fine, cats are cute, but... EDIT: Positive reviews aren't bots. There is a msg at the end of the game claiming its a small dev team asking for reviews so this is likely the reason. The main human characters Olive and Mae are both horrid people with no redeeming qualities. Each of them abuse the cats throughout the game in multiple ways. At the very least, both characters purposely abandon a cat. -Mae originally throws out…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Before buying the game, I saw a few negative reviews but decided to give it a shot anyway. Now, I want to leave my honest review, which will hopefully convince you to give it a chance too. This game is specially made for cat owners or people who absolutely love cats and would do anything for them. Before getting into the full review, I wanted to mention that this game was made by just two developers, Samantha Cable and Kostia Liakhov, and it took them a few years to complete. ---Graphics---…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ game broke me. ♥♥♥♥ that woman. ♥♥♥♥ her daughter. ♥♥♥♥ every human character in this game. There’s definitely a strong moral message here and it certainly came through. Will I 100% this game? Yes. Am I happy about it? ♥♥♥♥ this game for making me feel things.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm not happy with the story and you should think carefully before playing it. Considering only the technical aspects of the game, it's a good one. It has interesting mechanics and nice music, but it does have a few opsies here and there. It played smoothly most of the time tho. Just the usual "I can see tru the wall" stuff. Story wise, now that's what you stop and think about. I honestly thought, reading the reviews and info, that it wasn't gonna be that bad... you know? But no man. Hell…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🎚️ Difficulty 🔲 My grandma could play it ☑️ Easy 🔲 Normal 🔲 Hard 🔲 A challenge to be reckoned 🔲 In the heat of confrontation, (Only PVP games) 🗺️ Graphics 🔲 MS Paint 🔲 Bad 🔲 Meh ☑️ Normal 🔲 Very Good 🔲 An original artistic direction 🔲 Beautiful 🔲 Masterpiece 📚 Story 🔲 This game has no story 🔲 Basic element of the contractual requirements 🔲 It's there for people who want it 🔲Well written 🔲 Leading to more in-depth researches/thoughts ☑️ A model to get inspired by ⌛️…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Weirdest thing about the Italian era is their penchant for shooting in each actors language and dubbing them all. Here in OPERA William McNamera is weirdly British? Many of you will know him from SURVIVING THE GAME and COPYCAT. #TheLastDriveIn #MutantFam
neutral · AI labelView post →I can finally say!!! My voice features in this game 👀 i am a certain home owner. A very small part but feels big to me!. Thanks SO MUCH to the team at Copycat for reaching out and asking me 😭🥹💙 it means a lot to me. store.steampowered.com/app/1622350/...
positive · AI labelView post →Copycat is an amazing and deeply touching experience. Dawn’s journey being adopted from the shelter and then abandoned again was incredibly sad and difficult to watch. It highlights a harsh truth: animals feel loss, fear, and loneliness just as much as we do. But the game also shows something powerful: animals are capable of surviving and finding their own path without humans. They are not accessories or temporary entertainment. If someone cannot commit to caring for an animal, they should…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Copycat tells a simple story, but one that quietly breaks your heart. It's about love, loss, abandonment and the kind of loyalty only animals seem capable of. It reminds you that we don't deserve them, yet they give us everything anyway.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We're playing Copycat! My voice features in this game 🥹 let's play it together www.twitch.tv/catgirlfingies
neutral · AI labelView post →I definitely thought I was getting a different game. The description made me think it was going to be about cat-to-cat drama, and not about an owner who should have never had a pet to begin with. I disliked a lot of things in this game, but I guess the biggest problem I have with it is how nothing seemed to really matter when it came to mechanics. If you fail a quick time event, it just has you try again. Not even statr the part over, just try and redo the part without anything changing in the…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →ME: oh my god, ive been FOOLED by a Chinese (CHINESE!!!) *COPYCAT* handheld that not only is more powerful than the game boy sp it is mimicking visually but can also play WAY more systems than that? thank god for the ESA protecting us
neutral · AI labelView post →****SPOILER ALERT***** .................................................... ................................................... i'm going to be honest, I personally didn't really care for this game at all. I understand that this is a game of abandonment and sadness and such, but the game was a bit too structured for my taste. I had hoped there would be more roaming and a lot of the choices aren't choices at all they're more a mandatory thing. Also the cat trying to commit unaliving? it just…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Copycat is an emotional walking simulator about a shelter cat's journey after being adopted by a lonely old woman. This game is excessively depressing. The heartbreaking scenes are done beautifully, shown through the eyes of an ignorant and well-meaning cat, and while I love tragic stories, this one didn't mean anything. The characters are cartoonishly evil, and there's no happy ending or bitter message to justify everything the main character endures. The theme of home being "where you're…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Damn, this game is lowkey sad. The story mainly revolves around denial, abandonment and acceptance. The gameplay is pretty surface level as it's a narritive driven title, all you do is explore (keep in mind the map parts are tiny and don't have many things to interact with) and play mini-games. The graphics aren't exactly amazing either. If you're looking for a short game that can be beaten in one sitting (with relatively easy achievements) to which you can sob to this might be worth checking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Copycat is a simple, short game, which took me around 3h to complete with all achievements. While buying this game I expected to bawl my eyes out, however I got absolutely different experience. I got f***ing angry. Obviously as warning says, this game talks about abandonment, suicidal ideations, neglect and horrible - horrible pet treatment. The worst part is the fact that MOST of people do treat animals this way. Let me spell it out: 1. You DON'T let the cats out. Cats are indoor…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went into the game with high hopes of a sad but sweet storyline, instead left disappointed. The game itself is made very well. Simplistic stylistically but very pretty and cute. I did enjoy the first third of the game a lot. My main two issues are that during one of the dream sequences you burn paintings with images that are very AI generated looking. I could be wrong but I am pretty sure. I understand the development team is only two people and you want to keep production costs down but…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A charming, short game with a important message. In 2,3 h I went through happy, angry, very angry, sad, proud and acceptance... kinda. It sheds light on a all to prominent problem - abandoning pets. Maybe this game will help some to understand the gravity of putting pets on the street. It definitely made me cherrish my lovely companions more. The only complaint I have is the end of the game. I understand Olive couldnt keep two cats, but abandoning Dawn was still very wrong (like, thats what…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Copycat releases in 5 hours!!! My voice features in a small role in this game. Give it a wishlist and i hope y'all support the game store.steampowered.com/app/1622350/...
positive · AI labelView post →A deeply emotional and heartbreaking story about cats. If you love cats, this game will leave a lasting emotional impact on you Be warned: if you're a very emotional person, you might want to think twice before buying this game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a mixed review for sure. 10/10 - for playing as a cat and how wonderfully accurate and fluid the cat movement is! And I was enthralled by the interactions with the world and how well the inner monologue was written for the cat. 0/10 - for humans ; their designs were unpleasant to look at, their personalities and reasoning were ghastly, and while I understand this is meant to be a cautionary and educational tale, I very quickly had zero empathy for any of the people in this game…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a short game (took me about 3 hours to get to the finale) that I liked at first. Most of the story is just heartbreaking and I had to tightly hug my cat several times (which looks exactly like the cat I played). I kinda feel for the situation of the two humans (Olive and her daughter), but that does not excuse their behaviour, especially Olives. She talks like she likes cats, but in the end just doesn't want to be alone without really taking responsibility for this life she took into…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Exceptional work for just 2 developers. Fort he story - it is sad, surprises you and makes you hate people for how they/we treat animals which in my opinion means its a good story. Fortunately you can choose an ending. Also bonus points for Snickers.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had bought this off my wishlist, and didn't see the updated attempt to erase the bait-and-switch this game pulled. So for one, the game was misleading, originally sounding like a paranormal experience, or mystery game where you would have to figure the nature of the copycat and fight to get back to the owner. The game play itself, and presentation issues (particularly how a narrator has to tell you your seemingly pristine cat is covered in mud, when it absolutely matters to the narrative to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love cats and I especially love cat games. I WANTED to love this game so much because it's honestly a great idea and concept in theory but just terribly executed. If you're someone who's just "meh" about animals, cats, relationships, abuse and trauma and you don't care too deeply about anything then you can probably enjoy this game. But if you're someone that likes animals/cats or has a cat or has had a cat that has passed OR has abandonment trauma, the game's storyline and characters make it…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm bad at making thumbnail, but I like art! Also haven't drawn cats in a while... I vote Ruze to play Copycat. It's about a 2.5-3 hour game, very heartfelt & has cats!! #CrimzonMuze #CrimzonAxets (art link in replies)
positive · AI labelView post →Do you want to know what it feels to be a cat ? Walk on all four through a pointless and awkwardly told story, with the occasional bare-bones minigames and dream sequences out of nowhere ? Welcome to Copycat ! Copycat is what you'd call a walking simulator, even if you have twice as many legs as most other games in the genre. Follow the obvious path, click on this and that, watch as the story unfolds. There are a few minigames but they're barely worth mentioning, as it's just about pressing…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →the winner of this game is Grim Copycat though. Enlightened moment.
neutral · AI labelView post →I absolutely both loved and hated this game, more of the first one. It's interesting to play and the graphic is decent. The story is just wonderful.. BUT The big BUT in this is that if you're empathetic and love animals - you will cry. I finished this game in one go because of how much I was interested in what's gonna happen next, and I'll be honest - I cried for 2 hours out of 3 I played. It has some decision making options and for some that were offered later in the gameplay - I honestly…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As a cat parent of 2, this game BROKE me. I felt so many emotions in such a short amount of time (mostly anger and sadness) and cried so hard towards the end while this poor cat was questioning if they belonged in the world. What made this game so emotional for me wasn't just the story but the knowledge that there are many cats who get adopted from shelters that face similar fates as this cat, but with a much less happy ending. This game teaches so many lessons and I 100% recommend people play…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i thought i was just gonna play a cute cat game… why am i sitting here questioning life bro Copycat is not just about a cat. it’s about being replaced, being forgotten, and that feeling when you realize maybe you were never really “home” to someone the way you thought you were. you play as dawn, just a cat right? wrong. somehow this game makes you feel EVERYTHING like the loneliness hits so quietly but so hard. the worst part? it’s not dramatic. no big explosions, no crazy plot twists. it’s…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i have a cat myself and this game made me SO SAD. its a super good game and i just love cats but its not just a cat game it has a deeper meaning of loneliness. the ending is very beautiful. i you love cats this is the game for you :)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Don't get this game if you love animals. You'll be heartbroken and angry the entire time. I honestly wish I could erase it from my mind. I think I understand what the devs were trying to do regarding a moral message, but it didn't work for me. And the end was so anticlimactic and unsatisfying. The human characters were revolting and I simply wanted bad things to happen to them.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Mixed feelings about this game. Story is okay but... Olive and Mae are horrible people. Mae is honestly insufferable, why are you throwing your mom's cat out??? Olive? Olive you're a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ horrible demon. Abandoning a cat just because your old one came back is just.... And I assumed she abandoned the other cat at the end before we both went back to her like... HUH? Sis you're a terrible cat owner. Combat system..？I didn't sign up for panic-inducing button mashing. The "combat" (if you can…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We're happy to share that our special little indie game, Copycat, is participating in Steam's Animal Fest. Walk in the hooves, paws or claws of your favourite critter from Nov 10th - 17th. Check out all the games here: store.steampowered.com/category/ani... #gamedev #indiedev #steamanimalfest!
neutral · AI labelView post →Stray told a bad story. Copycat told an irresponsible one. After the poor experience that was Stray, I wanted to reset my expectations about games with cats in it. So I started my first ever playthrough of Copycat sometime in early July, and finished the game during a weekend. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but frankly, when I first saw the game's capsule image, I thought it was going to be a horror game about you playing an alien that takes the disguise of a cat. I wasn't expecting it to be such an…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This story tackles difficult themes of abandonment and cruelty towards animals with haunting beauty and sincerity, but the ending feels hollow. It begins with a sick woman who is clearly incapable of caring for herself, let alone a cat, lying to adopt a replacement cat at the shelter, and it only goes downhill from there. I continued playing with the hope that all this pain would pay off with some sense of growth or healing, but the recurring lesson was to return to and forgive one's abuser…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →KIARA AND RAORA JUST KISSED ON STREAM WHILE DOING THE POCKY GAME WITH A EUROPEAN POCKY COPYCAT??? HELLO????? THE YURI IS OFF THE CHARTS 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈
neutral · AI labelView post →We feel very lucky to bring home an AGDA in Impact and the ACMI Audience Award from the Australian Game Developer Awards (@agdas.bsky.social) a few weeks ago! Thank you to @igea.bsky.social and all our Copycat collaborators. Big Smiles, Sam, Kostia and Dan 💛
neutral · AI labelView post →Just finished a short just under 3 hour game called Copycat and I bawled my eyes out 😭After the game I petted and tried to hug my cats even more
positive · AI labelView post →Honestly, this game is just ragebait. Vaped a whole pod to deal with the stress this game gave me. ♥♥♥♥ Olive, ♥♥♥♥ Mae and ♥♥♥♥ this game. Dawn, I wish I could've took you in. You didn't deserve this. Even your good ending is ♥♥♥♥. (Play it if you want to be depressed and angry idk)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Get double the fun on Steam with our Seeing Double Bundle! Go on a quantum adventure with brand new mischief-making puzzle game 'Schrodinger’s Cat Burglar' from @abandonedsheep.com. Then bring the tissues for emotional narrative-adventure game 'Copycat'. Visit: store.steampowered.com/bundle/69081...
neutral · AI labelView post →I thought of giving this game a new review, cause I felt like this. This game shows the story of a grandma. This grandma had a cat and we the player become the exact copy. Hence the name of "Copycat": While playing through the game, you go through a roller coaster. First you don't want to be in this family. Then you want, but then you get sorted out again. You become rebellious and want to "confront" the grandma or you don't if you choose the other ending. People who say this game has no…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game made me cry so much I literally had to go and grab my cat in the middle of it, having her sleep on me through the rest of the gameplay. I picked the cat that looked most similar to her after all.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →cat, please stop fighting and just go to ur owner, it’s so damn painful to watch this
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →60% Positive, 40% Negative (I Can't Give It a Bad Review Because So Much Love Was Put Into It) This is one of those games that is difficult to rate negatively because you can clearly feel the passion and care that went into its development. While it has some noticeable flaws, it also delivers a genuinely heartfelt experience. What I Liked The biggest strength of the game is its story. It is emotional, touching, and manages to create several memorable moments throughout the adventure.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Pretty short but well made. People are disgusting creatures, no surprise there.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Okay a straight up answer: I finished the demo and the full game and i just wasted 3 hours and 42 minutes of my life. Its a horrible game and the message makes truly no sense, first of all yes, i feel bad for writing a bad review on a 2 dev game - they tried their best but this really was horrible. First - the story: The story of this game follows a old lady named Olive who decides to get a cat from the shelter named Dawn. Dawn looks exactly like her old cat, and has the same name - Creepy? I…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43083373/]Clever games curator review: 5/10. This is a narrative-heavy, very linear game where you experience the perspective of an adopted kitty living with an elderly lady in declining health. The game is clearly more interested in telling its story than in giving the player freedom, and much of the experience consists of following tightly scripted sequences through levels designed to present the narrative in a specific way. At times this even takes…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's hard to take a story about pet abandonment seriously when half the game you're listening to a mr. funny guy narrator trying to quip about absolutely everything. There's also probably 100+ floating jokes about random objects in the environment (some genuinely funny, some very ill-placed depending on the moment), majority of it came off as very tone-deaf and repeatedly destroyed any emotion or gravitas the story was trying to build up. For the last ~20% of the game I finally turned off…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →After PAX and lots of traveling, I’m finally back to a somewhat consistent stream schedule! Just two streams this week: tonight, I’m checking out the emotional indie game Copycat, and on Saturday, I start my first-ever Pokémon game, Legends: Arceus! 🟣 Twitch.tv/Bo__Po
neutral · AI labelView post →Made a new game for the pizza jam. Theme: Copycat. matchstick345.itch.io/rock-papers-... #indie #gamedev
neutral · AI labelView post →We NEED to talk about the next Clair Obscur Clone HUGE NEWS for the next CLAIR OBSCUR COPYCAT THIS GAME IS CHINESE CLAIR OBSCUR Square Enix wishes they made this Clair Obscur-like game 10 upcoming Clair Obscur Turn Based games you WONT BELIEVE I just made 10 YouTube videos. Pay up Surfshark VPN
neutral · AI labelView post →One of the worst games I have ever played. You can go throught my reviews and you will not find me saying that about an indie title. Even if I thumb down an indie title, i always try to give some constructive criticsm. I have,had and will have cats for the rest of my life. I understand what this game is about but it is constructed badly in every aspect. I would like to know the developers thought process when writing and designing this game. I could insult the people who made this and I would…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I kinda feel bad for not recommending this game. It shows so well what a pet’s life and feelings might be like and I really hope it makes people think twice before getting an animal. However, the pacing can feel quite slow and the camera/controls aren’t always comfortable to use. It's a bit of a let down for the price of like €15, so if you want to play this game; try and get it at a discount. The story is very sad and touching tho, really, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I would've hoped.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shocking and brutal story. It's difficult to describe how heartbreaking and anger-inducing this game is. It directly challenges your empathy and strikes at it's core with a tragic truth. People live their lives by facing their own difficulties and sometimes do destructive damage to the lives of others around them, often out of desperation or a feeling of being powerless to change things (or occasionally out of malice). Seeing the choices they make and the problems they run away from through the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →"What in the vibe-coded s*** is this" - RuneScape Players Revolt as Gen-AI Copycat Game Appears and Eventually Attracts the Eye of Jagex www.eurogamer.net/runescape-ge... #runescape #videogames #gaming #gamedev #genai #ai
neutral · AI labelView post →Rolled credits on Copycat w/ the plat This game may not be for everyone, but for me (crazy cat lady) the story and heart still shined through despite the gameplay delivery/mechanics being less refined than I would’ve loved At the end of the day, it’s more ✨cats✨ and I’ll never turn that down 😌
positive · AI labelView post →honestly the ending ruined it for me, your only choice is to let the cat die or go live with the stupid old lady who left you to die in the first place. The message should have been irresponsible owners should not have pets, not whatever that confusing "home is where you are needed" thing. A good ending would have been, old lady gets both cats taken away from her and they find a loving forever home with someone who can actually care for them properly. The old lady acted like she never had a cat…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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