You are a cat. Not a cool panther or a mystical tiger. Just a good old alley cat trying to make it through a day full of brooms, angry dogs, and questionable fish. Alley Cat is a fever dream of a platformer, where you leap between windows, break into people’s homes, and participate in strange mini-games like mouse catching and goldfish stealing. It is adorable and chaotic in equal measure. The graphics are simple, but the creativity is off the leash. Few games let you woo a feline love interest by jumping through hearts while dodging Cupid. Fewer still do it with this much weird charm.
How to play Alley Cat
Game modes: single-player
The main goal in Alley Cat is to complete various tasks to earn enough points, eventually leading Freddy to his lady love. Each apartment window represents a different mini-game, and completing these successfully will earn you points. Freddy has a limited number of lives, represented as paw prints at the bottom of the screen. Every hit by an obstacle or enemy reduces your lives, so avoid getting caught!
Gameplay and Controls
- Movement: Use arrow keys to navigate Freddy around the screen.
- Jumping: Freddy can jump up walls, cross fences, and enter windows by pressing the action key (like the space bar, depending on your platform).
- Mini-game entry: To enter a mini-game, position Freddy near an open window and press the jump/action key.
Key mini-games and how to succeed
- Fishbowl: Catch the fish swimming around the fishbowl. Tip: wait for the fish to swim near Freddy’s position before attempting to catch it, as the fish is fast and tricky to catch directly.
- Birdcage: Freddy’s task is to catch birds that fly around in the room. Tip: Try to corner a bird in a room, making it easier to catch without too much chasing.
- Cheese: Freddy has to nibble on chunks of cheese while avoiding an angry mouse. Tip: Start with pieces closest to Freddy and keep moving to stay ahead of the mouse.
- Dog kennel: Freddy must steal food from the dog’s bowl without getting caught. Tip: Wait for the dog to turn away or sleep, then go for the bowl. Keep an eye on the dog’s movements for the best timing.
- Trash can: Freddy must knock trash cans down without alerting the guard dogs. Tip: Jump from can to can quickly to keep the noise down, and time your jumps well.
To slow down the game emulation press CTRL+F11, to speed up the game press CTRL+F12. Press Escape (ESC) to exit fullscreen mode.
Alley Cat runs in your browser thanks to the Emularity library.
More about Alley Cat
Status: abandonware
Genre: action
Released in: 1984
Publisher: IBM
Developer: Synapse Software
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