Schrodinger's Cat Burglar Review

Schrodinger's Cat Burglar is a puzzle game centred around quantum mechanics, which I barely understand despite having heard of it millions of times throughout my history with games. Developed and published by Abandoned Sheep (an Aussie studio, yay!), I have to be honest: I chose to review this game because it had a cat as the main character. I don’t think I’ll ever own one, so I might as well have the next best thing. So, will this game be alive and kicking or dead on arrival? Well, we won’t know until we play it!

You play as Mittens (actually, you can change her name, but I stuck with the default), the world’s greatest cat burglar… in the most literal sense of the term: she is a cat that burgles. However, on her heist in a secret research facility, she finds herself getting caught up in an experiment that gives her powers over quantum mechanics! Now, Mittens must use her new abilities to escape the facility while figuring out what exactly is going on, especially with this Shadow Cat that’s been causing trouble for you. And what’s this about causing The End? Oh no…

I really liked the narrative in the game. I found myself intrigued with the mysteries of the facility, which slowly pieced together through following the story and in the various emails scattered throughout the levels. The characters you meet are fun to interact with, too; Mittens is sassy and resourceful, able to make the most of a bad situation, while her partner-in-crime, Lazy Susan, is smart and calculating, yet caring and willing to do whatever it takes to get Mittens out of the labs. I won't say it's on the level of writing and humour as, say, Portal, but I actually looked forward to every cutscene. Do note that the only voice acting you’ll get is from the meows of our main character, so I hope you like reading (I mean, you are reading a game review…).

As for the graphics, it’s really well-done. You won’t see many humans, considering it's after closing hours, but the facilities you’ll be exploring can be a sight to behold. From the testing tracks to the guts of the building, you can really imagine people working in this place… and have a laugh as you knock everything off their desks. It’s also smartly built, as the level design makes sure you never feel lost despite how maze-like the place can be. The animal characters are very cute, too, with Mittens being quite the standout. She is very well-animated, moving exactly how a cat should and you’ll probably spend a little too much time watching her emote and pose.

But enough about that, let’s get into the gameplay, and remember: Real cats play on a controller.

The game is centred around Mittens’ new power: Superposition. At the press of a button, Mittens can split herself into two cats: One orange, one blue. Controlling Mittens is actually pretty intuitive, even when you’re playing as two at once. Your controller is essentially split in half, calling to mind Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons. One side is dedicated to Orange Mittens and the other is dedicated to Blue Mittens. There is a little learning curve but you get used to it soon enough. If you’re having trouble moving two at once, you can simply switch who you’re controlling instead.

However, it's not just cloning, as things get a lot more complicated than initially thought. You can transfer items by picking them up in one place and putting it down in another. When one Mittens is observed, the other goes in a Theoterical state, becoming intangible and invisible. It’s kinda confusing to put into words, but it's a really cool mechanic that creates some incredibly devious puzzles to solve. You’ll deal with item position, power, platforming, and more throughout the adventure. You have to really think outside of the box in some of the later parts.

If you are struggling, there is a Hint button to nudge you in the right direction, though it won’t help solve the puzzle outright and it’s not available in every room. It certainly won’t help in all the secret rooms scattered throughout the facility.

But in a game where you essentially play two characters at once, wires start to get a little crossed when you need to coordinate with yourself to help yourself complete puzzles all by yourself (confusing, huh?). However, there is nothing stopping you from playing through the campaign with a partner in drop-in, drop-out co-op, each player controlling a Mittens when she splits. It doesn’t change the puzzles or anything, but I really like that it’s an option. It’s also compatible with Steam Remote Play, so you only need one copy of the game.

That being said, what if you want to play as your own cat or create your own? Well, you can through customisation! You can change her fur colour, eyes, collar, and even have her wear hats and accessories to really make this kitty a real cutie. And hey, you can customise both Mittens to be completely different to help ease some confusion (even though they glow blue and orange respectively). However, not only will you need to find additional customisation items, you will also need Flagrante Bucks, Data Chips, and Quantum Shards to purchase them. These (and hacking into people’s emails) are your collectables for the game, and you can’t just get them all once you find them. You might be lacking the security clearance or haven’t been introduced to a puzzle element yet.

Thankfully, getting everything isn’t too bad of a chore. Although I would’ve liked a map, you can track your completion progress via the Main Elevator once you unlock it, allowing you to travel to previous areas to grab anything you couldn’t get the first time around. You might want to write down where you’ve had to leave something behind, otherwise it should be a fairly fun process.

But before I conclude this review, I have to point out that Schrodinger's Cat Burglar has some shortcomings. Though the game ran at a consistent 60+ FPS that only dropped during (very quick) loading screens and save points, there were just a few things that could use improvement.

The fixed camera isn’t great, to be honest. It does work, allowing you to see everything you’ll need to complete a puzzle. However, when the camera needs to focus two cats instead of one, that’s where things begin to fall apart a little, as some elements of the level, like the many pipes, get in the way. It’s not too bad, but I did find myself having to blindly control a Mittens a few times. This can get a little bothersome, especially in co-op. I also managed to softlock myself in a puzzle. Luckily, there was a save point I used before entering the room, but a little annoyingly, there was no restart or load last save option. I just had to exit to the main menu before continuing.

I really loved my time with Schrodinger's Cat Burglar. It’s a mind-bending puzzle game that will make you think outside the box at every turn. It’s cute, it’s challenging, and it’s fun, and that’s all you need in a game.