In a world that grows more stressful by the day, Catto’s Post Office shows that small moments can carry the most weight. Read on as Cubed3 enjoys a relaxing day in the paws of one regular postcat during a very meaningful workday!
Life is overwhelming. More things seem to happen, yet days feel like they hold less meaning. Catto’s Post Office offers something different. From the very start of the game, the player is invited to explore a world full of small activities; the first is in Catto’s bedroom, where one can play with cat toys in a surprisingly relaxing and memorable burst of joy.
The rest of the game isn’t much more complicated than playing with cat toys either. The story follows Catto through a regular workday, delivering packages to the citizens of the small coastal village where he lives. At each stop, he chats with them for a bit and helps out with minor tasks. In addition, during the day there are plenty of invitations to take small detours, ranging from finding a coin for someone to throw into the wishing well to picking up trash around the village streets.
The most memorable part wasn’t even a side quest in the more traditional sense, but something as simple as an invitation to spend time with elderly relatives in the nursing home by watching jumping pineapples on TV. Nothing more, nothing less. However, it was during this very moment that the true greatness of Catto’s Post Office dawned. What makes this such a great game isn’t that it has a lot of content to explore or things to do; it is that it allows the player to do small things that feel meaningful.
Life is stressful because there is just too much to do. While sitting down and watching the jumping pineapples at the nursing home, there was a moment to breathe out and enjoy the moment. The jumping pineapples were not what made it memorable, but the knowledge that Catto’s elderly relatives were happy to spend some quality time with him, if just for a couple of minutes.
This is a message the world needs more than ever. Not everything needs to provide a massive dopamine kick, nor does it need to change the world. Sometimes everyone just needs to sit down, and the biggest change they can make is to be there with someone near and dear. Catto’s Post Office clearly reflects this.
While very sweet, Catto’s Post Office is quite a short game, playing on the theme that smaller experiences might enrich one’s day the most. While it helps bring the message home, some might find that five bucks is a lot to pay for a game that takes around half an hour to play through. While a long argument could be made for valuing time more, it can’t be ignored that this runs counter to the standards set by the modern gaming industry. Bad standards, according to some perhaps, but still something worth mentioning.
Additionally, the controls also feel a bit off. There is one segment in particular that really tests one’s patience. The goal is to push a trolley into its place; however, the imprecise tool-handling controls make it more of a hassle than it needs to be. It is a small thorn of annoyance in an otherwise calm and relaxing experience.
After finishing Catto’s Post Office, though, it is hard not to wish for more games that respect the player’s time to this degree. While it is easy to reduce Catto’s Post Office to a, to use industry terminology, long fetch quest, that would be unfair. It is a game that invites players to enjoy these small opportunities for meaning not only in the game, but in their own lives. This lesson lasts far longer than many games on the market!
