I’m drawn to the ocean, whether it’s watching programmes about the big blue mystery that covers most of our world to spending days swimming in the sea when on vacation or listening to crashing waves to relax. Something about the ocean is deeply soothing to me. So when I saw there was a Steam Next Fest demo for Cat Clean Ocean, I dove at the chance to give it a shot to try and find a few moments of calm among the stress and chaos of everyday life – and I was not disappointed.
Cat Clean OceanDeveloper: Age ZeroPublisher: Age ZeroRelease: TBADownload the demo on: Steam
Before we get into it, I know what you’re thinking: this looks a lot like the zen cousin of last year’s Loddlenaut from developer Moon Lagoon. There are a lot of similarities between the two games – not least the whole cleaning up the ocean part of it. But there are also some key differences that set the two apart (and with Loddlenaut also available as a demo right now, you can also judge for yourself and see which one you prefer). For me, this mostly comes down to tone and vibes. Whereas Loddlenaut feels more involved and guided as clean-up experience, offering up more objective markers and reminders about where to go next, Cat Clean Ocean is more freeform, making it an even more relaxing experience in my books. Don’t get me wrong. Loddlenaut does have its own distinct charm – something that Cat Clean Ocean doesn’t quite achieve by the end of its demo, but I’m hopeful that the full game could rectify this.
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Still, in the Steam Next Fest demo for Cat Clean Ocean, you get to almost fully explore Brightwater Bay, a small lagoon that’s one of six regions on the map that’s been hit with litter and pollution. As Tom the cat (guided by Dr Garfield, ), your job is to clear up the ocean with your net and vacuum to make it a more habitable place for marine life.
Now, I’m saying this as someone who deplores the noise of a real-world vacuum cleaner and will shove headphones on to drown out the noise of the inevitable household chore – but vacuuming the purple pods of pollution I found here was deeply satisfying. Watching the ooze being sucked away to reveal a rejuvenated piece of coral was like peeling the plastic film off of a new phone, the gentle rumble of my controller contributing all the more to the experience.