Postcrossing Blog

Every so often I’ve been reviewing books for the blog, but this time I’ve got a bit of a change for you! I recently played a short game called Catto’s Post Office which I knew some postcrossers would be interested in, so I made sure to grab some screenshots along the way so I could show you all how cute it is.

First things first: Catto’s Post Office is available only on PC, via Steam. It’s a really short game (I completed it in under an hour, including all of the achievements), and it’s definitely suitable for kids as well. It can be played using keyboard and mouse or on controller: I played on controller and found the controls all very easy and intuitive, especially since there’s no need for precise controls or quick reactions: all round it’s pretty accessible and easy to play. I think the only thing I had difficulty finding was the button you have to press to meow—which isn’t very important!

The game takes place across one day, and follows the small adventures of its protagonist, Catto, the small town’s postal worker. Most of the story is very simple: pick up a package at the post office, and go to deliver it to the right place. The town is very small, so even if you get lost you’re probably not far astray, and there is a street sign pointing the various directions, and a map, near the post office.

Each delivery introduces you to different characters, or gives you a chance to talk to others and complete little sidequests or find little secrets. One example is the cat who asks you to find his parcel that he’s lost somewhere: it isn’t far away and he does give you a clue where he might have left it, but it gives you a chance to explore a bit more and look around. My bet is that it’d be fun to play it with a child who would need to think about it a bit more!

While you’re searching for the florist or café to deliver your parcels, or hunting for that lost package, you can also do little mini-games: kick a football into the net, clean up litter dropped on the floor… and find all the rubber duckies hidden around the town. It’s all very charming, and fun to wander around and discover the little touches like being able to knock flowerpots off surfaces (as cats are wont to do).

But there’s one more thing: it’s actually a special day for Catto. It’s his birthday! And everyone seems to have forgotten… Unsurprisingly, though, I promise there’s a happy ending, though Catto does spend a bit of time wondering why nobody remembers his birthday.

It’s a very cute little game, and even as an adult I had fun with the simplicity and sweetness of it, though I can definitely see having a lot more fun introducing a kid to it, since I think kids would find the story a bit more surprising and could engage in a lot of imaginative play while exploring. Older kids could play on their own, but I don’t think there’s anything too complicated, so it’s something that you could do with a younger child too, letting them choose where to go and what to do.