This page was released on April 1st, 2025 as a combined April Fools joke and 10th anniversary event. Embedded in its text are clues that lead to a vault which stores screenshots of material from the very early days of Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows' development.
Even though the Companion's role and backstory was expanded upon in the Companion level pack for A Light in the Shadows, the gray square still has some undiscovered secrets.
One thing I haven't seen people discuss at all, is the four-cornered shape of the character. It actually holds quite a bit of significance.
Which actually reminds me of something...
Nine hour downloads for modern video games are ridiculous, right? We all agree on that?
Fortunately, CD Projekt Red came up with an ingenious solution to this problem. Cyberpunk 2077: Floppy Edition was released on over ninety thousands 3.5" inch diskettes. 97 619 to be specific.
Given CD Projekt's origins as distributing games on CDs, it actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it.
But I digress.
Lumi (that being the name of cat you play as in both games) has some additional bits of lore that, while written down in the official internal story documents, haven't yet been revealed to the public.
Fun fact: the name "Lumi" isn't actually mentioned in the games. That knowledge is exclusive to the world outside the games. It seems fitting to continue this tradition, and reveal something more about Lumi in the same manner.
Speaking of which...
Three seconds ago a random person walked past me mumbling something about spaghetti trees. After a quick internet search, turns out those are real! There exist actual trees that produce actual strands of spaghetti.
They can only be found in the Ticino region of Switzerland. During harvest, the spaghetti is very carefully picked from the branches of the tree, after which it is laid flat and left to dry out in the sun.
BBC Panorama did a segment on the whole process. I suggest you check it out when you get a chance.
Now, where was I?
The role of the narrator is not something I see discussed that often, if at all.
It's quite interesting from a lore point of view, since its a bit debatable if the narrator is a character at all. Technically they don't exist in the game world.
I'd like to offer an alternative point of view, that might make some people see the narrator in a completely new way.
But before going deeper into that topic, we need to take a small side tangent.
Ten days ago I got to experience a fascinating part of computer game history.
Illuminatus, a space game made by German developers Jürgen Sternreise and Erik Dorf for the Atari ST is a true "Elite killer" in every possible way.
A couple hundred pages long "Guide to the Universe" is all you need to read to get started on your journey. The goal? Become the emperor of at least a thousand different planets.
The space combat and ship customization systems are the best I've seen, even by today's standards. If you manage to get a copy, do give the game a shot!
Going back to the topic at hand...
The Companion level pack, released in 2016, offered a lot of backstory for the gray square.
I've noticed quite a few different approaches to interpreting the events of the pack. There's one point of view in particular that I'd like to mention and discuss a bit more.
I just realized that it's probably best if I shed some light on how this whole topic came about.
Eight years after the previous release for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Google released Google Maps for the NES in April of 2012.
Smartphones are still, even to this day, quite expensive. Adding support for the NES brought online maps to a huge number of households that were previously stuck using those paper maps that are impossible to fold back properly.
It features everything from just browsing the maps to step-by-step navigation instructions. And of course the most important thing of all: an amazing chiptune soundtrack that perfectly captures the feeling of a traffic jam adventure.
What was I talking about again?
The purple cat. Obviously I'm not yet ready to reveal everything regarding this mysterious entity. But, for this special occasion, I think it's time to shed some light on who/what "the purple cat" really is.
Are you ready for the reveal of a lifetime?
This being a great segue into...
Five months ago I got the opportunity to visit San Serriffe. Apart from just being an extraordinary holiday destination, it also has the most fascinating geography.
Founded in 1967, its the only "moving" island on the planet.
Due to continued erosion of the island's west side and simultaneous deposition of its east coast, the island is moving rapidly (well, geographically speaking rapidly) north-east from its current position near the coast of Africa. Experts say there's a high chance of collision with Sri Lanka in the coming years.
What was I talking about again? Right...
The Reset level pack was quite lore heavy. I think its time we take a deeper dive into some overlooked aspects of that pack.
And that's time! The train is just now arriving at the station.
Hopefully these explanations shed some light onto the more obscure aspects of the story and answered at least some of the questions you might have had.
I think I did quite well with regards to staying on topic, if I do say so myself.
Keep in mind that the 10th anniversary celebrations will continue for the rest of the year. And there's plenty more stuff in store! Make sure to stay tuned on our socials and keep checking the 10th anniversary page for all the latest updates.
See ya!
- Dev
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