Story of Cats are Liquid - A Light in the Shadows
Published on theThis document spoils the entire story of Cats are Liquid - A Better Place. You should really play the game first. It’s $0.99 on Steam and itch.io, and free with ads on Google Play and the App Store.
Text in highlighted blocks like these is “insightful commentary” and is not actually a part of the story. Some of those comments were written way back in 2015, but most of them have been written specifically for this web release of the story.
World 1
Room 1
The cat had been going through these maze like rooms for what felt like forever, and they just seemed to be continuing.
Her owner started acting weirdly, and locked her in here.
She wasn’t exactly sure why he was acting like that.
He said that the cat reminded him of someone.
She couldn’t remember who.
Room 2
As soon as she entered the room she noticed a familiar orange triangle.
She didn’t like them.
Those things hurt her.
She didn’t know why.
The goal with the “She didn’t know why”, and other similar comments was to really show that the cat really doesn’t know about / understand / remember the things in it.
Room 3
She noticed how the entire floor was covered with those orange triangles.
She certainly didn’t want to fall down there.
Room 4
This room seemed to be repeating itself.
Kind of.
It was similar, but different.
Finally something different.
Room 5
She saw something in the distance. Something that moved.
This prepares the player for the encounter with the first moving enemy.
She looked at the small orange rectangle going back and forth in the hole.
It disappeared when she jumped on it.
Room 6
She saw the ocean of orange triangles…
…and felt scared.
Room 7
This room was a little bit weird, as it only went horizontally.
Maybe the next room would only go vertically?
Room 8
As soon as she entered the room…
…she noticed that she was correct.
The one who designed this must have run out of ideas…
Hey! That’s me! How dare you.
Room 9
Those orange things were… Jumping?
That was new.
And kind of weird.
Again, showcasing how the cat finds the environment completely alien to her.
Room 10
Friends talking - all neon levels.
Why did you decide to stay in here..?
This isn’t going to help.
Doing this will only make it worse…
World 2
Room 1
The colors changed…
This was interesting… She didn’t remember seeing a ring like this before.
Okay..? What just happened?
The player is probably just as confused as the cat.
What?
How?
Room 2
The cat was panicking.
What did that thing do to her?
Why did it do this to her?
She hadn’t done anything to it!
Previously, the environment had only been interactive, but now, it’s proactive and directly affecting the cat. I thought that the cat would act quite aggressively for a short while after getting the first ability, because the environment she sees as completely alien had suddenly done something to her.
Room 3
The cat had calmed down.
She thought she now understood her new ability.
Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all.
It had already proven to be useful.
Room 4
This room felt a lot more open than the previous ones…
Maybe it meant that she was getting close to the exit?
Room 5
The cat saw the bubbling orange liquid and immediately knew she shouldn’t touch that.
Because it was orange.
This is just here to further cement the idea that anything orange will most definitely harm the cat.
And all orange hurt her.
She still didn’t know why though.
She wanted to get out.
Room 6
This room was tilted.
She mostly just ignored it.
As long as she would just get out of here.
Room 7
She was getting tired of these rooms.
She just wanted to get out.
There was a huge lake of orange liquid below her.
She felt scared.
Room 8
Another lake of orange liquid.
She didn’t feel as scared this time.
The cat is slowly getting used to the environment…
Room 9
More of these jumping things… She just went under them and continued.
She really wanted to get out now.
Maybe the next door would be the exit.
…but still not enough that she wouldn’t want to get out.
Room 10
You’re thinking about it too much…
Just try to focus on something else.
World 3
Room 1
The colors changed again…
She saw the huge orange square fall from the roof and almost hit her.
Not fun. 0/10. Wouldn’t recommend.
Room 2
The weirdly shaped thing bounced her around the room.
As long as it didn’t hurt her.
Maybe this was the exit..?
Room 3
Of course not…
More weirdly shaped things.
They just kept bouncing her around.
Room 4
These things fell sideways.
She was sure gravity didn’t work like that.
At least it shouldn’t…
Room 5
Yet another new thing she hadn’t seen before. She was reluctant to go near it.
It seemed fine.
These pushing things kept her away from the orange liquid.
And now they were making it more difficult for the to get to the door.
Why?
They seemed okay at first…
Room 6
She quickly saw how there was only a couple floating platforms to stand on…
She had to move very carefully.
Almost there…
Room 7
She noticed something weird about the block in front of her.
It moved very… strangely.
It didn’t move up, down, left or right…
It moved in a whole new dimension!
Fun fact: Those things don’t actually move in the z-axis. They just shrink and change color.
Room 8
She observed the small orange circle on the other side of the wall blink very fast, and then explode.
She definitely wanted to stay away from those things.
Sherlock-level stuff right here.
Room 9
She stepped on the light green platform and…
It threw her upwards!
It should’ve at least given her a warning…
And the possibility to appeal.
Room 10
You can’t let it get to you…
You just have to try to move on.
We know that it’ll be difficult, but you have to try.
It’s the only way out.
World 4
Room 1
The colors changed yet again…
Maybe she was getting close to the exit?
Another one…
She saw the gray square and wasn’t sure what to think of it.
It couldn’t jump, so she had to carry it.
In case the player doesn’t notice this.
The Companion shuts down the wall of fire here.
That was cool.
Room 2
There was no exit.
Roof closed off.
And now there was.
Companion opened roof with the button.
She decided to keep that thing around.
It seemed very useful.
The cat treats the Companion as a tool. Even though “it” seems to have a mind of its own.
And it was dangerous to go alone…
Room 3
Yet another room…
The exit had to be somewhere…
Somewhere…
The cat never stops thinking about the exit. (Well, at least not until quite late in the game.)
Room 4
The cat wondered where the square came from.
And how did it sense the world around itself?
It was just a square, after all…
Was something controlling it?
Room 5
The cat needed to throw the square upwards.
This is the section where the player needs to throw the square up to hit a button. So many play testers got completely stuck at this point, no matter how many clues I put in. At one point, I even added flashing arrows pointing at the button. Didn’t work. So I thought it would just be better if the narrator says what the player needs to do. At least it still leaves the execution (timing, etc) to the player, so there’s still some level of skill required.
This room was huge!
It just kept continuing…
Was she ever going to get out..?
Finally, an exit.
Room 6
This was weird.
The orange rectangles were going inside the floor.
How was that even possible?
Room 7
The cat was thinking about the gray square.
Why did it shut down the fire?
There had to be a reason.
Room 8
The cat was trapped inside the box.
She needed to get out.
Where was the square?
This is here to encourage the player to switch to the square.
Room 9
There had to be a reason why the square was helping her.
Had to be…
Room 10
Going deeper doesn’t help.
It may feel like it right now, but after a while it’ll become clear to you…
World 5
Room 1
The floor under her was disappearing.
She just noticed…
…that the colors changed again.
Did this mean she could get out now..?
Probably not…
Room 2
How did the square survive the fall into the orange liquid..?
And how was it the only one capable of pressing those buttons..?
There had to be something it was not telling her…
Continues the “There had to be a reason why the square was helping her.” line-of-thought.
Room 3
This room was more convoluted than the other ones.
She hated it.
She really wanted to get out…
At this point, the cat is really getting nervous about the rooms.
Room 4
This room only went horizontally.
She remembered a room like this from before.
Were the rooms repeating?
No, it couldn’t be…
There had to be an end.
There had to be a way out.
Had to…
Room 5
How can the square survive falls like that..?
Room 6
The rooms were getting even more convoluted.
Nothing in these rooms made sense…
Did they ever even make sense?
Room 7
Well this didn’t look fun…
The platforms were getting smaller…
Room 8
Well this was interesting…
Where did the square go?
In case the player hasn’t noticed that the Companion timer is slowly ticking down.
There it was. How did it get down here on its own?
Room 9
This room felt really claustrophobic.
She hated it.
Maybe she could get out now..?
Room 10
Why did you stay in there..?
You’re the only one who stayed.
Well… Except for…
You know who.
World 6
Room 1
The colors changed again…
Bigger orange rectangles… Not fun.
A giant one?!
She wondered what that thing gave her this time…
Room 2
Wow.
She just destroyed an entire wall.
She felt unstoppable now.
This is pretty much the emotional high point for the cat. Everything from here is downhill.
Room 3
What?
Why was this room spinning?
Why?
Room 4
Well that was weird…
She just noticed that the outer walls were a lot thinner.
Maybe this meant that the exit was somewhere close..?
Room 5
This seemed like a fairly normal room…
Yet another spot where she could show off her new ability.
Too bad she couldn’t break the outer walls…
Room 6
Well that wasn’t good…
She needed to move.
And fast.
Room 7
This didn’t seem very safe…
Neither did this…
Room 8
Now she was getting really tired of these rooms.
She just wanted to get out.
It was too much for her.
Room 9
Another room with tight corridors.
She felt really claustrophobic.
Room 10
We know you’re scared…
We can help you through this.
You have to trust us.
World 7
Room 1
The colors changed again.
She still had no idea why that was happening…
Maybe it really meant that she was getting closer to the exit.
Probably not…
This didn’t feel right…
insert obligatory “I don’t feel so good”- line here.
Room 2
She had lost her ability to fly…
But as that happened, the rooms had opened up.
She wasn’t sure how she felt…
The start of the emotional downhill.
Room 3
After the rooms had opened up, she felt a lot better.
Less claustrophobic.
Maybe she was getting close to the exit!
So the cat is happy!
But she still missed her ability…
Oh…
Room 4
At least she hadn’t lost the bombs…
Really bad foreshadowing.
Or the square…
How not to do foreshadowing 101.
Room 5
Maybe losing one of her abilities would help her focus on finding the exit.
As long as she didn’t lose the rest of them…
This is terrible.
Room 6
The rooms were getting shorter…
Did that mean that the exit was close..?
Room 7
A giant wall of orange liquid, just standing there…
How was that even possible?
Room 8
She noticed the orange liquid floating above her.
She stopped questioning the logic of these rooms.
It took her this long?
She also started feeling claustrophobic again…
Room 9
This room was open.
She already felt a lot better…
Room 10
We know that dealing with a close friend’s death can be difficult…
We were there with you.
You have to try to move on.
Staying in a world where death has no consequences doesn’t help.
World 8
Room 1
The colors changed yet again.
She still had no idea what the color change meant…
Oh no…
Room 2
The small gray square was gone.
She wanted it back.
Now.
She forgot the magic word.
Room 3
Prepare for the anticipated sequel to Emotional Downhill.
She just realized that the square didn’t tell her anything.
It was selfish.
It didn’t tell her how to survive the orange liquid.
It didn’t tell her anything.
It kept all that to itself.
Rude!
Room 4
She had calmed down now…
It had helped her and never even asked for anything in return.
She missed the little gray square.
She really did.
Room 5
She didn’t even know its name.
…didn’t even know its name…
Room 6
She couldn’t focus on the room…
Room 7
She feared that she might lose the rest of her abilities…
She would be worthless after that.
Room 8
She wanted out…
As fast as she possibly could.
Room 9
She couldn’t take it anymore…
She really needed to get out.
Room 10
We are your friends.
You’ve trusted us before.
Trust us now.
Please…
World 9
Room 1
She already knew what was coming up.
She didn’t want to lose it.
It was the only thing she had left.
But there was no way of preventing it.
Room 2
What was the point in continuing?
She didn’t have anything left.
She was worthless.
Room 3
Was this place even real..?
Room 4
Everything was gray…
Where did all the color go..?
Hey now. Color is really expensive. Couldn’t afford it.
Room 5
Why did her owner put her through this..?
Room 6
At least she could see the outside now…
And the outside was nothing.
An empty void.
Filled with nothing.
Using the word “nothing” way too much here.
Room 7
There was nothing down there…
“Nothing” is used here again… This shouldn’t be that difficult.
Room 8
Why was all of this happening..?
Why did any of this exist?
Who would create something like this?
Room 9
She had lost all of her abilities.
She was worth nothing.
Room 10
The world was silent.
She couldn’t take it anymore.
She had to get out.
There was no exit, was there?
It was only an endless cycle of rooms.
Switch to cat’s font.
Why did I create this?
Why did I lock myself in here?
Because of her?
Now I can’t get out.
I just wanted to forget her…
To forget everything…
Knocks away the final door.
Why did I push it away…
Do I want to stay in here?
…
Actually…
When you think about it…
Everything is so much better in here.
Everything can be fixed.
Nobody will really die.
All that happens is that the room will be reset.
Everything can always be fixed.
…
I want to start over.
Do this all again.
Over and over again.
So that I never have to leave.
Everything is so much better in here…
A beam of light shoots up from the cat.
The spikes fall down destroying the cat’s body.
Companion - Phase 1
Room 1
The square had to help the cat.
That’s what it was designed to do.
That’s what it was meant to do.
Room 2
The world tried to slow it down.
But it had to keep going.
Room 3
The world the square was in was mostly silent.
The only sounds that existed belonged to the timer and the deaths of objects, thrown into the purple fire.
There was also a third sound.
The sound of something dying, far far away.
Room 4
The square didn’t know where it was.
It didn’t need to know.
Room 5
This thing seemed familiar.
The square gave the thing some of its life.
And the world let the square progress.
Room 6
It was cold.
The square was freezing.
But it had to continue.
Room 7
The world seemed to become more aggressive…
Room 8
The world asked for a lot of its life.
The square needed to give it.
By giving away its life the world let the square progress.
The square needed to progress.
Room 9
The world felt colder and colder…
Room 10
The first phase was complete.
Now, to the second one.
Companion - Phase 2
Room 1
Something had changed.
The square couldn’t boost anymore.
But it could jump.
Room 2
The square was given the ability to jump…
But its ability to boost was taken away.
Why?
None of this will matter when it starts…
Room 3
The square noticed that the world seemed different.
Maybe it just imagined it..?
Room 4
No…
The world had definitely changed.
Room 5
The substance on the ground violently threw the square upwards.
It hurt.
A lot.
But the square had to continue.
Room 6
More of that substance.
The square secretly hoped that was the last time it would encounter it.
Room 7
Of course not…
Now the substance was throwing around other objects.
The square knew that they were in pain.
But it couldn’t help them.
Room 8
More torment…
Room 9
Those things stole time.
The square needed time.
It couldn’t let those things touch it.
Room 10
It had to be really careful.
Those things could ruin everything.
The second phase was complete.
Companion - Phase 3
Room 1
This was interesting.
Everything stopped for the square when that happened.
For the square it looked like time suddenly skipped forward a little.
Room 2
The square was scared of the time skip.
It couldn’t control it.
Room 3
The rooms were getting more hectic.
More convoluted.
Room 4
The rooms were also getting more aggressive towards the square…
Why though..?
Room 5
The square could feel the end being near.
Soon its mission would start.
Room 6
Why was it being tested like this..?
It wouldn’t have any of these powers when the mission started…
Room 7
The rooms were becoming more difficult…
But the square had to continue.
Room 8
Colder and colder…
Room 9
Just one more room…
Room 10
The square was ready for its purpose.
To make the cat cry.
To make the cat feel.
The font changes
Why?
The font changes back
Because the purple one told it to.
Making the cat feel would help her…
Right?
The Reset
Room 10
Lumi: Was this it..?
Yes…
The reset has started.
Room 9
Dead Friend: Why are you doing this?
Lumi: Because I don’t want to leave.
Room 8
Dead Friend: You have to listen to me…
Get out of there.
It’s not good for you.
Lumi: You can’t stop me.
Don’t talk to me.
Room 7
Dead Friend: Why are you so angry at me..?
Lumi: You know exactly why.
You left me all alone.
Room 6
Lumi: You’re the owner.
You’re the reason I’m in here.
Dead Friend: But I gave my cat to you.
Doesn’t that make you the owner?
Lumi: …
Dead Friend: Didn’t you say “why did I lock myself in here” in the final room?
So you know that I wasn’t the one who locked you in here.
Room 5
Dead Friend: You can’t blame me for my own death.
It was clearly an accident.
Nothing could’ve been done to prevent it.
Lumi: You could’ve chosen to stay at home.
That way you would still be alive.
Room 4
Lumi: Leave me alone.
Dead Friend: Did you know that the purple one is still here?
Lumi: What?
Room 3
Lumi: Where?
Dead Friend: I’m not sure.
Lumi: How is the purple one still here?
Dead Friend: I have no idea.
Room 2
Lumi: You’re not being very helpful.
Dead Friend: I can’t tell you something that I don’t know.
But I do know that the purple one is here.
And that the purple one is the one who created the square.
Room 1
Lumi: How?
Dead Friend: You should know that.
Lumi: How can I stop the purple one?
Dead Friend: It’s too late now.
The reset is complete.
I’ll see you again on the next loop…