Screenshots
Watch trailer on Steam ↗Once There Were Cats
Albedo Informatics · Published by Albedo Informatics · Official site ↗
Last updated 28 Sept 2026
Once There Were Cats is a game of wits and wizardry, an RPG where you fight enemies by solving trivia. Explore the harvest gothic world of The Gloam alongside your duck sidekick, gather powerful artifacts, and encounter mythical creatures on your way to the Quizards tower, where your fate awaits.
Adventure, RPG, Free To Play · More free games
About this game
Once There Were Cats is a game of wits and wizardry, an RPG where you fight enemies by solving trivia. Explore the harvest gothic world of The Gloam alongside your duck sidekick, gather powerful artifacts, and encounter mythical creatures on your way to the Quizard's tower, where your fate awaits.
This is a pre-alpha demo, designed to capture the vibe and gameplay features.
QUIZ-BASED COMBAT
In OTWC the combat system revolves around solving multiple-choice questions, such as trivia, riddles, puzzles etc. Think fast! You need to answer before time runs out.
BEWARE OF MONSTERS
The Gloam is home to monsters drawn from global folklore. Monsters in OTWC have special attacks and ask questions based on their personality, nature and origins. They can poison you, set you on fire, blind you, confuse you… if you let them.
SPELLCASTER WIZARD CAT, KILL! KILL!
If you didn’t pay attention in school and don’t know the answers, don’t worry: you can use spells to eliminate answers, slow down the timer, skip questions, change topics or inflict damage. Try incinerating a kappa with a fireball! It’s one of life’s great pleasures.
YOU HAVE A DUCK FRIEND
If you’re really stuck you can always call on your duck sidekick Sir Goo Goo to suggest an answer. He’ll do his best, but he is a duck.
COLLECT POWERFUL ARTIFACTS
Through your adventures, you’ll come across tons of cool wands, grimoires and artifacts you can equip that will give you special abilities and cater to your playstyle. If you think you know all the answers, try making a risky offensive build.
EAT LOTS OF FOOD
Adventuring through The Gloam is sure to make a kitty hungry. But don’t worry, there are lots of delicious things for you to eat. Rare foods even provide unique buffs in combat!
SLEEP IN BOXES
When you get tired, why not take a nap in a cozy cat-sized box? Who knows what you’ll dream of when you slumber…
EXPLORE THE GLOAM & MAKE FRIENDS WITH WEIRDOS
Besides fighting, there is a whole strange world to explore, full of quirky creatures, side quests, easter eggs and puzzles. Talk to everyone, sometimes you can even talk to inanimate objects.
PLAY WITH A BALL OF YARN
This is pretty much self-explanatory.
RECOVER YOUR MEMORIES
What happened to all the other cats? Who is Char? Where am you? What am you? It’s up to you to find out.
ARE YOU SMART ENOUGH???
You don’t really have to be that smart, so we think yes, you are smart enough! You are strong enough! Don’t be a scaredy cat! Play OTWC today, you budding genius.
DISCLAIMER
No cats or ducks were harmed during the production of the Once There Were Cats demo.
System Requirements
Will my PC run this? →Minimum
- OS: Windows 10
- Processor: Anything from the past decade
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Graphics: 4GB VRAM
- Storage: 3 GB available space
- Sound Card: Any
Supported Languages
Latest news
Patch NotesOfficial
Once There Were Cats v0.3.4 Patch Notes
Hey!Huge thanks for everyone's feedback during Nordic Game! We've implemented several QoL improvements based on it, as well as a new artifact!Here's the detailed changelog:Added notification to alert you when Chips is at low healthAdded notification to alert you when Chips can dreamAdded an artifact that adds one additional topic option during topic select combat phaseImproved health and duck energy bar UI feedbackThe three argites on the road to Brimble's Bog no longer respawn; added a reward for killing them allEliminate Wrong Answer Hex can no longer be cast if there are no wrong answers to eliminateReworked hex casting on gamepad: now simply move the thumbstick to highlight a hex, and pull the left trigger to cast it immediatelyWhen using gamepad during topic selection, press left shoulder to switch between topic select UI & fullscreen hex wheelVarious minor UI improvements & fixesWe're going to be at TCAF this weekend, come say hi if you're around! We'll set up operations in Hand Eye Society exhibit on Floor 4...Read full article on Community Announcements (anton)Patch NotesOfficial
Once There Were Cats v0.3.3 Patch Notes
Hey!This is just a small patch with a couple of minor fixes we wanted to get in before Nordic Game.Changelog:BBQ Lighter Wand now deals 2 Burn instead of 1Eliminate Wrong Answer Hex is now coloured blue instead of red to avoid confusionFixed an issue where combat won’t start after fleeing from the tutorialWe will be at Nordic Game 2026, so come say hi if you're around! Find us at table B29...Read full article on Community Announcements (anton)Patch NotesOfficial
Once There Were Cats v0.3.2 Patch Notes
Hey!Second update to the OTWC demo is live!This one is focused on fixing issues and making improvements to various equipment and status effects.Here's the detailed changelog:Fixed Poison not dealing damage and increased damage chance to 50%Fixed Gun Ring not dealing damageFixed Red Dragon not affecting Duck Energy gain and increased bonus to +100%Separated Burn and Poison damage notifications from regular damage notifications BBQ Lighter Wand is now held correctlyHaving Iron Key equipped and completing Hazel’s quest now auto-equips Enchanted Iron KeyHexes now auto-equip upon receiving themMultiple item description adjustmentsRead full article on Community Announcements (anton)Patch NotesOfficial
Once There Were Cats v0.3.1 Patch Notes
Hey! Huge thank you to everyone who tried the OTWC pre-alpha demo in the last several days!We've made some fixes in the latest update, here's the changelog:Doubled Anarchist’s Cookbook and Box Of Chocolates rate of topic replacementHovering over a status effect on baddy’s side now shows correct tooltipsFixed new game UI on widescreen monitors being too smallMultiple trivia and dialogue punctuation fixesWe're also looking to fix some issues with status effects and equipment in the next patch, so stay tuned!Read full article on Community Announcements (anton)AnnouncementsOfficial
Once There Were Cats demo is now live!
We're finally releasing a Steam demo for OTWC, our Trivia RPG! If you ever wondered why there are no cats in The Gloam, this game has all the answers... or does it? This is a pre-alpha demo, meant to capture the vibe and the gameplay features of the full game. We've been working on this for a while, and we'd be happy to hear everyone's thoughts and feedback!Read full article on Community Announcements (anton)
