Category: Dev Blog

Twelve years ago we put a cat in a box and hoped someone would care. Today, the biggest update in the game’s history is live.

What’s in Adventure Mode

Adventure Mode is a new way to play: one long run that keeps changing as you go.

• Phases that build on each other. Each stage adds one new thing and gives it room to breathe before the next one arrives.
• Enemies. An eagle circles overhead and telegraphs its dive, so a sharp player can always dodge. Get hit and your sardines spill loose.
• A flock worth chasing. Pigeons drop in from the sky, and hunting them down is part of the run and part of your missions.
• The cow. Bouncing off it can launch you somewhere great or get you into trouble. That’s your call now.
• The Sand Clock. Grab it to slow time and line up the shot you’d otherwise miss.
• A bonus round with three stars laid out as a route, and no way to lose your run in it.
• An Adventure leaderboard on Game Center and Google Play Games. Your high score finally has somewhere to live.

The controls: our hardest call

This is the change longtime players will notice first, and the one we went back and forth on the most.

The classic hold-and-slide is pure muscle memory for anyone who has played for years. But it was also the single biggest thing that tripped up new players. Adventure Mode is fast and asks for precision, and the old scheme kept getting in the way.

So we rebuilt the touch controls from scratch.

We also heard from a lot of you during the beta, and you were right: nobody should lose the feel they grew up with. If you prefer the original controls, there’s a legacy toggle in the settings menu. One tap and it’s the game you remember.

Everything else in 2.0

• Missions with new rewards, plus a 7-day login reward you can see coming.
• A redesigned shop, and a cleaner, modernized look throughout the game.
• Russian language support, and Chinese now works properly on Android. It never did before, and we’re sorry it took this long.
• Launch price on Remove Ads: $0.99 through October 7. Sardine packs remove ads too.

Thank you, beta testers

To everyone who joined the TestFlight beta and sent us bug reports, screen recordings, and blunt opinions: this update is better because of you. Several things in today’s build exist, or work, only because someone took the time to write in.

What’s next

2.0 is the start of this chapter, not the end of it. Where Adventure Mode goes next depends a lot on what you tell us over the coming weeks. Reply to any of our emails, leave a review, or find us on Discord through the link in the game.

Twelve years in, and we’re still just trying to get a cat into a box. Thanks for being here for it.

Kurt

Creative Director, Mokuni Games

Kitty in the Box 2.0 introduces Adventure Mode, and you can play it before anyone else.

When we released Kitty in the Box, the idea was almost embarrassingly simple. A cat. A box. Get the cat in the box.

We weren’t sure anyone would care.

People did. Twelve years on, players are still landing that cat in that box, some of them people who started playing as kids and are now sending us bug reports. Every one of those messages is a reason we kept going.

Today we’re announcing the biggest thing we’ve ever added to the game.

Introducing Adventure Mode

Adventure Mode isn’t a level pack. It’s a different way to play.

• A new cat, based on a real black cat named Swag!
• New box types that change how each run plays out
• Reworked controls, rebuilt from the ground up to feel better in your hands
• Fresh level design with real progression
• Enemies, each of them brings an unique challenge.

One early tester described it as “kitty shuffleboard,” which is the best summary we’ve heard and we’re keeping it.

Play it before it’s public

Enter your email and we'll send your TestFlight invite. iPhone and iPad only for now.

Why we rebuilt the controls

This is the change longtime players will notice first, and the one we went back and forth on the most.

The original hold-down control scheme is muscle memory for anyone who's played for years. But it was also the single biggest thing new players bumped into. So Adventure Mode uses a new scheme built for the new mechanics.

If you're a veteran who misses the classic feel: we hear you, and an option to switch back is in the settings menu.

Help us finish it

The beta is open now, and it's genuinely a beta, we want to know what's broken, what's confusing, and what's fun.

Testers get the build early, a direct line to us, and real influence over what ships. The feedback from the first round has already changed the game.

On Android? Sign up anyway, we'll tell you the moment there's something to play.

What's next

Adventure Mode is the beginning of what 2.0 becomes, not the end of it. Where it goes depends partly on what testers tell us over the next few weeks.

Twelve years in, and we're still just trying to get a cat into a box. Thanks for being here for it.

— Kurt Founder & Creative Director, Mokuni Games