The Cat Lady is a low-budget side-scrolling horror game about depression, and it handles its subject with more bluntness than almost any game on this list. The presentation is rough, the pacing uneven, but the psychological horror it delivers is direct and specific in a way that the bigger productions often are not. It missed the top ten because the execution does not match the ambition, but genre-aware players looking for something beyond the obvious picks will find it memorable.

Overview
About The Cat Lady
The Cat Lady is a single-player horror graphic adventure and the second entry in the Devil Came Through Here trilogy, following Downfall and preceding Lorelai. It is a puzzle-based adventure played entirely with the four arrow keys, so characters move left and right between scenes while the up and down keys handle interacting with the environment and inventory. Dialogue is fully voiced, and occasional dialogue choices can shift the story and its ending slightly. The game deals with mature themes including depression, suicide, murder, and illness, alongside moments of humor.
Story setup
Susan Ashworth is a chronically depressed woman in her forties who lives alone in a rundown council flat in England, keeping company only with the neighborhood stray cats she summons by playing the piano. Derided by her neighbors as "the cat lady," she has lost hope for the future. After an attempt to end her life, Susan awakens in a strange afterlife and meets a mysterious figure known as the Queen of Maggots, who offers to help her reclaim her happiness. In return, Susan is sent back to the world of the living, changed, and given the grim task of ridding the world of five dangerous individuals known as the Parasites.
Reference
At a glance
- Released
- December 7, 2012
- Platforms
- Linux, PC
- Genres
- Adventure, Puzzle, Casual, Indie
- Play modes
- Single Player
- Time to beat
- ~8 hours
Media
Screenshots
Click any screenshot to view it full size.
Playtime
How long to beat
Player-reported completion times for The Cat Lady.
- Rushed
- 7hoursMain story only
- Typical
- 8hoursStory plus some extras
- Completionist
- 15hoursEvery side objective too
Estimated from 5 player reports — a small sample, so treat these as approximate.
Playing together
Multiplayer & game modes
The Cat Lady offers various play modes for different gaming experiences.
Play Modes
Single Player
Also in our guides
Often listed alongside The Cat Lady
Titles that appear in the same guides on this site. Grouped by where they show up, not by recommendation.
Coverage
Featured in our articles
This game appears in 1 article on this site.
#15
Game data and imagery provided by IGDB.com

