Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro – PS5 Review 1

Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is the latest from Silesia Games and in this case, Nukearts, they of the last but one hidden cat game we reviewed, that being in Tokyo. You know the drill by now. Look at images, find the cats. It does away with the largely superfluous plot from the last game, because let’s be honest, it was a distraction.

Across its eight levels, you get to find almost eight hundred and fifty cats, so the value per cat for the £3.29 this is up on the PSN store for, is a healthy 0.39 pence per cat. This compares well to the comparatively meagre yield of 0.66 ppc from the skinny Cats & Seek: Kyoto. It’s a fair comparison to make, as generally these are distinguished only by minor mechanics and the quality of the (wout van) a(e)rt. Sorry, our typo reminded us of the pro cyclist. Shut up, it’s our review.

Nukearts generally go with one big picture to investigate and Rio is no exception here, with 232 cats to find at the outset. By exploring this picture and highlighting significant landmarks, you unlock a further six levels to search. In each there are more cats for you to discover as well as occasional extra people as in their Tokyo effort. Once again, one level has a surplus of humans to find, but it’s not as exhaustive as it was on multiple occasions in the prior game.

When you’ve completed all the goals in the first seven levels, you’ll unlock the carnival and hence the final hundred and fifty cats and likely the final trophy. We took four and a half hours for our total playthrough, so that’s a canny bit of value, especially combined with the generous ppc ratio.

All the levels are vibrantly illustrated with a whole ton of cats and humans to find. As in the other Nukearts games, once you’ve completed a section you’ll colour that area in. It makes finding the more well hidden cats that little bit easier. Along with the audible cues, we didn’t have a massive amount of trouble getting stuck. Although if you decide to use the hint system, there’s no impediment for doing so other than your not being able to live with the shame.

As before various cats are featured in photograph form and we’re completely here for it. Since our last review, we almost got a sixth cat from a rescue, but he wasn’t the right cat for our tribe of furrorists. That and the woman from the rescue needed therapy more than she needed to be running a rescue. Nuttier than Chinese chicken that one, even moreso than the average mad cat lady, trust us, we live with one.

The frustrations we had with the Tokyo installment are very much mitigated here, there’s not so much busywork.

In conclusion, Hidden Cats in Rio de Janeiro is another solid hidden cat game with a  decent amount of gameplay and a decent pennies per cat ratio. It’s good and if you’re reading this review it’s reasonable to assume you’re into it too. Get searching. Pspspsps. Ohand adopt, don’t shop.