I suppose it isn’t surprising with many budget titles that they come up with their one central hook and then essentially run it into the ground, but if that’s the case the hook had better be a great one. More often than not though, even decent ideas can begin to wear thin the longer you mess with them, even as complexity may rise. I’ll admit that I don’t think I’ve seen a puzzle platformer quite like 1 CatLine before, and I suppose I can appreciate its unique mechanics to an extent, but given the fact that you can exploit the design quite a bit, it also fails to be satisfying for long.

Starting out this feels much like many of its platform puzzling brethren. You’ll have a limited jump at your disposal, and your goal is simply to collect a gem somewhere within the stage. Initially you’ll be able to trip switches that will enable or disable platforms, and I appreciate that early on the game essentially nudges you into understanding the mechanics by applying them more simply and then adding complexity. You’ll then be introduced to your special, and unusual, 2D cat of the game’s title who is able to maneuver into place and act as a stand-in platform, helping you work out more complex stages by filling in the gaps. 

While in theory this presents a different sort of puzzling challenge, with you alternating between your character and the cat, helping each other along until you get to the goal, in practice it too often leaves itself open to feeling kind of cheap. When you switch between controlling your character and the cat, the alternate world pauses. So you’ll stand on your platform, switch, move the cat into place, switch again, and then jump on its back to proceed. The problem is that since everything pauses when you switch, you can also simply jump your character ahead, switch, move your cat to where they’ll land, and switch again. Using this technique you can get all around, even if it may be tedious, including simply “stepping up” vertically one jump and switch at a time. Having this power quickly makes the appeal fall apart, especially when it often feels like the intended way to contend with certain areas, sort of throwing thoughtful design and play out the window in the process.