You might remember Little Kitty, Big City as the loveable indie game about - you guessed it - a cute cat causing havoc with the chaotic energy usually reserved for untitled geese. But the game's non-violent adventure was (surprisingly) inspired by the director's experience making several Valve classics, including Portal 2.
Director Matt T. Wood was formerly a Valve employee who contributed to everything from Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 to Portal 2 (all the 2s), before heading down the indie route and founding Double Dagger Studio, the indie outfit that eventually pspspsps'ed Little Kitty, Big City into existence.
During an 'Ask Us Anything' session on the Nintendo Switch subreddit, the director shed light on the game's inspirations, explaining that a career embedded in hero shooting and headcrab squashing made him yearn for something less bloody, less violent, and more Portal 2-y, as all things should be.
"I spent most of my career working on games that focused a lot on violence or gameplay that derived from conflict and I wanted to do something that wasn't that," Wood explains. "The most fun I had working on a project was one that had the least conflict in it and that was Portal 2. I wanted to do more of that because I think the world needs more games like that and also, it would be a new challenge for me as well." (I'd say GLaDOS' 'jokes' were pretty violent, but I get Wood's point.)
The director also reveals that he began prototyping Little Kitty with his children, which made him realize "that there aren't enough games" that can be "entertaining to both kids and the parents." Most parents might still view games as the Candy Crush and Call of Duty timesinks, Wood said, but his goal "was to hopefully increase awareness there and create something parents feel comfortable with their kids playing and want to actually play with them."
Leaving a storied studio like Valve must be intimidating, but Wood's indie pivot was met with major success as Little Kitty, Big City sold over 100,000 copies in less than two days - and that's despite a simultaneous launch on Game Pass. A sign to all developers everywhere: give us more dedicated "Meow" buttons.
