Miaow Miaow: FreeIndieGames' All-Cat Spectacular

I live in fear - true, cold, debilitating terror - of my cat dying, even though she's surely got anywhere from 5 to 10 years still left on the clock. These strange, joyful, fearful, psychopathic creatures can achieve such a hold on our lives and affections. Maybe it's just the toxoplasmosis speaking, but young Ripley's chirruping presence in my house makes for a tangible improvement of my days. So I can offer the most enormous condolences and sympathy to Distractionware's Terry Cavanagh, whose long-term pet Thomas P. Cat passed away last week. Terry has offered the greatest of tributes to his dearly departed Tom - by swamping his ever-vital FreeIndieGam.es blog with over 20 weird and wonderful cat-based games.

It's a mixture of games you might have played previously - such as the excellent political lesson The Cat & The Coup and Jasper Byrne's Kirby-esque shapeshifting platformer Soul Brother - experimental unheard-ofs and, inevitably, Nyancat mania. I do not recognise Nyancat as a true part of the cat oeuvre, though I do accept it as its own genre.

I haven't played all the games I, er, haven't played yet, but one that stands out is very short quasi-point and clicker The Fabulous Screech & His Trained Humans. It manages to be both very funny and very touching, as well as demonstrating an acute understanding of the way cats use their owners and their owners are grateful for it. If there's a line that sums the game and its subject up best, it's "You should never trust a cat, you know. They are beautiful and wise, but also deadly." Or maybe it's "This is where God keeps his collection of blaxploitation movies."

Many more cat games on the site. Also lots of non-cat-based games, but whatever.