Cat Quest is free to keep from the Epic Games Store right now
The purrfect action RPG for kids
I keep an eye out for games I can use to introduce my young son to new genres. Cat Quest fit the bill last year. It's a straightforward action RPG with cute, clean art about a cat slicing up a world of hedgehogs, foxes and, of course, dogs.
It's currently free to keep from the Epic Games Store.
Head over to its store page before 4pm GMT tomorrow and you can add it to your Epic account forever.
My son got hooked on fantasy stories last year thanks to the Beast Quest novels, of which there are possibly hundreds. I say "fantasy stories", but really he got hooked on the idea of quests, boss monsters, and hitting boss monsters with swords. Even in the books, the presence of a story is almost incidental to him (and possibly to the authors - these are not great literature). Cat Quest introduced him to the action RPG, but it also fulfilled his deep longing to fuck up a dragon.
I got Cat Quest for my kid, but I enjoyed it, too. Not so much for its world - you're a silent procatonist in a pun-filled world, and I'm not the biggest fan of puns - but for its simple, timing-based combat. Enemies telegraph the moment of their next attack with a meter that fills, and you've got a dodge roll for getting out the way. You also gather magic abilities over the course of the adventure, letting you slow enemies, set them on fire, hit them with chain lightning, and other classics. There's an easy rhythm to it.
Is it something I'd play ahead of every other hack-and-slasher? No, but if you want to turn your brain off and bash some beasts for a weekend, I bet you'd have a good time with Cat Quest. And if you or your kid likes it, its sequel adds co-op, makes progression more interesting, and is regularly discounted such that it's currently £4.28/€4.94/$4.94 on Steam.
If you really like it, there's a Cat Quest 3 on the way sometime next year called Cat Quest: Pirates of the Purribean.
Looking for more free games? Read our round-up of the latest free games on the Epic Games Store, as well as our list of the best free PC games you can play today. Want to take your free Epic games on the go? Then here's how to install the Epic Games launcher on your Steam Deck.