Cat Quest 3 is here; if you didn’t know, it’s great. It manages to blend accessibility with fun mechanics, some ingenious open-world design, and a heck of a lot of charm. In addition to getting a copy of the game to review early, I also had the opportunity to send over some questions to the CEO of developer Gentlebros, Desmond Wong. Below, you can find his answers on developing the franchise to a new pirate-themed setting, his favorite pun from the series, and more.
BUT WHY THO: One of my favorite elements of Cat Quest is its accessibility, especially with
its easy co-op options. Was it difficult keeping that accessibility while deepening
the combat system, or what did you have to do to ensure that anyone could still
pick it up and play while still bringing some more mechanical depth to combat?
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DESMOND WONG: Designing mechanics with depth but also keeping them accessible is one of the toughest things we had to do. The key challenge was keeping the controls simple and easy to understand while making sure players still had many options available to them during gameplay. We did this primarily by forcing the design team to work within very strict parameters. We wanted to ensure that players only needed to only know a few key mechanics to enjoy every aspect of the game.
BUT WHY THO: Do you have a favorite pun from across the series?
DESMOND WONG: ‘Ultimutt Catventure.’ It’s just such a great combination of cat and dog puns, which
exemplifies the themes of Cat Quest 3.
BUT WHY THO: Were there any unexpected challenges that you faced with translating Cat Quest
to the new Purribean setting?
DESMOND WONG: The biggest challenge was the new open-world design we settled for in the Purribean setting. We wanted more player agency when finding treasure and discovering secrets (just like a real pirate), so it was very important for us to remove the Quest Arrow present in previous Cat Quest games. This meant that there would be nothing in the HUD that could tell players where to go next. This was unexpectedly difficult as in early playtests, many players were venturing too far off the main path and either becoming lost or frustrated because of that. We had to iterate and redesign the world many times to subtly point players in the direction we wanted them to go. On top of that, if players still did go off tangent, the Purribean had to be designed in a way that could funnel players back to their main goal.
BUT WHY THO: I think it’s really impressive just how open of a world and story Cat Quest 3 has
while not feeling aimless or confusing the player on where to go next. Was there anything that helped you keep the more non-linear structure while still ensuring that players were making progress or knew what they were doing?
DESMOND WONG: I’m glad you mentioned this because it means we succeeded in our attempt to create a fully open world reliant solely on player agency. There are many subtle things in the game that gently guide players to their objectives. For example, islands may be designed in a way that blocks off a late-game area, making it harder to access near the start. We also place enemies and landmarks in ways that draw players to important areas too. The most important thing is that we ensured no matter which direction players choose to explore, there would always be a story event that pulls them back to the main path. All these things come together and work hand in hand to guide players without needing us to explicitly do it ourselves.
BUT WHY THO: I really loved a lot of the jokes and fun references throughout the game.
Meowtallika, in particular, really caught me off guard and gave me a good laugh.
Are there any particular favorites of yours or ideas that you liked but weren’t able
to make it in?
DESMOND WONG: Captain Meowtallika is our favorite, too! I think the one joke that didn’t make it, in the end, was a cursed ship called the ‘Black Purrl.’ There was also going to be an eccentric cat pirate as part of this quest too. All in all, I’m glad we didn’t do it as we could have got into trouble…
Cat Quest 3 is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
