Gayme of the Week: Purrfect Date
Come for the pussy, stay for the tale. Those are the closing lines of the Purrfect Date release trailer, and in all honesty? It fits the game and its tone like a glove. Because come on, you’re going to need a little humour if you’re going to be playing a game that’s about romancing cats.
If you’ve played a similar game to this, Hatoful Boyfriend, then you’re going to fit right in. Purrfect Date has mystery, adventure, and hilarious puns and jokes that’ll have you rolling your eyes while fighting to keep the smile off your face. Dark British humour is king here, and that’s before you even consider that this visual novel game is actually LGBT friendly. No matter who you are, you’re able to fall in love with the cat of your dreams.
It’s hard to describe Purrfect Date and what lengths it goes to in saying ‘yes, this is a game where you can date cats but we assure you it isn’t bestiality.’ It’s also hard to express how strange it would be to write that it’s LGBT friendly without acknowledging that, unfortunately, queer people and our love have been subject to comparisons of bestiality for as long as I can remember. Because of this, I won’t hold any spoilers back about how this game – despite the release trailer – doesn’t promote bestiality and is safe for LGBT+ folks to consume without that nagging worry in the back of their head.
The premise is this: you’re a scientist working under Professor Pawpur to study the lives of cats. You get told about what makes the island special, what your duties are, and what activities you can and can’t do. One of the things you can’t do is go where the Elder Cats are. You’re not told why exactly, but don’t worry – you’ll soon find out.
After only the first night, you get woken up to a cat stealing your device and rushing off to the part of the island you were specifically told not to go to. You’re then bitten by these so called Elder Cats and wake up to find your future love interests staring right at you. Yes, we’re talking about some fussy felines.
It turns out you’ve been scratched – which means that you’re going to be transforming into a cat if you don’t try your best to find an antidote. Or you could simply lounge around and get to know your fellow felines more. There are multiple endings, after all, and it’s ultimately up to you on what you prefer to do. For me, I decided that being a cat was absolutely the way I wanted to end my human life, so decided to spend most of my time becoming friends – and more – with the cats of the island. They too had been humans before, but were transformed after being scratched/bitten, so I felt we already had a lot in common.
But it isn’t all just about romance in this game, you can be friends with the cats and instead dedicate yourself to recon and research to discover the island’s secrets and how to de-cat you and your new friends. As someone who did this route, I can very quickly tell you that this route is just as fulfilling.
If you’re looking for something a little quirky and strange, then you should check out Purrfect Date over on Steam.
Gayme of the Week is a weekly column by Aimee Hart about indie LGBT+ games that she’s played and what she loves about them. If you’ve got any recommendations, be sure to contact her on Twitter (@AimemeRights) or email (aimee@gaymingmag.com).
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