I am not what one would call a gamer. Or at least I don’t think so. I play video games from time to time, but they’re not the kinds of games that the gamer gatekeepers would call “real games.” More than anything, I enjoy a nice session of The Sims 4. Sometimes I hop on to Animal Crossing to dig up a few fossils, buy a new outfit, and do a little fishing. And yes, I love a good dating sim game. So when I, a cat lover, heard that there was a dating sim called Purrfect Date where you got to go on dates with cats? Yeah, I had to check it out.

I don’t know what you think when you hear “cat dating sim,” but I certainly had some ideas about how this was going to go. And well… I was wrong.

So here’s the set up for this game. You are a scientist heading to an island. An island full of cats. Your job is to study the cats and report back to your boss about your findings. But soon after you get to the island, you begin to suspect that nothing is quite as it seems, and you are starting to exhibit symptoms of… transforming into a cat. One of the early signs of your cat transformation? You can understand other cats.

That’s when you meet the gang: Floofybutt, Snooty Booty, Kibbles, Trixie, and McMurphy. They need your help. They want you to help them investigate the secrets of the island and develop a serum that will reverse the whole turning-into-a-cat thing. You can either decide to help them or not. If you choose to help them, you’ve got three different times of gameplay from there: recon, research, and, of course, romance.

As you romance your kitty, explore the island, and do your research, you will get closer and closer to developing that serum and discovering all of the secrets of the island. And you’ll unlock other parts of the game as you go, such as secret scenes and even more kitties. Because who doesn’t want more kitties?

I don’t want to spoil anything about the story, but I will go ahead and let you know a few things about the game that I discovered as I went. Things that I wasn’t expecting that might help you set your expectations as you dive into this game yourself (should you choose to).

First of all, obviously this isn’t a straight up dating sim. You’re dating cats, so right off the bat you know this game isn’t taking itself seriously. It’s supposed to be funny and absurd. But even beyond that, this is more of a mystery game than it is a straight up romance game. The dating is fun and all, but the real mission is figuring out how to make the serum and uncover the mysteries of the island. This seems to be another visual novel game trope that I really enjoy: the mystery island game. I’ve found a few of these games out there. They’re sort of Lost-esque stories where you find yourself trapped on an island where strange magic and/or supernatural things are occurring, and you have to figure out what’s going on. This is all a big plus for me.

Second of all, you’re not going to get to the serum on the first try. And you’re not meant to. With your first character, the goal is to really just get as far into the research and recon as you can, all while romancing the cat of your choice. At the end of that chapter, something will happen to your character. You might fall in love with a kitty or you might end up single and alone, but either way, you’re not getting off that island, and you’re definitely turning into a cat.

In the next chapter, you will play a new character. You’ll find all the research that your previous character left behind, and then you’ll pick up where they left off. You’ll get to romance a new kitty and unlock even more story points. Then you’ll turn into a cat and something will happen to you. Then another character will pick up where you left off. And so on and so forth for six chapters. You get six chances to get the serum to 100%.

Third? It’s not easy getting that serum to 100%. In fact, I’ve played through the game once (all six characters) and I didn’t get there. So now I’ve restarted the game and I’m trying again. You do have to make all the right decisions and make sure each character gets far enough in the research and recon to make sure you can make it to 100% by the end.

But since I’ve played through before, now there are some fun secret scenes unlocked for this next go through. Like a really cute Sherlock Holmes cat subplot.

In other words, this is a game you’re encouraged to play through multiple times, which is fun on one hand but frustrating on the other hand. This is one of the games where from the start, you’re told how many different endings and scenes there are to unlock. And because I am the person I am, I know I’m going to have to keep playing through until I hit all of them. Which would be fine if it were easier to skip through some of the stuff I’ve played through already, but there’s really no easy way to to do this. You just kind of have to wait for everything to play out all over again and then make different decisions.

Overall, however, Purrfect Date is a fun game that is entertaining, cute, and funny. I’ve enjoyed getting to know all the little cat characters and unlocking the story of the island. Plus, it’s really fun to see all the raised eyebrows when you tell someone you’re playing a video game where you date cats.

Purrfect Date is a game I’d recommend for people who enjoy irreverent dating sims like Dream Daddy but wondered to themselves, “What if this funny dating sim was more sci-fi and had cats?” Well, friends, that game is here. And you can play it on your phone or on your Mac/PC computer. Meow.