Here kitty kitty kitty...

October 19, 2007 2:11 PM

Chat NoirA little Friday Flash fun to polish off the week - couldn't be easier: the cat will try to escape off the board. Block it by clicking on circles -it can't cross the dark ones. (via del.icio.us)
posted by nanojath (67 comments total)

FUCKING IMAGINARY CAT IS SMARTER THAN ME!!
posted by jonson at 2:14 PM on October 19, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

Nice. Challenging.
posted by bullitt 5 at 2:17 PM on October 19, 2007

Aha! I win!! IN YOUR FACE, IMAGINARY CAT!!!!
posted by jonson at 2:18 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

If you "beat it" the end game is a little underwhelming, or else I'm missing something. After you box it in it just keeps hopping around, until you darken every circle but the one it's on and then... the board fades just like when the cat escapes off the side. Sorry if that, um, spoils it for anyone. Maybe there's an even more difficult object that's escaping me?
posted by nanojath at 2:18 PM on October 19, 2007

Sigh. Imaginary Cat: 15, jonson:1. Vous êtes l'homme supérieure, monsieur chat.
posted by jonson at 2:22 PM on October 19, 2007

I hate this cat so much.
posted by middleclasstool at 2:23 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I got it once... damn cats. Probably pooped on one of the circles too.
posted by GuyZero at 2:24 PM on October 19, 2007

Oooh... twice. My guess is that you can't win every single inital configuration. Like computer solitaire, the best way to win is just to learn to identify unwinnable games and give up on them early.
posted by GuyZero at 2:27 PM on October 19, 2007

Mis-click and that's all the opportunity he needs. One false move and cat wins, just like real life.
posted by pointystick at 2:29 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

you can't win every one -- you can win 2/3rds or 4/5ths

hint, the cat will always choose the shortest path to the exit.
posted by empath at 2:31 PM on October 19, 2007

Three times. In your face jonson!
posted by GuyZero at 2:33 PM on October 19, 2007

Fucking hate this game!!!





Thanks for posting
posted by nola at 2:38 PM on October 19, 2007

Set the kittie free!
posted by Artw at 2:39 PM on October 19, 2007

It's very satisfying once you finally box him in, thanks for the distraction.
posted by Peter H at 2:41 PM on October 19, 2007

I totally rock at this.

Hint: If you don't click anything, the cat just sits there. PWND!
posted by BeerFilter at 2:42 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

That's it. He's getting declawed. That'll get him to stay indoors.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:46 PM on October 19, 2007

there are placement of certain patterns that increase your chance of winning by a fair bit, you can lead the cat on into small dead ends, after playing 10 mins I was getting about a 50/50 win loss ratio
posted by edgeways at 2:51 PM on October 19, 2007

This is the most realistic game I have ever played.
posted by dhartung at 2:52 PM on October 19, 2007 [6 favorites has favorites]

DON'T WIN THREE TIMES IN A ROW! You should SEE the size of the litter tray you have to clean out to get to the next level...
posted by twsf at 2:53 PM on October 19, 2007

This game is awfully grim. Keep closing off avenues, slowly whittling down your open opportunities until you're trapped right where you are.
posted by Nelson at 3:01 PM on October 19, 2007

The only way to win is not to play.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:01 PM on October 19, 2007

The winning strategy is to never get into close combat; start a spaced outline of your barrier well away from the position of the cat. Works almost every time.
posted by jouke at 3:08 PM on October 19, 2007

It's so purty
posted by booknerd at 3:12 PM on October 19, 2007

Very nice.
posted by paladin at 3:14 PM on October 19, 2007

HURF DURF CAT-HERDER

goddamn cat. someone better program a laser pointer and a can of tuna into that game!
posted by loquacious at 3:23 PM on October 19, 2007

I totally can't has cheezburger.
posted by ORthey at 3:31 PM on October 19, 2007

This is delightful!
posted by Pope Guilty at 3:39 PM on October 19, 2007

I eventually beat it, but I, too, was underwhelmed by the endgame. I sort of expected it to scratch at the darkened circles, meowing repeatedly, until I got angry and let it out.
posted by cacophony at 3:40 PM on October 19, 2007

fucking cat. DIAF.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 3:44 PM on October 19, 2007

Flash kitty was watching me masturbate.
posted by Astro Zombie at 3:44 PM on October 19, 2007

This reminds me of Y
posted by aubilenon at 3:46 PM on October 19, 2007

I won on my first attempt, in just a few clicks.

Underwhelmed.

After that it beat me over and over again.

I hate cats.
posted by bwg at 3:47 PM on October 19, 2007

Then I trapped in a big circle and had the pleasure of making it hop back and forth.

DANCE, BASTARD, DANCE!
posted by bwg at 3:59 PM on October 19, 2007

Tonight, I am going to go home. I am going to take my black cat and imprison him underneath an upturned laundry basket.

I'm then going to scream at him "Yeah, your not so clever now escapy kitty, are you?!"

Based on past experiences of doing this, he will ignore me and fall asleep.
posted by quin at 4:07 PM on October 19, 2007 [4 favorites has favorites]

Varies wildly between simplistic and infuriating. Can't... stop... playing...
posted by boo_radley at 4:15 PM on October 19, 2007

The secret to winning:

Click repeatedly, with increasing frustration, until you win by chance. Close the window, never play it again, and dismissively tell everybody else that you mastered it and it bores you now.
posted by ardgedee at 4:43 PM on October 19, 2007

C L
I C
K T
H E
B O
R D
E R
S :)
posted by Mblue at 4:57 PM on October 19, 2007

im not on ur twister board laffin at u
posted by Joey Michaels at 5:03 PM on October 19, 2007

Grrr. The win animation better involve the cat a blender.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:12 PM on October 19, 2007

the cat a blender.

Cat and a blender.... so ... angry...
posted by eyeballkid at 5:13 PM on October 19, 2007

BOOYA

TAKE THAT YOU FLEABITTEN MOGGY
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 5:14 PM on October 19, 2007

C L
I C
K T
H E
B O
R D
E R
S :)

That worked! Thanks! But what a boring ending. Someone code an explosion or something. Of the cat's head, of course.
posted by gummi at 5:26 PM on October 19, 2007

hint, the cat will always choose the shortest path to the exit.

Ummm... this is not unique by any means. The starting position is six steps from escaping in every direction.
posted by number9dream at 5:34 PM on October 19, 2007

Speaking as a cat-hater, I love this. =)
posted by ZachsMind at 6:28 PM on October 19, 2007

This is related to the classic 'angel problem'
posted by jepler at 7:06 PM on October 19, 2007

Hey, these are the same guys who did the original Dice Wars. They rule.
posted by the dief at 7:11 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

I am a small and petty man. (img)
posted by boo_radley at 7:33 PM on October 19, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

the dief

Nice game, but it should be called Virus.
posted by Mblue at 7:41 PM on October 19, 2007

Cockroach Dream.
posted by bwg at 9:09 PM on October 19, 2007

It feels a lot like Go, but sometimes it seems to set you up in an unwinnable position. If it's never unwinnable, I'd hate for it to be a cat to tell me otherwise.
posted by Quonab at 9:23 PM on October 19, 2007

It's very satisfying once you finally box him in, thanks for the distraction.

I dunno, after I got my perimeter set up and began to fill in the space, the cat's increasingly frantic yet futile leaps from dot to dot made me feel a little sad.

Then again, maybe I'd feel differently if I hadn't WON ON MY SECOND TRY, LUZERS!1!!
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 9:57 PM on October 19, 2007

Third time, second win! Do I get bonus points if I manage to box in the cat twice in the same session?

Please, you people don't know what my life is like. I'm sorry, but I need this.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:00 PM on October 19, 2007

Once I got him, I spent about a minute taking away his little green spots until he was just hopping about with just a few left, praying that I wouldn't take away any more of his now precious freedom. I took it. Where once he was a proud, arrogant cat, prancing around, falsely secure in his knowledge that I would never catch him. Now he is merely the quivering broken shell of the cat that once was... And finally, I can go to sleep a happy man.
posted by KingoftheWhales at 10:47 PM on October 19, 2007

I think I figured it out. I'm winning almost every game now. It took awhile but i realized if I look at the circles in boxes of four and pick one a bit ahead of him, it makes it easier to box him in.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:09 AM on October 20, 2007

Finally I've got the little git. I will not play that again!
Thanks, that was infuriating.
posted by 999 at 3:54 AM on October 20, 2007

What is the smallest (fewest) number of circles you can trap him in?

Fewest dark circles to begin with and still trap him?

Least number of clicks to trap him?

Yes. I spent way too much time on this last night.
posted by notreally at 9:16 AM on October 20, 2007

It's infuriating as hell even after having played it enough to get the knack of it, but boy is it addictive.
posted by electricinca at 9:20 AM on October 20, 2007

i beat it with four circles filled to start.

it's good to create funnels that the cat spends moves following, until you close them off at the last second. then the cat has to spend more moves backing up, and by that time you've got yr catbox.
posted by eustatic at 9:26 AM on October 20, 2007

stay back until you get one step ahead

then use the advantage to turn corners
posted by eustatic at 9:32 AM on October 20, 2007

It made a lot more sense when I finished reading the original post and stopped clicking on buttons that wouldn't block the cat's escape.
posted by mygothlaundry at 9:48 AM on October 20, 2007

That cat is a cunt.
posted by slimepuppy at 11:21 AM on October 20, 2007

hmmm. I have the basic knack of it, I think, but still can't get every one. I'm batting around 80% if you don't count the ones where I made a misclick. I've done it with 5 to start. Not sure if I've been able to get one with 4.
posted by juv3nal at 3:19 PM on October 20, 2007

Ah ha! The secrets are to click way ahead of it, and leave one block gaps for it to run towards, only to close them off right when it gets there. That is, click every other dot, then block them in as needed.
posted by Laen at 2:21 AM on October 21, 2007

What Laen said. Figure out where it wants to go, what it's shortest route is, block around that, but let it think there's still an escape route and while it's heading somewhere you know you can block off in one click, use that time to build the walls around it.
posted by ZachsMind at 2:15 PM on October 21, 2007

This game reminds me of the game hex, and you can use a similar strategy of building a "bridge." You set your dots one apart from each other diagonally (if that makes any sense) so that when the cat gets to the gap you still have a chance to block it off. Once you start to see the board in terms of diagonals the game gets easier, although sometimes I still mess up and the cat gets out.

I think it is possible to beat every initial configuration but I'm not sure.
posted by mai at 9:32 PM on October 21, 2007

He beat me once, so I chopped his balls off. He can win again, but will not sire a race of fellow cat winners.

Humans 1 - Cats - 0
posted by triv at 7:49 AM on October 22, 2007

Won on my third try - yay me!
posted by deborah at 11:26 PM on October 22, 2007