Skin Deep Is 2025’s Best Cat Game

My favorite moment in Skin Deep, an immersive sim and stealth game about rescuing cats and fighting your evil clone in deep space, was always the one immediately after a thoroughly developed plan inevitably went sideways. The skittish way that I was forced to sprint and crawl under a table or into a vent. The manner in which my strategy devolved into simply batting things off of shelves in order to incapacitate a roaming guard or noisily distract them from looking in my direction. The way that I leapt onto a guard’s back, dug my claws in, and careened them into surfaces in order to knock them out. If you were to close your eyes, I’d argue you could almost hear that distinctive, feline yowl mid-action.In short, I think Skin Deep best captures the experience of being a cat, even if Nina Pasadena, the game’s protagonist, is decidedly not one. And for this tremendous feat, I am rewarding it with the honor of being the best cat game of 2025. Long live Skin Deep.In a typical Skin Deep missio