It’s Cat Day, and naturally there’s a new Nine Noir Lives gameplay trailer to check out

Believe it or not, Stray‘s release date of July 19 didn’t make that day Cat Day. No, International Cat Day, recognized officially on August 8, is today. What better time for developer Silvernode Games to release a new gameplay trailer for Nine Noir Lives? The point-and-click adventure game stars a furry feline detective in a murder case that puts him in the sights of two crime families.

Cats are famously curious, so it makes sense to dress one up in a trench coat. I think? Anyway. Nine Noir Lives is a game inspired by the greats of the ’90s. But with a twist. As a cat, much of your feline intuition comes not just from asking questions, but by using your tongue to lick anything — and anyone.

The Nine Noir Lives gameplay trailer shows off some of this furious licking in action. From bowls of snacks to sentient milk cartons, you can pretty much lick anything in sight. The feline detective, Cuddles Nutterbutter, doesn’t seem to have much shame in the action. But then again, I’m not sure if cats have much shame to speak of. 

The tongue of justice

Licking things does likely suit a purpose, even if it’s mostly for great comedic value. Created by a two-person team, Silvernode promises a more jovial story in the normally more serious film noir genre. Its narrative is brought to life with full voice casting, starring actors like Carol-Anne Day and SungWon Cho.

“While we’ve drawn on film noir for the story’s inspiration, we’re leaning much more towards the comedy side of ‘comedy-noir,'” Silvernode explains in the Steam page. “Expect some serious topics, addressed seriously – but we don’t want to burden the whole game down under the weight of unrelenting grittiness. We feel that there’s enough of that in the world already.”

The story is explored through the eyes of Cuddles, but he’s not alone. Together with his assistant, Tabby Marshmallow, you navigate the city of Meow Meow Furrington. There, you speak with characters, ask questions, and solve puzzles the team says are “both fun and fiendish – but never unfair.”

Check out the trailer for Nine Noir Lives above. If it looks interesting, you can try the game today with a demo over on Steam. The game launches for PC on September 7.