Press kit
Everything you need to write about HouseCat. Use these freely in coverage, videos and reviews. For anything else, email hello@housecatgame.com.
Fact sheet
| Name | HouseCat |
|---|---|
| Made by | Josh Haines, an independent developer in London |
| Platforms | iPhone and iPad (iOS and iPadOS 26), with Apple Watch (watchOS 26) |
| Price | Free, with optional in-app purchases and the optional Cat Club subscription. No ads. |
| Genre | Virtual pet, cosy simulation |
| Age rating | 4+ |
| Released | 9 November 2026 |
| App Store | Download on the App Store |
| Website | housecatgame.com |
In one line
Your own cat, and a home that grows from a run-down terrace to London.
Short description
HouseCat is a painterly cat game for iPhone and iPad. Build your cat, give it a home, and visit every day, working your way up from a run-down terrace in Puddlebury to a mansion flat in London. Your cat runs to meet you, brings you gifts, and waits for you in a Home Screen widget.
Long description
HouseCat starts with a run-down terrace in the made-up town of Puddlebury and a cat who needs a home. From there it climbs a ladder of eight homes round the world: a houseboat in Amsterdam, a cabin outside Vancouver, a cottage in Queenstown, a new-build in Tokyo, a rooftop in Santorini, a townhouse in New York and a mansion flat in London, each bigger than the last and painted into its own street. Tap the door and your cat notices you, runs over and rubs along the screen, then gets on with its day. A nap in the sun, a loaf on the sofa, zoomies at dusk.
Players build their cat in a full cat builder (six body types, any coat, pattern, markings and eye colour) and choose its personality: aloof, velcro, gremlin or loaf. They furnish each home room by room, solve the daily crossword and sudoku, play chess against cats, collect gifts, climb a four-week season pass and keep a daily streak.
The cat also lives in a Home Screen widget, on the Lock Screen and on Apple Watch. HouseCat has no ads, no account and nothing random for sale. A missed day means a sulk, never a loss.
Key features
- Eight homes up a ladder from Puddlebury to London, each with its own town’s weather, local time and seasons
- A cat builder with six body types and any coat, and four personalities that change how the cat behaves
- Six rooms to furnish, a new one with each home, from the living room to the attic
- A living cat: it greets you, uses its furniture, wanders, naps and brings you gifts
- Widgets, Lock Screen, StandBy, a Live Activity nap timer, Apple Watch, Siri and Shortcuts
Logos and icon
Please don’t recolour, stretch or redraw the logo or the cat. The cat’s name is Midnight.
Screenshots
Full-resolution App Store screenshots for iPhone and iPad are in the zip.