Back Soon

Everyone in the city left in a hurry. The doors are propped open, the tea is still warm, and a chalked sign on a flower stall says BACK SOON. Scratch, a black cat with a notched ear, wakes on a windowsill and goes to find his people. Walk five districts, from a bookshop quarter to the grand station, each a short run through rooms that are new every time. Claw open crates, scratch posts and sniff out the notes people left: a shopping list, a closing sign, a child's drawing of a very brave cat. Read them all and the city tells you where everyone went. The animals have moved in. Pigeons, dogs, rat swarms and tomcats spot you if you wander too close, and then you have eight seconds: hide in the furniture, yowl them away (it tires you, and wakes whatever it did not scare off), or run until they lose you. Befriend the strays who wait in each district and they walk at your heels: Pip makes your yowl carry, Dot sniffs out the rooms with notes, Rumble calms the tomcats. At the end of each district is its Anchor, the one place someone left something for Scratch. Walk every room inside a minute and a half for a pace bonus, slip past animals unseen for a growing streak, and chase your best on every district. - Five districts, nineteen notes, an epilogue - Scratch Dash: the same districts against the clock, with faster animals and endless stamina - The Daily Scent Trail: one walk a day, the same for everyone, with a twist of the day - Three strays to befriend, nine achievements, a leaderboard - Plays with keyboard, touch or gamepad