Hello, players! This is Baobao Ding STUDIO.
During the October Steam New Game Festival, Cat Carried Butterfly made its first official appearance, and nearly 5,000 players participated in the demo. We are thrilled and deeply grateful for all your attention and support!
After the demo went live, we spent a lot of time reading comments, watching streams, and compiling surveys. We were delighted to see your recognition of the old Shanghai atmosphere we aimed to create, and we truly value every detail you suggested could be improved—every “puzzle is too hard” complaint or “I didn’t quite understand the story” confusion was carefully noted. We even created an “optimization to-do list” and posted it on our monitor.
After carefully reviewing and digesting all your feedback, we have set a clear direction for the next round of optimizations for Cat Carried Butterfly. Today, we’d like to share our plans:
Stronger Guidance, No More Stuck Moments
Many players mentioned that some puzzles were slightly complex and that hints were not intuitive enough, which could affect smooth story progression. Moving forward, while preserving the suspenseful atmosphere, we will comprehensively enhance the in-game guidance system: extending tutorial hint display times, optimizing interactive areas, and redesigning the clue notebook system.
We found that the original right-to-left text layout, although consistent with the period setting, differs from most players’ reading habits and increases the cognitive load. In future updates, the clue notebook will switch to a left-to-right layout and provide clearer story summaries, helping players more quickly immerse themselves in Lv Ping’s story.
Of course, hardcore puzzle fans can rest assured. The optimization focuses on reducing unnecessary frustration from being stuck rather than simplifying the puzzle design itself. We aim to strike a balance between maintaining the suspense and providing clear guidance.
Smoother Controls, More Intuitive Interactions
We also noticed that some mini-games and interactive operations were not yet smooth enough and lacked satisfying feedback.
The next update will first improve operational smoothness, simplifying certain “cumbersome” interactions. For example, the music box shaking action may be changed to a long press to reduce unnecessary effort. Dialogue bubbles will also have updated display logic to prevent accidental skipping or missed lines.
Some players mentioned that the protagonist’s movement speed feels slow, making clue-hunting a bit tedious. We will appropriately increase the character’s running speed, allowing players to focus more on puzzles and story experience.
We will also add more basic settings options, such as brightness adjustment and windowed/fullscreen mode switching, so everyone can freely choose the mode that suits them best.
First Developer Cameo FAQ Video (Special Guests: Cats, Cats, and more Cats 🐱)
Beyond sharing our optimization plans, we want to communicate more about the ideas and stories behind the game. That’s why we recorded a short developer video.
In the video, we mainly address several frequently discussed questions from the demo: for example, is the Shanghainese voiceover a bit “pidgin”? Is the story too “riddling”? We also share some of our creative thoughts.
—And, of course, there are plenty of cat shots 🐱.
If you’re curious about the behind-the-scenes of Cat Carried Butterfly (or just want to see some cats), you’re welcome to watch:
This demo is only the beginning of our journey. The current version still has many shortcomings, but we will continue refining the game based on your feedback, aiming to deliver a richer and more immersive experience.
Thank you to every player who spent time with us—you’ve made this story about dreams and the old city truly heard.
If you’re interested in Cat Carried Butterfly and want to follow future updates and development progress, join our player group (830807333) to chat, give suggestions, and enjoy some cat content~ And if you’d like to add Cat Carried Butterfly to your wishlist, that would be the best encouragement for us!
Sincerely,
Baobao Ding STUDIO