Viability: The game is playable from start to end, with multiple choices that determine the outcome of the story. The structure is slightly linear, but it is good that there are at least a couple of chances to make the “right” choice. The timed events are a fun idea (very thematically consistent), but may need a bit more of visual feedback or indication for players to grasp. What I like the most about it all, mechanically, is that there is a clear way to learn how to behave in this game, so if you did not choose the right path first, you get another chance.
Presentation: Clean layout,enticing writing, beautiful art, and affecting music. Overall the presentation is strong in this game and could only be improved with further iteration with what’s already here: more background and scene rendering, further variety of music, further exploration of typographic treatment, etc. If all players want from you is more of what you have done, you have done well :)
Theme: the moral argument in favor of trusting others and making friendships is very clear. The boy scenario is key here because it is the most ambiguous. I think it would be interesting to get to see/read about another of the cats near the butcher, so that we can see “the other side of the argument” (distrust, aggressions). Even if the point is to reward those who play the cat as trusting, sometimes showing a different perspective makes the stakes stronger and the story more believable.
Engagement: Getting rewarded with multiple endings encourages repeated play. The only thing I would do to this game, other than expand on what’s working, is add a bit more stakes, a more complex set of moral choices. In all, however, this is a great implementation of what we have learned in class and then some. A moving winter-time story!