The player takes control of Cali, a lackadaisical calico cat, to navigate through a dangerous world filled with deadly obstacles, tricky terrain, and various enemies. But in the face of some seemingly impossible challenges, Cali can use the power of her magical bell to die and come back to life, leaving her previous body on the level. Nine Lives combines classic platforming mechanics with innovative puzzle elements that require the player to creatively use death as a mechanic, whether it be by leveraging Cali’s corpses to activate switches, create new platforms, or distract enemies. And at the most dire of moments, Cali has another trick in her bell; she can transfer her spirit to reanimate a previous body, which unlocks a new array of strategies that the player can use to navigate and manipulate each level to forge their own unique path on the long journey home. But be careful: there’s no coming back after nine lives.
Basic Controls:
| Movement | Key |
|---|---|
| Move Left | ← |
| Move Right | → |
| Jump | C |
| Dash | ↑,↓,←,→ + X |
| Attach to Wall | Z |
| Climb | ↑ and ↓ |
| Switch Body | ⇧ (SHIFT) |
| Cancel Switch | SPACE |
| Meow | M |
The objective of this game is to solve and reach the end of each level within nine lives. Each level is composed of a deadly combination of platforming and puzzling challenges that test the player’s mechanical abilities to control Cali adeptly along with requiring the player to imaginatively solve each puzzle with clever use of the level’s obstacles and Cali’s dead corpses.