The 18th Attic is a psychological horror game that’s inspired by Fatal Frame, as you take pictures with a Polaroid camera to hunt ghosts. But one unique feature is how you calm down after supernatural encounters–by petting your feline companion in the game.
On X, Steelkrill Studio shared a video of the inspiration for the in-game kitty. The short clip shows players encountering the cat in The 18th Attic, with a picture-in-picture video of the developer’s own cat getting some friendly rubs in real life. Steelkrill added that the in-game feline can be customized.
After almost 1 year of solo development, my horror game launches next month 👻
You hunt ghosts with a Polaroid camera and Instead of sanity pills… you pet your cat to heal 🐈
Bonus cat actor behind the scenes inside 👇 pic.twitter.com/iuBjmooAKV— Steelkrill 🔪🦐 | Horror Game Dev (@steelkrill) January 7, 2026
Along with keeping you sane in The 18th Attic, the cat companion will alert you of dangers, too. The first-person horror game sees players trying to break out of a nightmarish loop by discovering anomalies and evading hostile spirits.
The 18th Attic is set to release February 2 on PC. Steelkrill is a solo developer based in Europe, releasing previous horror titles like The Voidness and The Backrooms 1998.
As for kitty cats, Skin Deep might be 2025’s best cat game, even though protagonist Nina Pasadena isn’t a feline. GameSpot has also previously rounded up the best video game cats of all time. The list includes old-timers like Blinx as well as newcomers like the kitty from Stray.
