Hi, this is Michael — the founder of Hidden Cat Games. I started this studio because, well, I can’t stop making games.
I’ve been making up games since I was a kid, whether it was card games, video games, or just plain old make-believe. And most frequently, I’d make these games with my little brother: Holden. Together we spent our childhoods scribbling away in notebooks to design games that would entertain us and our family.
Holden made plenty of games on his own too. One of his best games, in my opinion, was a little game he’d play with our family. He would make this drawing of a cute, simple cat, and he’d hide those drawings everywhere. We'd find cats inside our notebooks, inside cupboards, underneath desks — you name it. If it was something we took for granted in our daily lives, there’s a good chance a cat was hiding in plain sight.
It was this clever idea that taught me an important principle about game design: you can make anything interesting, even ordinary things, with just a little sense of discovery.
Now I opened this story talking about how I like to make games, but all I’ve done is tell you about my brother’s games. And there’s a reason for that. You see, I wanted to first focus on my brother's games because my brother can’t make games anymore.
Holden got married, went to law school, had two kids, and one day, he suddenly died in a car accident at the age of 26.
His loss devasted me. I couldn’t even begin to process life without my little brother. He was gone, he was my everything, and I knew I’d never see him again.
But I had to press on. I had to keep going. So I resolved to keep creating, to keep making games, in honor of what he taught me.
Around a year or so after losing Holden, our mother sent a group text to our family. It was an image of something she found in the garage, underneath a removable shelf: a hidden drawing of a tiny cat.
Holden was gone, but his work remained. We’re still finding his hidden cats.
Since losing Holden, I’ve made it my mission to keep making games that carry on what he inspired in me.
My brother showed me that everything in life is better with a dash of discovery. That process of uncovering what we never realized was always there — that's the experience I want to instill in players. That’s why Hidden Cat Games exists.
Holden can’t make games anymore, but I still can. That’s why I can’t stop making them, and never will.