Notes from the cove
Development updates, patch notes and behind-the-scenes from Midknight Studio Labs.
Welcome wandering cats, make a home by the sea, and get to know their little ways. Grow something in the garden. Run a café with your cats. Or let it rain and stay awhile.
Take a look aroundActual moments from the Cove: a garden to tend, a café to run, and somewhere quiet when the day is done.
Cheer at the Festival, match familiar faces, grow a little garden, or spend time at the café. Follow whatever feels fun today.
Pick a cat and cheer them all the way down the track. Pure luck, glorious noise.
Rally against a visiting cove. Time your rallies and see which Cove takes the point.
Spin, cheer, and help five determined cats pull together.
Set your menu and let your cats take orders, cook and serve. Tap to speed things up, then improve your little café.
Turn over cards, remember familiar coats, and find matching pairs.
Plant a patch, water your crops, and harvest ingredients for the café while cats wander through your garden.
You begin with Midknight and a quiet patch of ground. Cats wander in needing food, water, comfort, and somewhere they can settle. Look after them and, little by little, the Cove starts to feel less like a game board and more like their home.
Every cat has its own personality and its own way of being a cat. Some are bold, some shy, some lazy, some impossible to ignore. You can send them exploring, watch them race or play at the Festival, or simply sit with them while the rain falls and nothing needs your attention.
Midknight is my cat, my everyday companion, and the very unofficial supervisor of Midknight Studio Labs. A lot of this game comes from watching him be himself: exploring, demanding attention, and falling asleep as if he has had a very long day.
I wanted to build somewhere cats could wander in, feel safe, and make themselves at home. That became Catmint Cove. Then came a garden, a café, and plenty of things I never expected to be making.
This is a personal passion project, built through experimentation with AI, design and game ideas. It is still growing, with help from the people who play it.
Sometimes there is something to do. Sometimes it is enough to just stay with the cats.
— Carlos Gotiong, Midknight Studio Labs

From familiar tabbies to the mythic Prism, every new face brings a little character. Meet a few of the coats waiting in the Catdex.
More tabby variants, extra colourpoints, and a longhair or two to fuss over.
A handful of one-of-a-kind cats with their own art, quirks and small stories.
Little collections — a fisher set, a garden set — each with a set-only cat as the reward.
Fill a coat all the way to four stars and it earns a permanent flourish.
Repeats are never wasted — trade them up toward the exact cat you want.
Golden already only shows up in autumn. A frost-point in winter and a sun-bleached ginger in summer are next — the cove keeps its own calendar.
Care for your cats, discover their personalities, and find something small to enjoy together. The garden, café, activities and quiet moments all belong to the same little world.
Welcome new faces into the Cove. Every cat arrives with a name, a look and a personality of their own.
Twenty-six coat types to discover — tuxedo, calico, siamese, a rare rainbow-coated Prism and more — with a gentle rarity chase.
One trip a day — the dock, the woods, a far island. They write home, and come back with finds and a story.
A fishing dock, a tiny bakery, a warm sunbeam and a patch of catmint. Give your cats places to spend their day, then see where they decide to go.
Collars, bandanas, scarves, tiny sun hats. Free to try, easy to swap, entirely up to you.
An accelerated cove clock — a full sunrise-to-night every 30 minutes, with the sound following along.
When the festival grounds open, the cats trade quiet afternoons for a little friendly chaos. Race down the track, rally through Cove Volleyball, test your timing in Tug of Paws, or try to keep Catmint Cafe running while the cats make their own plans.
Bring everyone inside, listen to real recorded rain against the window, watch the fire, set a sleep timer and simply stay awhile.
Frame the cove, add a caption, and save a still or a short clip to share.
Recorded meows and purrs, with enough variety that they never wear out.
A daily welcome, three little goals, and a streak — none of which ever punish you for a day off.
Step away whenever you need to. Your cats keep doing their thing, and there will be a few shells waiting when you come home.
Cats wander into the Cove at their own pace. Give them somewhere comfortable and they might decide to stick around.
Every cat has their own personality. Some want attention. Some want snacks. Some would prefer you admire them from a respectful distance.
Keep their bowls filled, give them cozy places to rest, and check in when they need you. There is no rush to do everything at once.
Add cozy corners, activities and comforts. Little by little, it stops feeling like a Cove you built and starts feeling like somewhere your cats live.
Flip the moon icon and the whole cove pads indoors. Rain streaks the window, a fire crackles, and a real field-recorded rain loop plays underneath.
First lines of the prototype — the core loop, the ten personality traits, and a single tuxedo cat named Midknight.
The early browser preview helped us test the first version of the Cove. Development now focuses on the mobile game.
Closed testing is complete. Thank you to everyone who played, reported bugs and helped improve the first few minutes, café, garden and mobile layouts.
Catmint Cove officially opens its doors to everyone on the Apple App Store and Google Play. A cozy little home for cats, now ready for Covekeepers everywhere!
The sanctuary, Catdex, activities, garden and café have grown into one little world.
Player feedback helped us refine the first five minutes, touch controls and mobile layouts.
Now available on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Catmint Cove is also available on Google Play; Huawei AppGallery is planned to follow.
More cats, decorations and little moments, shaped by how you play. Dates will follow when they are ready.
Available now for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. Catmint Cove is also available on Google Play. Huawei AppGallery is planned to follow.
Care for cats, decorate their sanctuary, grow ingredients and serve customers at Catmint Café.
Purchase options and local prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Download Catmint Cove on the App Store or Google Play.
Follow for updatesCatmint Cove is designed as a free-to-play game with optional in-app purchases and no pay-to-win. Purchase options and local prices are shown in the app before you buy.
Catmint Cove started as a web game. As it grew, we decided to focus entirely on mobile, so the web version is no longer available to play. Catmint Cove is now available for iPhone and iPad on the App Store. Catmint Cove is also available on Google Play. Huawei AppGallery is planned to follow. Download on the App Store.
Cats have needs. If they are neglected for too long, they can wander away, with warnings first. They remain in your Catdex so you can coax them back. There is no traditional game-over screen.
Grow and harvest ingredients in Cove Garden, then use them in Catmint Café. Choose your menu and improve the café. Your cats take orders, prepare food and drinks, and serve automatically; tapping helps speed them up.
Use the in-game Back up / restore option to keep a copy of your Cove. Keep that backup somewhere safe before changing devices or reinstalling.
A quiet cabin where your cats settle in while rain falls outside and the fire glows. Listen to the rain and use the sleep timer when you want to wind down.
Carlos Gotiong creates Catmint Cove under Midknight Studio Labs, inspired by his real cat, Midknight, and supported by family and friends along the way. It is a personal passion project, built through experimentation with AI, design and game ideas, with plenty of learning as it grows.
Share the Cove with a friend, send feedback, or buy us a coffee on Ko-fi to support development. Contributions are optional and do not unlock in-game items.
Catmint Cove started with Midknight. Maybe your Cove starts with the first cat that decides to stay.
Catmint Cove exists because one real cat, Midknight, made my world better. If this little game grows, I want some of that good to find its way back to cats who need it.
Our pledgeWe're committing a portion of Catmint Cove revenue to support cat and animal welfare — including rescue, shelter care, spay and neuter programs, adoption, and humane education.
We're currently exploring support for The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS), a registered Philippine non-profit working to protect animals and promote humane treatment. As the Cove grows, we hope CCC can grow with it.
Play with cats. Care for cats. Help real cats too.
Catmint Cove Cares is a Midknight Studio Labs giving pledge. PAWS is not currently represented as an official partner or sponsor of Catmint Cove. We'll share giving updates transparently as the program develops.
Share your cats, show us your Cove, send ideas, report the weird things Midknight somehow missed, or just hang around with other cat people.
Share your Cove, show us your cats, report bugs, suggest wonderfully unnecessary cat things, and help shape what Catmint Cove becomes.
Facebook GroupCat photos, Cove screenshots, feedback, tips, and the kind of conversations only cat people completely understand.
YouTubeDevlogs and behind-the-scenes from Midknight Studio Labs.
If you would like to help us keep working on Catmint Cove, you can buy us a coffee. Sharing the game or telling us what could be better helps, too.
Optional support through Ko-fi for Midknight Studio Labs. This supports development; it is separate from the Cove Cares giving pledge and in-app purchases.
Send us a message here, or join the conversation on Reddit and in the Catmint Cove Facebook group.
Prefer email? hello@midknightstudiolabs.com
Development updates, patch notes and behind-the-scenes from Midknight Studio Labs.