News
The Missing Tail is a two-player co-op adventure where both players are cats, it is on Steam, and its release date is still listed as to be announced. It broke out on Google Trends this week as the strongest rising co-op query in the United States that was not an established franchise — which for a game with no release date and no price is worth examining.
What it is
The Missing Tail comes from Estoty LLC, developing and self-publishing. Two cats — one a royal palace cat whose comfortable life has collapsed, one a stray defending its food from forest creatures — end up on the same journey home through a medieval courtyard and castle. It is split-screen third person, with co-op puzzles, platforming, quests for other animals and townsfolk to talk to.
Why a cat co-op game broke out with no release date
The interesting question is not whether this looks charming. It is why this specific game caught, when a dozen cozy co-op titles a month do not.
The answer is the setup cost. The store page lists shared and split-screen co-op alongside online co-op, and coverage of the reveal led with the fact that two people can play it from a single copy. That is a smaller detail than it sounds and a bigger one than it looks: the reason most co-op recommendations die is not that the game is bad, it is that the friend has to go buy it first. Every step between “you should play this” and “we are playing this” loses people.
Games that collapse that gap travel further than their production values justify. It is the same mechanic behind the site’s most-read co-op piece, the best co-op games for two people — the games that get recommended are the ones you can start tonight. A cat, a couch and one purchase is about as low as that barrier goes.
The second cat is doing narrative work
Worth noting because it is unusual in the genre: the two characters are not mechanically differentiated so much as biographically differentiated. A palace cat and a stray notice different things about the same castle. That is a cheaper way to justify two players than building two ability sets, and in a puzzle game it tends to produce better conversation between the people holding the controllers — which is the actual point of co-op.
What is still unknown
- Release date. Listed as to be announced. Not a window, not a quarter.
- Price. Nothing published.
- Length. No figure given, and cozy co-op adventures vary from two hours to fifteen.
- Whether online co-op also works on one copy. Split-screen inherently does. The one-copy framing came from reveal coverage rather than from a Valve feature listing, so treat the online case as unconfirmed until the store page says so directly.
Windows is the only platform listed. Full controller support and eleven languages are confirmed.
Frequently asked questions
When does The Missing Tail come out?
No date has been announced. The Steam store page lists the release date as to be announced.
Is The Missing Tail split screen?
Yes. The Steam page lists shared and split-screen co-op, alongside online co-op.
Can two people play The Missing Tail on one copy?
Local split-screen play works from a single copy. Whether online co-op also works from one copy has not been confirmed on the store page.
Is The Missing Tail single player?
It is built as a two-player co-op adventure. The Steam page lists only multiplayer and co-op categories.
Who is making The Missing Tail?
Estoty LLC, which is both developing and publishing it.
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