Catio Quest — build their dream catio
Meet a household of cats, build them a catio with real parts, then let them explore. They’ll show you what works and what doesn’t — and every lesson is one you can use on a real catio.
Free. No account, no ads, nothing to buy. Works on a phone, tablet or computer.
How a round works
- Meet the household. Each cat has a personality and needs; the family has a budget, a site and a climate.
- Build. Tap or drag pieces onto the plan: the catio’s shape and size, mesh, roof, floor, doors, shelves, ramps, bridges, beds, hideaways, water, litter and plants. All of them are real catalog parts.
- Let them explore. Watch an afternoon play out in 3D. Cats climb as high as they can actually jump, look for what they need, squabble over the best perch, test every gap — and react to a passing bird, a hot sun or a rain shower.
- Read the inspection and scores, then revise. Each score says what cost points and how to improve.
- Share a result card or continue your layout in the OpenCatio3D planner.
Seven scenarios and a daily challenge
- Window Catio Under $500 — One curious cat, one kitchen window, a tight budget.
- Peaceful Space for Three Cats — A bossy cat, a shy cat and a climber — keep the peace.
- Senior Cat Accessibility — A 16-year-old who can’t jump like she used to.
- Rainy-Climate Retreat — A shower every afternoon. Keep everyone dry.
- Escape-Risk Repair Challenge — A flawed catio and an escape artist. Find the gaps and fix them.
- Cat-Safe Planted Catio — A plant-chewing cat and a gift of lilies.
- Shelter Makeover — Four shelter cats, two kittens, donated wire and a small grant.
The Daily Challenge is a new household every day, the same for everyone playing. Scenarios open up as you pass the ones before them, and badges are earned by playing — progress stays in your browser.
The cats
- Explorer — climbs everything and tests every gap.
- Shy one — needs a hiding place.
- Lounger — a senior who wants gentle steps.
- Boss — claims the best perch.
- Kitten — plays with everything, fits through anything.
- Plant nibbler — tastes every leaf.
Game layouts are concepts, not build plans
Catio Quest uses the same parts, materials list and safety checks as the planner, so “Continue in OpenCatio3D” opens your layout there as a real project. It opens as a concept: before anything is built, measure your own site and confirm the dimensions in the planner. A good game score teaches good practice; it doesn’t certify a design, and the cats’ behaviour in the game is a simplification of real cats.
Made for families
No chat, no public profiles, no leaderboards and no purchases. Result cards are made on your device and only shared if you choose to share them.
Seven scores that teach real catio design
| Safety | The planner’s own safety checks, plus anything the cats actually got through: mesh gaps, unlatched doors, door dashes, toxic plants |
|---|---|
| Happiness | How well each cat’s needs were met over the afternoon — rest, lookout, hiding, play, scratching, water — and whether every cat could reach every spot |
| Social flow | Enough perches and resting spots to go round, more than one way up, no dead-end perches where a cat gets cornered |
| Weather | Shade on a hot day, a dry corner in the rain, a floor that drains |
| Buildability | Whether every part fits and the planner could make a build package: spans, roof slope, room to clean |
| Budget | The best-price estimate from the real materials list, against the household’s budget |
| Style | Cat-friendly planting and a variety of furnishings |
The Safety and Buildability scores come from the same versioned checks the planner runs. When nothing is found, the game says “no issue detected by the current rules” — never “safe”.