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ALLEY CAT

Complete Edition

Difficulty: EASY (3 wins, 3 lives)

Press 'D' to change difficulty

Press 'H' for help

Sounds: Original PC speaker sounds

Press 'V' to switch between original and classic sounds

High Score: 0

Press SPACE for Music

Press ENTER to Start

Alley Cat help

The game is paused while this help is open. Close it to carry on exactly where you were.

The idea

You are a cat. Climb out of the alley through a window into a room, win that room, and repeat. Clear enough rooms and the window to love opens. Reach Felicia to score big. You can play entirely by ear. Every goal and danger has its own sound, and the stereo position tells you where it is: left in your left ear, right in your right.

Keys that work anywhere

Enter: start a game from the title screen, or restart after game over.
Arrow keys: move and jump. What they do depends on the room, described below.
H: open this help. Escape: close it.
R: hear the last message again.

Title screen keys

Space: play the title tune.
D: switch between Easy and Hard. Both give you three lives. Easy needs three rooms cleared to open the window to love, even if you lose a life along the way. Hard needs five rooms in a row, and losing a life sends the count back to zero. Each difficulty keeps its own high score.
V: switch between the original PC speaker sounds and the classic sounds.
Delete or Backspace: reset the high score of the difficulty you have selected. The other one is left alone.

Score and lives

You start with three lives. Every room you clear is worth 100 points. Reaching Felicia is worth 500. You earn an extra life every 1000 points.

The alley

Three jumps get you from the ground to the window: up to a bin, up to the second step, up to the window. A repeating pulse tells you where to jump from. It sounds from the side where the jump spot is. Walk left or right with the arrow keys until the pulse sounds centred, then press Up.

The ground jump has a low pulse.
The second jump has a middle pulse.
The window has a high rising pulse.
A jump is a low tone for the bounce and a high tone when you land on the next step.
A short low buzz means you pressed Up too far from the spot. Walk toward the pulse and try again.
S replays the pulse straight away.
A growl means the alley dog has appeared. It bites if it reaches you on the ground, so jump up quickly. A patter of clicks that moves from side to side is the dog running. It gets louder as it nears you.
At the window you hear a rising run of notes. After two seconds you land in a random room.

Cheese room

Catch three mice on a five by five floor. Each arrow key press moves you one square. A beep repeats and sounds from the side the mouse is on. There are two holes. A rumble means a hole is right next to you. Stepping into a hole costs a life. Walking into a wall makes a low buzz.

Fish room

Swim to catch three fish. You drift upward on your own. Pressing Up makes you dive downward, and left and right swim sideways. A beep sounds from the side the fish is on. Electric eels are in the water. A low hum grows louder the closer you are to an eel, and touching one shocks you, which costs a life. For the first three seconds you are safe, and a tone tells you the eels are now live.

Dog room

Lap the milk from three bowls without waking the dog. Left and right move you in small steps. Stand at a bowl and press Space to lap, and keep pressing until the bowl is empty. A beep points to the next bowl with milk.

A slow low pulse means the dog is sleeping. You can move.
Fast growling means the dog is awake. Do not press any key. Any key press while it is awake gets you bitten.
Wait for the slow pulse to return before you move again.

Bird room

Push the bird cage off the table, then catch the bird.

Up jumps. Hold Up in the air to float higher. Left and right move.
Jump onto the table in the middle of the room. On the floor, a low pulse points toward the table. You hear a landing tone on the table.
On the table, a square pulse points to the cage. Walk into the cage to push it. Quick ticks warn you that you are near the table edge.
When the cage falls and breaks, a high pulse points to the bird. Get close to it, jumping if you need to.
A swish of air is the broom sweeping the floor. It gets louder as it comes near. Stay up on the table or in the air when it is close, or you get swept.

Spider room

Climb up through the leaves to the top. Up jumps. Left and right move. A pulse sounds from the centre where the top platform is. As you walk, each step makes a click. A high click means a platform is above you and you can jump onto it. A low click means open air above. The spider makes a buzz that pans toward it. It gets louder when it is at your height. Touching it costs a life.

Window to love

After enough rooms, you climb five rows to reach Felicia. Up moves you to the next row. A harp note sounds from the side where Felicia is. Rival cats patrol rows one to four. A hiss pans toward the rival in the row just above you. Press Up when that rival is far away. If it is close when you step up, you are scratched. Reaching Felicia scores 500 and takes you back to the alley.

Sounds you will know

A rough growl: a dog, or a rival cat hissing in the love room.
A rough buzz while the screen flashes: an electric eel.
Two notes, low then high: you caught a fish or a mouse.
A fast trill: you gained an extra life.
A swooping siren: you lost a life. In the love room, being scratched has its own long rising sweep. In the bird room, being swept by the broom has a falling swish.
A short tune: you cleared a room.
A long dark crackle: game over. If you hear the high score tune after game over, you set a new best score on that difficulty.