Dead or alive: New online game teaches Kiwi cat owners to do the right thing

Anne Batley-Burton of Auckland, Champagne Lady, one of the Real Housewives of Auckland and cat advocate with one of her favourite animals. Photo / Supplied

Cat lovers have joined forces to launch free online games to promote responsible feline ownership. Jane Phare finds out who’s behind Cat Angels Triumph.

There’s a reason the online game Cats Angels Triumph is R13. If players make the wrong choices – like an irresponsible cat owner would do – it could end in tears, or even death... for the cat. The game designers, after consultation with vets and other experts, decided 8-year-olds might not handle dead cats too well, hence the R13 recommendation.

Launched this month, the games have been created by Geo AR Games which creates educational games for government agencies, universities and 140 cities around the world. Clients include the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Earthquake Commission.

Now they’ve included cat games in the mix. Players choose a cat character and are then faced with various scenarios. The outcome for the cat depends on the decisions and choices the player makes.

Never far away from the subject of cats is Anne Batley-Burton – aka The Cat Lady, aka The Champagne Lady, aka one of the stars of reality TV series The Real Housewives of Auckland. Batley-Burton is constantly advocating and fundraising for around 350 cats, many living in her “Pussy Palace” cat sanctuary at Goose Creek, her lifestyle property in Kumeū, foster homes, and trap-neuter-return colonies around Auckland. She knows first hand what happens when people don’t desex their cats or lose interest in them.

Batley-Burton approached Melanie Langlotz, founder and CEO of Geo AR, with the idea of developing free online games to help teach people the importance of microchipping and desexing cats.

Melanie Langlotz of Auckland, founder and CEO of Geo AR Games with Jack the Pukeko April 2022 picture supplied Melanie Langlotz<melanie@geoar.com>

Currently two games are active on www.catangelstriumph.com, with four more in the pipeline. They are story-based as a result of wide consultation with Auckland vet Dr Elsa Flint, who works with the New Zealand Cat Foundation, cat lovers and those who work in shelters. Batley-Burton was also heavily involved in shaping the stories around responsible ownership and what can go wrong.

In addition, says Langlotz, a team of cat-loving game designers, developers and 3D/2D artists at Geo AR Games were involved in the project.

“A lot of our artists have cats and everyone on the team is an animal lover. "

Ownership is for a pet’s entire lifetime

Although Langlotz no longer owns a cat she does run an informal sanctuary for pets, 17 of them, at her Auckland lifestyle property. The menagerie includes reptiles, dogs, rabbits, chicken, ducks and parrots.

“We are basically the place that people drop their pets off when they find that the kids have lost interest in them.”

When people adopt a pet such as a cat they need to realise ownership is long term, Langlotz says.

“It doesn’t stop. You’ve taken on a responsibility for the entire lifetime of that animal.”

Cat Angels Triumph is an online game developed by Geo AR Games to help promote responsible cat ownership.

Auckland Council’s website says the SPCA receives 9000 cats and 11,000 kittens every year. An unspayed female cat can have as many as 300 kittens in her lifetime. Under the Regional Pest Management Plan councils plan to take a tougher stance on feral cats and those found in “ecologically significant areas” that are not microchipped.

Langlotz says the games are aimed at everyone (over the age of 13), not just cat owners. The aim is to also prevent animal cruelty so one of the games poses the question of what to do when unwanted cats stray into a stranger’s garden, scaring the birds away. Taking pot shots at the cat with a slug gun or trapping are no-nos in the game, and don’t end well.

After the first six games are released, more are planned to broaden the subject of animal welfare. Langlotz plans to look at fundraising options to extend the project including augmented reality options such as cat greeting cards.

Jane Phare is a senior Auckland-based business, features and investigations journalist, former assistant editor of NZ Herald and former editor of the Weekend Herald and Viva.