Meow Palace: Forbidden City

Adventure· Desktop Companion· Cats· Idler

Early access since Dec 2025

Meow Palace is a chill desktop companion & idle life-sim where an adorable palace cat settles on the corner of your screen—keeping you company while you work, study, or secretly slack off.

91% positive · 283 reviews

Not yet

In early access, content still planned

High confidence

Content Planned

Not yet

In early access, content still planned

High confidence

Content Planned

Where to buy

Steam Updated 12 Oct 2026 $5.99 Green Man Gaming Steam key Updated 12 Oct 2026 $5.99

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Evaluation

Meow Palace: Forbidden City launched into Early Access on December 16, 2025, and has been receiving consistent, frequent updates ever since. In just over eight months of Early Access, the developer has shipped four named major updates: a January 19, 2026 update that added the Hall of Supreme Harmony location and Lunar New Year content; a February 10, 2026 update with more New Year customs and new outfits; the v0.4.0 Spring Outing update on April 3, 2026 adding Qingming Festival content and new scenes; and most recently the v0.5 update on June 17, 2026, which added two new scenes (Arrow Pavilion and Hall of Gathered Fragrance), two new NPC characters, new skills, a Dragon Boat Festival limited-time event, and seasonal UI changes. Between these major updates, the developer has also delivered a steady flow of feature patches and bug fixes — activity spanning roughly every 1–4 weeks throughout the Early Access period. This establishes a very active development cadence with major content arriving approximately every 6–10 weeks. The game is explicitly marked as Early Access on Steam, meaning the developer is still building toward a finished release. No 1.0 release date or completion roadmap has been announced, and development is clearly ongoing.

Evidence

v0.5 update released: two new scenes, two new NPC characters, two new idle skills, new crafting skills, Dragon Boat Festival limited-time event with exclusive outfits, seasonal UI refresh, and a new automated item collector unlocked via questline.

news post · Jun 17, 2026 source content shipped

high

v0.4.0 update released: Qingming Festival limited-time content, two new scenes, two new NPC companions, new idle and crafting skills, new fishing spots, and 62 new collectibles.

news post · Apr 3, 2026 source content shipped

high

Media

Details

Developer

宫喵家族

Publisher

宫喵家族

Achievements

Platform

Windows

Controller

—

Steam Deck

Playable

Players

Single-player

Desktop Companion Cats Idler Creature Collector Animals Relaxing Simulation Casual Incremental Point & Click 2D Cartoon Cute Hand-drawn Indie

About this game

Welcome to Meow Palace!

A cozy, laid-back game that blends idle play, bonding, and cultural discovery. Slip into the paws of a stray kitty who’s wandered into the Forbidden City. With the help of palace cats, you’ll learn new tricks, collect treasures, unlock stories, and experience the whimsical life of a royal feline.

The story begins with a stray cat that accidentally wanders into the palace—but its destiny is up to you.

Create A Cat: Customize everything from name, fur pattern, pupils, ear shapes, and tails to craft your perfect palace companion.

Go from “Stray Cat” to “Imperial Guardian” through effortless idle gameplay.

Idle Training: Learn up to 15 skills, including Imperial Cuisine, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Peking Opera, and Fishing with the instruction of veteran palace cats. Higher skills = better yields.

Craft Fashion & Furniture: Use collected materials and blueprints to make outfits and home décor for your cat.
Palace Encyclopedia: Every crafted item, animal encounter, and discovered treasure is collected into your growing compendium.

Feeling stressed at work? Tired of studying? Let your palace cat stay on your desktop.

Desktop Pet Mode: Your cat lives directly on your Windows desktop, quietly gathering resources while you’re busy. Tap it when you take a break and enjoy simple, soothing interactions.

Encounter NPC cats based on actual residents of the Forbidden City, and explore the Palace Museum through their eyes.

The Palace Cat Family: Meet Aobai the dignified, Sheriff the clever, and Mantou the gentle—each being the inspiration of NPC cats in the game!

Four Seasons of the Forbidden City: Unlock classic locations, such as Hall of Supreme Harmony, Palace of Heavenly Purity, Palace of Compassion and Tranquility, and more. Game time syncs with real time, letting your cat walk you through spring blossoms, summer rains, autumn leaves, and winter snow in the Forbidden City.