Why The Black Cat Theme Is Perfect For js13kGames 2025

If you have been following the js13kGames, you would agree that the competition always seems to choose the perfect theme. One that allows participants to freely and creatively interpret the theme as they try to develop a 13-kilobyte game.

The js13kGames 2025 theme, “Black Cat,” is no different. On the surface, the theme evokes superstition, mystique, omens (good or bad), and darkness, symbolising a black cat. Yet beneath that lie so many deeper opportunities for developers, regardless of genre.

Black Cat for Pokies

Black cats have always been linked with luck. Sometimes they mean good fortune, other times bad news. It's the kind of uncertainty that can be found in gaming since outcomes are never guaranteed. This luck and risk factor is why Australians love the spin and win nature of pokies. Players spin the reels, watch them slow down, and hope for a win.

This feeling is a great match for this year’s Black Cat theme. The cat could act like a wild card, shaking things up whenever it appears. Sometimes it might give players extra points, other times it could turn the game upside down and make them lose progress.

And pokie-style games are perfect for the 13KB limit. A few simple reels, a short animation, and a quick pause before showing the result can create plenty of tension and fun.

Symbolic Potential

Black cats have a deep history of symbolism that cuts across cultures and centuries. In countries like Japan, they symbolise good fortune and prosperity. In ancient Egypt, they were considered to be protectors. In medieval Europe, they were seen as omens of bad luck and a symbol of superstition and witchcraft. Some of these perceptions still persist today.

In Australia, black cats tend to have a harder time finding a new home compared to cats of other colours. Black kittens sometimes have to wait 10x longer, while adults wait almost 20x. The reason, of course, varies per individual. But it always comes down to how they are perceived.

This cultural duality gives participating developers a versatile theme to design their game. Developers can create games using spooky horror that taps into fear, like cats acting as silent stalkers, or one that portrays the cat as a fortune-bringer.

Also, the black cat symbolism can influence the gameplay mechanics. Developers can design games that flip the rule where, with the cat's presence, light becomes dark, or tiles' colour changes to cue the player action to take, or a cunning NPC that alters the course of the game.

The symbolic depth allows participants to create games that are layered, meaningful, and memorable.

Simplicity

Any JS13K developer would tell you that the biggest challenge of the competition is the 13 KB limit. It's also what makes it so interesting and worthwhile. The restriction forces developers to strip away excessive complexity and focus on the core mechanics of gameplay.

The Black Cat theme for this year actually doesn't make this any harder. For example, a developer can actually draw a silhouette of a cat with fewer than 10 lines, and the image would be recognisable. Which means developers don’t have to waste so many bytes on graphics.

This way, they can focus their creativity on refining gameplay, mechanics, and storytelling. The theme is a universal visual identity that is both minimalist and iconic. Everyone knows what a cat looks like, regardless of size, shape or colour. So, whether developers use black pixels for retro-style games, a simple vector shape for HTML5 canvas, or even ASCII art, the Black Cat still holds strong as a character or symbol.

Creativity

The theme encourages participants to flex their design ideas, freely express themselves, and become more creative. So rather than focus on duality (good and bad) that everyone else may be doing, participants could create varying game designs showing the cat changing colour between black and white to conceal its presence while moving across the screen.

It can also become a watcher that gives players hints or cues on what moves to make, like Clippy, the animated paperclip Microsoft Office assistant from the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Game Design Variety

The Black Cat theme isn’t just a spooky prompt but a creative playground that enables developers to create games across different genres and not stay boxed in a particular style or narrative.

Whether they are creating puzzle arcade games where a black cat is a mascot that hides clues, a maze game where the cat sneaks through traps, or RPGs where the cat acts as a trickster or the main protagonist. What’s intriguing here is that the black cat is very flexible. Instead of boxing participants in a single direction, it challenges them to reinterpret a simple symbol across genres.

Which is precisely what makes it a perfect theme for 2025 js13kGames, where the beauty lies in showing how much variety developers can achieve within a strict 13KB limit.

Connection to js13kGames History

The theme for js13kGames 2025 is more like a sequel to the 2024 js13kGames theme, “Triskaidekaphobia”, the fear of the number thirteen. Black cats have long been linked to superstition, luck, and mystery, making them a fitting sequel to the idea of fearing the number thirteen.

Thirteen also has a strong pop culture connection. For example, the ‘Friday the 13th’ movie franchise has generated over $380 million worldwide. The reason for its success may be simply that people are fascinated by superstition.

For js13kGames, this continuity builds a thematic flow across editions. Participants of the 2025 edition will simply expand on last year's ideas and create sequels to their previous games. It is all connected.

Wrapping Up

The Black Cat theme isn't just a random phrase but a well-thought-out theme that allows participants to shine freely with their creative game designs.

Also, it is a sequel to the previous year's theme, allowing developers who couldn't compete or do well in previous years to give it a better shot this year.

Instead of shying away from a controversial concept, js13kGames leans into it and lets developers decide how best to define what a black cat is, whether good or bad. This really is the perfect theme for 2025.

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