Catbound: Nine Lives
About Catbound: Nine Lives: Pixel Roguelite with Armored Cats
Catbound: Nine Lives is a pixel-art roguelite built around a squad of armored cats holding out against endless waves of monsters. The nine slots at the heart of the game serve a double purpose: they hold your active cats and your spare lives at the same time. Every cat added to the squad makes it stronger, but it also costs one of those spare lives — so building a bigger roster is always a calculated risk. The run ends the moment no cat remains.
With 51 cats spread across four classes, the game rewards mixing class synergies to push further into the waves. Between waves, a shop lets you buy and merge weapons and gear, adding a layer of decision-making to the survival loop. Night waves, champions, and bosses punctuate the endless progression, keeping each run from settling into routine.
How to Play Catbound: Nine Lives: Survive Waves and Spend Cookies
Each wave runs until its timer expires. Fallen monsters drop cookies, which become your currency in the shop between waves. Spend those cookies on new cats, weapons, gear, upgrades, and potions. Adding a cat strengthens the squad but consumes a spare life, so every purchase from the cat roster is a trade-off. When a cat falls in battle, a life is lost; once the last cat is gone, the run is over. The goal is to beat your best wave.
Cat Classes and Synergies
- 51 cats are available across four classes
- Mixing class synergies strengthens the squad
Wave Structure
- Standard waves: survive until the timer runs out
- Night waves: a distinct wave type within the endless run
- Champions: tougher enemies that appear during the run
- Bosses: major threats punctuating progression
Shop and Merging
- New cats: expand the squad at the cost of a spare life
- Weapons: purchasable and mergeable between waves
- Gear: purchasable and mergeable between waves
- Upgrades: available in the shop between waves
- Potions: available in the shop between waves
Controls
- WASD or Arrow Keys: Move your cat
- Drag finger anywhere on screen: Move your cat on mobile
- Attacks: Automatic — no input required
- II button: Pause the game
Games You Might Like
If the merge-and-survive loop in Catbound: Nine Lives appeals to you, Merge Defense: Army Behind the Wall delivers a similar rhythm of buying fighters and merging identical units into stronger ones while monster waves close in. For more automatic-combat horde survival with upgrade choices between waves, Piggy Heist puts a cartoon spin on the formula with a gang of pigs, five unique guns, and permanent upgrades between runs.
Browse the full action games catalogue for more fast-paced survival titles, explore the cats games collection for more feline adventures, or check out monster games for more wave-based challenges.
