Who lives in the garden, what they are like, and what it takes to persuade each of them to stay.
Cats are the heart of the garden and the source of its paw prints. Once the Breakfast Bowl is filled they go about their day on their own — napping, wandering, playing, exploring, gardening, watching the bees — and every activity leaves paw prints behind. Some activities pay more, some build affection faster. Now and then an exploring cat finds something and brings back a small windfall.
Each cat has a paw power, which is how much it adds to the garden, and a personality that shows in which activities it prefers. Petting a cat raises its affection, and a cat that is fond of you contributes more. Cats you recruit stay for the whole run; after a Sleep, everyone but Bloomy has to be invited back.
Two cats who spend time doing the same thing at the same moment slowly become friends. Napping in the same patch of sun counts; so does chasing each other round the flower beds, which counts extra. A pair climbs through four levels — Acquaintances, Friends, Besties and Soulmates — and the journal notes each new one. Social cats make friends twice as fast, and two Social cats together four times as fast. Friendships outlast a Sleep, softened a little, so cats who were close in one run find each other again quickly in the next.
The first cat. Found the garden before there was a garden.
The garden is named after them. Bloomy likes exploring and wandering, and is the cat you pet in the very first minute to earn the paw prints for the Breakfast Bowl.
Has located every warm patch of sun within eleven metres.
The first recruit, and the only cat bought purely with paw prints, so a second cat never has to wait for the bees. Mimi spends most of the day asleep, which is less lazy than it sounds.
Eats the flowers. Somehow this helps.
Spends a lot of time gardening and playing. Also, according to the supplies basket, the author of the Suspicious Fertilizer.
Velocity with whiskers. Do not leave doors open.
Almost never sleeps. When the zoomies strike, Biscuit produces several times the usual paw prints for a few seconds.
Knows every other cat by name, including the ones outside.
Loves playing, watching and exploring, and makes friends with everyone in half the time — a good cat to have before the rest of the roster arrives.
Sits in the flower bed like a small green-thumbed loaf.
Gardens more than any other cat, and the flowers Pickle tends produce far more pollen. The best reason to keep every pot full.
Arrived with a monocle and strong opinions about pollen.
Explores constantly and watches everything. Only visits a garden that has dreamed a few times.
Waited by the gate the whole time, for a garden that was finally ready. Give them a face and a name — the garden will remember both.
The last cat, and the only one you bring rather than find. You can give them your own photo and your own name, and both are remembered through every Sleep that follows. Everything about the rest of the game leads here.