Help

iPad and iPhone running iOS or iPadOS 15 or later. pawpaw plays best on iPad, since a bigger screen gives your cat more room to hunt. On iPhone the game is simpler: one critter at a time, in landscape.

On the home screen, pick a round length and a playground, then tap PLAY. Lay the device flat on a stable, low surface. It counts 3, 2, 1, then the critters come out.

Your cat catches a critter by tapping or swiping it. Tap one yourself to show your cat how it works.

• Try another playground, or turn on different critters in your cat’s profile. Every cat has favourites, and the Stats screen shows which ones your cat catches most.
• Turn the sound up. Critters rustle before they appear, which gets many cats' attention.
• Play when your cat is active, for example before meals, and keep sessions short.
• Some cats need a few tries. Never force it, and stop if your cat seems stressed or frustrated.

Press and hold the house button in the top-left corner for about 1.5 seconds. A quick tap does nothing, so a paw can't end the game by accident.

When a timed round ends, the results card appears and one critter keeps roaming around it. When your cat catches it, that asks for another round. The After a round setting on the home screen decides what happens:

• Keep going: every catch starts another round.
• 3 rounds: up to 3 rounds in a row, then one last easy catch.
• Stop: only the final, easy catch.

You can also press and hold Play Again on the card. If nobody touches the screen for 45 seconds, the critter wanders off and the screen can sleep.

Critters can hide under the box, leaf pile, lily pad or snow mound, and can't be caught there. They'll come back out. The laser dot is meant to be hard to catch, just like a real one.

pawpaw follows your device's Silent mode and volume. Turn off Silent mode (the Ring/Silent switch or Action button on iPhone, or Control Centre on iPad) and turn the volume up. pawpaw's sounds play alongside your music, so they won't stop it.

No. The screen stays awake during a round. If you get a call or switch apps, the round pauses with the critters frozen in place.

Tap your cat's name in the top-left corner of the home screen to open Your Cats. Tap a cat to make it the one playing, or tap Add a cat. Each cat gets a name (up to 20 characters), one of six faces, and its own scores and stats.

Open Your Cats, tap the pencil next to a cat, and turn critters on or off under Critters to play with. At least one critter that works on every playground stays on. Fish only appear on the Pond, and lizards only on Grass.

• Reset stats: open Play Stats from the chart button on the home screen, then press and hold Hold to reset stats. Best scores are kept.
• Delete a cat: in Your Cats, tap the pencil next to the cat, then press and hold Hold to delete this cat.

Both need a hold, so they can't happen by accident.

pawpaw has no accounts and doesn't sync. Its data is stored only on your device, but it's included when you back up your device with iCloud or a computer, so restoring that backup to a new device brings it along.

No. There are no ads, accounts, analytics or tracking, and the app works fully offline. See the privacy policy for details.

Always watch your cat while it plays. Claws can scratch screens, so a screen protector is a good idea. Set the device flat on a stable, low surface where it can't be knocked off, keep sessions short, and stop if your cat seems stressed or frustrated.

Finish with a real toy your cat can catch and hold, so the hunt ends with a win.