Lucid Cats is a recent horror indie game made by Kolide Studio, an independent studio from Jordan consisting of only two people. When I tried this lovely little game, I instantly recognized that looking and staying silent are the two most important mechanics in the game. The 8 monsters (as of September 2026) in the game are very similar to those you might’ve seen in R.E.P.O. and Lethal Company. There are, however, some differences too, so I’m going to show you what you should do against each monster, and in dire situations, against combinations of monsters.
In simple terms:
| Monster | Trigger | Time Until Despawn | Solution |
| Eyes | Not looking at it | 90 seconds | Keep looking until it vanishes |
| Flower Eye | Not looking at it | 90 seconds | Keep looking until it vanishes |
| Smiley | Looking at it | 90 seconds | Stare down |
| Jaw | Walking through its door | 60 seconds | Watch the door |
| Dance Cat | Looking at it from within 8 meters | 60 seconds | Win the dance-off |
| Mask | Looking at it | 90 seconds | Avoid looking at it |
| Ghost Cat | Looking at it | 60 seconds | Avoid looking at it |
| Listener | Any sound you make | 90 seconds | Stop and avoid making any sound |
| Monster Combo | Solution |
| Eyes & Flower Eye + Smiley | Ask a friend to look at the Eyes or Smiley while you look at the other. |
| Dance Cat + Listener | Avoid looking at Dance Cat altogether. |
| Dance Cat + Eyes & Flower Eye | Move behind Dance Cat so you can look at the Eyes too. |
| Listener + Bomb/Telephone/Enemy | AVOID DAMAGE AT ALL COSTS. |
(Warning: Two clones of the same monster will never spawn at the same time. However, Eyes and Flower Eye often spawn together. 6 monsters at the same time is the maximum number possible.)
Table of Contents
Eyes (EASY)
The fastest entity in the game, Eyes are almost always the first enemy to spawn. And like the rest of the roster, they only become active after 1 a.m. They have around a 35% chance to spawn during Night 1 and the spawn chance only goes up as you progress through the later nights, reaching 60% for Night 15. It deals 30 DMG to your lucidity with each hit.
When I was playing with my friend, I noticed the Eyes never spawned in the same room as us. So you’ll never be caught off guard by one. When playing together, the best method is for your buddy to just continuously stare at it while you collect for the quota.
If alone, look at it while walking backwards, but mind the sinkhole, ledges, or any other enemies you hear spawning behind you. Looking at the Eyes via the cameras freezes them. You can obtain the camera program (called “Surveillance”) for your laptop in the lobby by purchasing it for 1,500 credits.
Flower Eye (EASY)
Honestly? Flower Eye is almost identical to the Eyes; the only difference is that Flower Eye moves slower than the Eyes but attacks much more brutally. It has around a 30% chance to spawn during Night 1 and reaches nearly 80% by Night 15. It deals 15 DMG to your lucidity with each hit. However, it can drain your entire lucidity in only about 3 seconds with its insane attack speed.
My strategy here was the same as the one I used on the Eyes: keep an eye on the Eye (pun unintended). Here’s the thing: I had trouble keeping the Eyes under control but wasn’t afraid of getting hit by them. As for Flower Eye though, I understood how punishing it was so I never, ever, let my guard down around it. Make sure to alert your friend(s) to its presence too.
If alone, walking backwards while looking at it works here too. Just like the Eyes, you can also look at it in the camera feed.
Smiley (EASY)
Perhaps one of the easiest enemies to avoid, but one of the hardest ones to deal with when grouped with other entities in the same room. I find Smiley to be especially dangerous when paired with the Eyes or the Flower Eye. I will get into how to maneuver the combo further down. For now, remember that it has nearly a 30% chance to spawn during Night 1 and reaches nearly 80% by Night 15. It deals 30 DMG per hit.
My friend and I always divided the Eyes/Flower Eye and Smiley between each other. Just make sure that when you see the message on the screen, you stand still and stare Smiley down. Even a tiny bit of movement will trigger its attack. Avoid Smiley altogether if possible since its roaming speed is low.
If alone, for the love of God, keep your distance from it. Do not risk engaging it, since the Eyes are most likely following you.
Jaw (NORMAL)
Jaw has a 16% chance to spawn during the first night so you’ll most likely be safe during the earlier nights, but by night 15 I noticed him spawn way more often, because there is around a 70% chance for it to spawn at that point. Ranking only after the Listener in terms of damage, I know for a fact Jaw deals the second-highest DMG count possible: 35 per attack. This could prove to be lethal.
Our first encounter with the Jaw ended up leading to my death. We soon learned that Jaw only lurks around doorframes. So if you’re opening a door or going through one, always check around the corner for a Jaw. If you see it, keep staring at it for a bit, then look away until it starts moving away. You can also look at Jaw through the cameras and get the same result.
Dance Cat (NORMAL)
In my opinion, among the Lucid Cats monsters, Dance Cat is the most annoying enemy in the game right after Smiley. I say this because if engaged, you have to do a dance-off against it, a bit harder than just staring. But at least it makes dancing an actual mechanic instead of a simple goofy flavor thing they did in Lethal Company. It has around a 15% chance to spawn during Night 1 and 70% by Night 15. It deals a surprising 30 DMG to your lucidity.
I recommend not engaging Dance Cat completely, but if you can’t help it, there is only one simple solution: Keep looking at it while pressing any of your number keys from 1 to 5 in order to dance.
Mask (NORMAL)
While some players are easily frightened by the Mask, I personally found it to be an easy enemy to deal with. Mask has a certain path. It follows it automatically, so as long as you don’t interrupt it, you should be fine. It has around a 35% chance to spawn during Night 1 and 60% by Night 15. It deals 30 DMG.
Cameras don’t trigger the Mask, so you can easily avoid it by just looking literally anywhere else. Tell your friend to do the same.
Ghost Cat (HARD)
Ghost Cat is not just the less fun version of Dance Cat; it operates completely differently. It resembles Bracken in how it stalks you and constantly follows you from behind. Staring at it triggers it. It has around a 20% chance to spawn on Night 1 and almost 75% by Night 15. It takes away 25 of your lucidity with each hit.
My suggestion for you is to simply ignore Ghost Cat entirely. Let it walk behind you. The trick is to not panic and avoid gazing at it.
Listener (HARD)
Listener is the hardest individual entity in Lucid Cats. It is, unlike other monsters, noise-based. This means you must watch your every move once it spawns. It has nearly a 15% chance to appear in Night 1 and 75% by Night 15. It insta-kills you upon hitting you. Do NOT make any noise. Proximity chat counts too. I warned ya.
I learned this the hard way, but Listener has an easy tell, actually. It roams the map very slowly, but once it hears a noise, it makes a loud head-turning sound. That’s your cue to stay completely still. If you or even a friend in its proximity (around 8 meters) make any sound, it’ll dash towards you. Listener can easily ruin any veteran player’s run.
I kindly ask you to tell your friend not to scream or dance when they see a Listener up close. I also learned this lesson the hard way. You can walk around it, but don’t hold Shift to sprint. Use the laptop program “Entity Tracker” to always know where the Listener is. That’s how you can avoid it.
How to Deal With Combos (MOST DIFFICULT)
Handling multiple enemies at once is most definitely the hardest part of Lucid Cats, in my experience. These are the most difficult combos we encountered, along with a solution we came up with for each one:
- Eyes & Flower Eye + Smiley: Your friend should take on the Eyes while you stare at Smiley, or vice versa. If you’re alone, you will most definitely die unless the Eyes and Smiley are next to each other, so try positioning yourself in a corner where Eyes/Flower Eye will be behind Smiley. Multitasking is the name of the game here.
- Dance Cat + Listener: Listener is triggered by noise. You make noise when you dance. You can’t NOT dance when confronted by Dance Cat. Solution: avoid Dance Cat as much as you can afford. Worst case scenario, ask your friend to engage Dance Cat while you trigger Listener intentionally. Then you stay still while your friend wins the dance-off outside of Listener’s range.
- Dance Cat + Eyes & Flower Eye: In this peculiar case, the combo is similar to the Smiley-Eyes combo, so do the same thing in #1. The only extra recommendation I have for you is to move behind Dance Cat so the Eyes stay within your line of sight.
- Listener + Taking Damage: Listener is sensitive to any sound it can hear. The bomb item is especially loud when picked up. It also hurts your lucidity by 75 points upon exploding. The credits are simply not worth it. Telephone is a lower-risk version of the bomb, so avoid that one too. Additionally, enemies hurting you will make noise. Meowing and dancing do too. Just try staying still until Listener goes away, or sneak around its path if you can.
