This game featured in my wife’s and my becoming close to each other. I would say heavily, it felt so at the time, but when I was getting to know her every emotion seemed heavy - good and bad. Realistically, she and our kid are two of the best things to ever happen to me, but this game probably didn’t have much to do with it.

I remember that if you, the mouse, got caught by the cat, you’d turn into not the traditional “less than three” heart, but something that more resembled an ampersand and angled bracket. I am very sleep deprived and can’t find a screenshot or video supporting that, but I will adamantly defend the claim, even if I find out it was an invented memory.

My wife, who always liked to be different, would say &> to express her affection when we met. At the time, I told her all of the above (probably in a more abbreviated manner) and, to this day, when we want to say “I love you,” we’ll sometimes say “mouse hearts” instead. Wouldn’t work with anyone else, probably, but then again, I don’t want it to.