Cat Mail Co. Beginner Guide

How to play Cat Mail Co.

Cat Mail Co. is a cozy postal management sim on Steam from Maracas Studio, released in July 2026. You inherit a forgotten post office on Cat Island and restore it by weighing, stamping, labeling, sorting, and shipping parcels from the daily boat.

This Cat Mail Co. beginner guide covers your first shifts on Cat Island: receiving mail, serving customers at the bell, loading outgoing parcels for the captain, and preparing for the night cycle when moonlight reveals hidden package truths.

There are no timers or penalties in Cat Mail Co. — take your time and organize the office your way. Story unfolds through parcels and letters rather than cutscenes, so every box you handle may carry a clue about the vanished postman or the island cats who depend on you.

Cat Mail Co. supports up to four-player online co-op, but solo play works fine for learning the basics. Start with the weighing station and customer bell before you worry about perfect shelf layouts.

Your first day in Cat Mail Co.

When the boat arrives in Cat Mail Co., carry parcels from the dock to the weighing station. The captain announces which destinations need outgoing mail today — listen before you sort, because loading the wrong route sends parcels back as damaged returns.

Check each parcel on the scale: weight determines how many stamps you need, and color bands on the scale dial tell you the postage tier at a glance. Apply the correct destination label from your map — Cat Island is home base, and Port Windy unlocks early as your first expansion route.

Press F to enter stamp mode in Cat Mail Co.. Functional stamps cover postage; decorative stamps are optional flair. Neither choice overrides fragile, heavy, or destination rules.

Sort processed parcels into storage by destination so you can find them quickly when customers pick up mail or when you load the outgoing boat. Ring the dock bell when the captain's manifest is ready.

• Do01Unload the incoming boat and carry parcels to the weighing station in Cat Mail Co.
• Do02Weigh each parcel and match stamp count to the scale color band.
• Do03Apply destination labels — Cat Island and Port Windy are your first map routes.
• Do04Run fragile or heavy parcels through the scanner conveyor before shelving.
• Do05Ring the customer bell when a cat is waiting; ring the dock bell when outgoing cargo is loaded.

Scale, stamps, and labels

The Cat Mail Co. scale is your first quality gate. Place a parcel on the platform and read the needle against the colored bands — each band maps to a stamp count, so you never guess postage by eye.

After weighing, stick the destination label that matches the parcel's route on your map. Wrong labels are one of the most common causes of returned mail in Cat Mail Co., and returns arrive physically damaged.

Stamp mode (F key) lets you place postage stamps until the scale reading is satisfied, then add decorative stamps if you want. There is no single correct look — only correct weight and destination.

For full workflow detail, see the package handling guide after your first shift.

Customer bell and pickup clues

Island cats ring the customer bell when they want service. They may drop off outgoing parcels or ask you to find a pickup waiting in your shelves.

Pickup requests in Cat Mail Co. come with clues: ribbon color, sticker shape, size hints, and recipient names. Names like Quicknap appear early — treat every clue as a filter when you walk the storage aisles.

There is no queue timer. Take your time, read the clue card, and only ring the bell again when you have the correct parcel in hand. Wrong handoffs waste a trip but do not fail the day.

Customer service pairs naturally with the organization tips page once your shelf count grows beyond a single row.

Captain manifest and dock bell

Each morning the captain lists which destinations need parcels on the outgoing run. In early Cat Mail Co. shifts that usually means Cat Island locals plus whatever Port Windy freight has stacked up overnight.

Gather labeled, stamped parcels from your destination zones and carry them to the boat hold. Respect fragile and heavy placement — fragile mail must stay on top, and heavy parcels crush anything stacked above them.

When the manifest is complete, ring the dock bell so the boat departs. Missing a departure does not trigger a game-over, but backlog grows and cats wait longer for mail.

Boat rhythm is covered in depth on the boat routes guide.

Mistakes new players make

Stacking fragile parcels under other boxes is the classic Cat Mail Co. error — fragile mail must stay on top of every pile.

Skipping the scale leads to wrong postage and returned parcels. Always match stamp count to the scale color band before you shelve or ship.

Ignoring the scanner conveyor when you are unsure about weight class costs you fragile labels on heavy boxes — or heavy crush damage on small parcels below.

Loading outgoing mail without checking the captain's route list sends Cat Mail Co. parcels to the wrong island. Returns show up damaged and need reprocessing.

Ignoring night moonlight means you miss hidden package properties that change how a parcel must be handled. Read night mechanics before your first full day-night cycle.

Where to go next

After your first Cat Mail Co. shift, read the package handling guide for weigh-stamp-label details, then night mechanics for moonlight parcels.

Learn controls (WASD, mouse, sprint) and browse the guides hub for boat routes, destinations, co-op splits, and achievements.

Cat Mail Co. has no codes or redemption system — progress comes from clearing backlog and unlocking routes, not from promo strings.