From the main screen of the back alley, the player has to manouver the cat via trash cans, the fence and clothing lines into open windows. Inside every window is a room with a certain challenge. There are a number of different challenges such as having to dive into an aquarium and eating all the fish while staying away from an incresing number of electric eels, or catching all mice in a huge cheese.

In addition to the main goal of a room, there are often extra obstacles, such as the broom which will try to get the cat out of the room (but which can be slowed down by making foot prints on the rug which the broom has to clean up before continuing its chase), and the ever present bull dog.

There is one special room where the cat has to reach the top of the level by jumping upwards on rows of hearts, while dodging the cupids' arrows, to reach a female cat. If the player succeeds, an extra life is awarded and the player gets moved to the alley again.

While it is in theory possible to play Alley Cat infinitely, the fast-paced gameplay and steep difficulty curve usually prevent this.

• Wikipedia entry
• Mobygames entry