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Cat on a Diet Review

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Cat on a Diet Review
Developer: Nawia Games
Publisher: Chillingo
Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad, iPod Touch
Release Date: 26/9/2013
Price: $0.99 (BUY HERE)

Overview

Purrfect! Get me Meowta here! Cat-astrophy! Cat-apult! I love pussy! You’ve gotta be kitten me! Now that I’ve got all those cat-related puns out of my system, let’s talk about Cat on a Diet, the latest cat-themed puzzler from Nawia Games and Chillingo. Simple, creative and puzzling, Cat on a Diet continues to surprise and delight throughout. It may not be incredibly groundbreaking, but it’s a cute, enjoyable puzzler for all ages that’ll be sure to engage and entertain gamers of all ages.

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Gameplay

In Cat on a Diet, you take control of a chubby little cat called Dr. Meow who happens to have an annoying owner who thinks the cat should be on a diet. Said cat disagrees with this however and decides to eat as much food as possible, regardless of what threats may lie ahead! Each level contains a goal – a jar of cookies and three muffins. Getting to the jar will complete the level but earning all three muffins will get you 100% competition much like the three-star system in Angry Birds, but getting there won’t be easy. A typical level will have you scratching at wood to let the chubby little cat fall and roll towards the jar like you would in a game like Cut the Rope,  but that only scratches the surface.

Bubblegum will make you fly, motors will spin platforms, metal cannot be broken and many other elements come into play to keep gameplay fresh and continue to rack your brain. Oh yeah, and controlling gravity comes in later too. While the core concept never changes, these keep it from feeling to repetitive and it won’t be long until you find yourself replaying levels to get all three muffins as well. Two power ups are also available -the Soap Bubble which lets you control where Dr. Meow will move to, and the Muffin Magnet will draw magnets towards it. To put more icing on the cake, bonus levels can be unlocked as well as costumes so there’s plenty to offer here. This may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s a well-made title with great level design.

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Audio & Visual

Cute visuals accompany the game with bright colors and adorable character design, even if it is a little reminiscent of Garfield. Animation is fluent to compliment the physics element of gameplay with Dr. Meow bouncing, squashing and squeezing with smooth animations. The soundtrack has a chill, jazz/blues styled theme to it, generating a comfortable atmosphere that doesn’t drown out your thoughts which required for a puzzler like this. Sound effects are cartoony, much like the visuals and blend in nicely as well. Ultimately the audio & visual aspects do what they’re supposed to do and wrap up the game in a nicely, polished presentation.

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Overall

Chillingo seem to be killing it in the puzzler department lately, and Cat on a Diet is a prime example of that. Some concepts may seem familiar, but every level feels like it has a fresh new spin with various new elements coming into play and keeping everything feeling new. Presentation is great, gameplay fun and it ticks all the boxes you’d expect a game like this would. But while Cat on a Diet isn’t your average puzzler, it’s not breaking any new ground either. Regardless, it’s a solid title with some nice polish that’s sure to entertain you in short bursts of time. It’s not a must-have, but it’s certainly a good time-killer for casual gamers and puzzlers alike.

6-5-capsules-out-of-10

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Matthew Vella
Matthew Vellahttp://www.facebook.com/mattvellaftw
Matt Vella. Capsule Computers' Community Manager. I say 'Laters' a lot.