Catcha Mouse
|
| Catcha Mouse

Quite often with mobile games, you see a title that inspires absolutely no excitement and is very difficult to get interested in. But once you finally force yourself to play, it turns out to be one of those hidden gems that will never be removed from your handset.

I've had just such a game on my review pile for well over a week now - Catcha Mouse from RealNetworks.

A game of trap and mouse

The objective is so simple it's hard to imagine how it could possibly be any fun. Indeed, even though I'm going to pour gushing praise upon it, you likely won't be all that inspired. The old adage about books and covers comes to mind.

The mouse is controlled by the CPU across a game board built from hexagonal segments. The mouse makes a move, hopping one square in any direction it chooses as it tries to get toward one of the many holes dotted around the board.

Your task is to place traps in an effort to cut off its escape routes. Taking it in turns, you must try to predict where your big eared buddy is going to head next, until a row of traps pens him in, or he makes it to a hole and freedom.

Say cheese

The only stipulation - other than the turn-based play - is that you can't drop a trap directly on top of the mouse. With around 70 levels to play, you'll find some immensely easy, while others appear (initially) to be impossibly laid out for shepherding mice into corners. No matter where you start, the sly wee fella can always find a way through to his escape chute.

Catcha Mouse also comes with a pass-to-play two player game, which puts one in control of the traps and the other in the mouse's shoes. The merry dance you engage in during this two player bout is enough to make you snatch at the handset, and probably enough to start a good natured pub brawl should you take Catcha Mouse to the boozer.

Fans of the casual one-thumb puzzle game will devour this kind of delicious finger-pudding, and will undoubtedly start deleting people from their contacts list before removing the game from their handset memory.

Catcha Mouse

A game that inspires litte excitement from its premise, yet immediately reveals itself to be a beautifully designed and disturbingly addictive turn-based puzzle game that's impossible to stop playing
Score
Spanner Spencer
Spanner Spencer
Yes. Spanner's his real name, and he's already heard that joke you just thought of. Although Spanner's not very good, he's quite fast, and that seems to be enough to keep him in a regular supply of free games and away from the depressing world of real work.