In case you hadn’t noticed, Chillingo had taken a short hiatus from their normal weekly release pace, but are back this week with – wait for it – a physics puzzler. It’s called Bombcats and being a fan of both cats and explosions I took it for a quick spin this morning. It’s cute, plays well, seemingly has loads of content, and it’s also somewhat unremarkable.
Your main goal for each level in Bombcats is to launch your adorable, rotund little bombcat towards an endpoint where an even tinier, more adorable bombcat (bombkitten?) is trapped in a cage. You touch your bombcat to reveal an aiming arrow which shows you the direction your kitty will launch when you release the screen, but unlike similar games you don’t actually control the strength of the launch, just the direction.
The initial launch of your bombcat ignites a fuse which will eventually lead to said bombcat exploding. That explosion is needed to release the bombkitten from its cage, so once you’ve started on your journey you’ll need to make sure and get to the kitten quickly, as exploding without freeing it will result in a fail.
As you journey towards the bombkitten, you’ll be able to collect gems and stars, thus resulting in a 3-star rating at the end of the level. You can also launch your bombcat more than once in a level, and you’ll definitely need to, but being that the fuse lights after the first launch subsequent launches must be executed quickly.
After my first set of levels in Bombcats, I was pleasantly surprised to find a time-trial level type waiting for me to mix things up a bit. This level has you replaying the previous 5 levels in succession, without any stars to collect or anything. Your only goal is to get to and release the bombkitten as quickly as possible. This level was fast-paced and fun, and a nice way to extend the life of existing levels.
Following that I unlocked the second set of levels which features a new bombcat, Clawdia. She has the unique ability of being able to stick onto surfaces, which also adds a nice wrinkle to the formula. There are 7 different bombcats in the game, each having their own unique ability. There’s also nearly 200 levels in Bombcats, so it should keep you busy for quite some time.
That’s where I’m at with Bombcats so far. It’s good, and has a real iBlast Moki feel to it, but so far it doesn’t feel nearly as complex or challenging as that title. I’m interested enough to keep plugging away, but as I alluded to even a pretty darn good physics puzzler has a hard time standing out amongst the masses in the App Store.
If you’re in the market for some new physics puzzling, then Bombcats should satisfy. It’s free after all, complete with the typical assortment of in-game shop upgrades and items to earn or buy, so at least you can check it out risk-free. Add it to your TouchArcade (Free) app Watch List to be notified when it launches later tonight, and hop over to the forum thread for more impressions and discussion.
International App Store Link: Bombcats, Free (Universal)
