Long-time TA’ers may remember a segment we used to do on our podcast called Jared’s Kitty Korner, where each week we highlighted the cream of the crop in the world of cat games. We’ve since retired the segment, but every once in a while some hot cat game news pops up and it’s time to briefly revisit the Korner. Today, that hot cat game news is that Rusty Moyher’s Box Cat ($1.99) has received a much-needed update adding widescreen and iOS 8 support, as well as Retina graphics on the iPad.
So what is Box Cat exactly, besides a game about a box-shaped cat? It’s a pretty simple idea. Your Box Cat moves back and forth across a street as cars approach from both the top and bottom of the screen. As a car drives by, your goal is to run into it with Box Cat. Running back and forth smashing into cars is the core element of Box Cat, but there’s more to it than that. Smashing a car sends it spinning away, and if it crashes into other oncoming cars, you can chain together hits for a better score.
In addition, there’s a dash attack that sends you darting rapidly across the street, and at the end of each level is a “boss" vehicle which can only be defeated by using the dash attack. There’s also birds that fly along the sidewalk carrying coins, and if you collect 3 gold coins you’ll be come Super Box Cat, a ginormous version of yourself that lays waste to any vehicle it comes into contact with.
Sure, you can just mindlessly run back and forth in Box Cat smashing cars and having a blast, but its real brilliance shines through when you understand the subtle strategies to the gameplay. Smashing a car at just the right spot to send it off so it perfectly bounces into a dozen other cars and creates an awesome, destructive combo is a wonderful feeling. It’s definitely a game that’s deeper than it appears, and it’s a ton of fun to boot. I’ve been keeping hope alive for the couple of years that it’d get widescreen support, and I’m very happy Mr. Moyher has obliged.
If you haven’t checked out Box Cat previously, now is a good time as it’s finally been brought into the modern age with this new update and it’s currently on sale for just a buck.
