App Review: Cat Simulator

We weren’t sure what to expect from an app that promises to simulate a cat. If you have cats, you’ll know what I mean. Cats sleep a lot, and when we’re not sleeping, we’re gazing out a window or sitting on something soft and meditating. That would not make for a very exciting game. So what does Cat Simulator do?

Breaking stuff

Basically, you are a cat and your goal in life is to break stuff. You get points for breaking stuff, and if you earn enough points, you open a new level, where you can break more stuff. You also collect coins, which you can use to upgrade to different, more powerful cats, including a baby cheetah, a mummy, and a Mighty Cat (basically, if the Incredible Hulk were a cat, he’d be Mighty Cat). This game can be played in multiplayer or single-player modes. We played as a single player.

Fun? Yes! Cat
Simulator is a fun game
with great graphics.

At first, we were not impressed. Because cats in real life do not go around constantly breaking things (see opening paragraph). But as we played further (and got better at the game), we realized it’s fun to break things. We’d break a bunch of vases and then look around for more things to break. We’d look at a microwave and wonder, How can I break that?

Beyond breaking stuff

Okay, there is more to Cat Simulator than a cat breaking stuff. Each level presents you with a new scene: the downstairs of a house, the yard, another house, a market, a restaurant. Your goal is to earn as many points as possible within a set time. You get points for breaking things, but you also get to do things like open refrigerators, fill bathtubs, and (our favorite so far) knock a human out with a pool ball. The game also records your romps through breakable objects so you can replay your exploits and share them with friends.

Of course, with each level, it becomes more difficult to rack up enough points to move on. This means you have to create a plan: What combinations of things can you break to earn big points?

"Bond. Fluffy Bond, 007." Cat 007 is just one of
many cats you can play with.

The verdict

I’m glad we gave Cat Simulator a chance, because it becomes more fun the more you play. We played on an iPad and experienced smooth gameplay. We had trouble controlling the cat at first (our poor cat kept turning in circles and falling off things, and it took a while to get the hang of jumping and going forward at the same time). But as we got beyond the first couple levels, we started to appreciate the challenge of the game. The graphics are excellent, and the cats are really cute.

Plus, it’s fun to giggle at the sound of breaking glass.

Cat Simulator, created by Swift Apps, is available as a free download for Android and iOS devices.

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good app; two paws is for a great app. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!