Cats Away — Feline-Loving Aliens to the Rescue
Everyone loves cats. Even aliens.
Sure, it’s great when the Internet is useful and technology actually fulfills its promise to make our lives easier, simpler and better. But sometimes you just want to be entertained, and whether it’s Japanese feline phenom Maru or Henri the Depressed French Cat, felines are the ultimate in Internet diversion, fueling millions of page and video views around the Web.
And there’s nothing like apps for mindless, cheap, silly entertainment, especially when it comes to gadget-enabled doses of cat-addled cuteness. So what do you get when you mix cats and apps? Technology gold!
What’s the App?
“Cats Away” is a relative classic in terms of iOS games: it’s been a highly rated five-star offering in the App Store for some time since its release by developer NTT Resonant.
The premise of the game is simple: you are a space alien that loves cats. The Planet of Cats is in trouble, due to explode from the aftermath of a nearby supernova. Don’t you hate when that happens? As an alien, you must save these poor, helpless, googly-eyed kittens by abducting them into your capacious spaceship with a beam that you can upgrade throughout the game. Suck up more cats and other objects and your beam becomes even more powerful, allowing you to vacuum up more cats.
Sounds simple enough, but there’s a time constraint on each planet, not to mention multiple planets you need to unlock to save the kitties. And the cats themselves don’t exactly want to participate in their own rescue: they scamper about, cry when the beams hit them, and try to run away. If they weren’t so cute and their meows so piteous, you’d be tempted to fly away and leave them all to their doom.
Cats Away is like extreme animal rescue meets bizarre alien abduction fantasy, complete with aggressively cute graphic design and a savior complex. It’s easy to get the hang of and addictive once you get going, making it the perfect pocket-sized entertainment.
The price has dropped temporarily from $2 to free, so you may want to snap up the cat-tastic action before the deal goes away.
You’ll Want It If…
If you’ve ever watched cat videos on YouTube, cooed over cute kitten photos, laughed at a LOLcat or just eagerly participated in Internet cat culture in general — this is the game for you. But even if you’re lukewarm about felines, the gameplay is simple yet well-designed and highly addictive — though you may want to turn down the volume to silence the endless meowing of cats.
It’s Not My Thing — What Else Ya Got?
Mobile games often walk a thin line between being simple and easy enough to play in a quick session and being complex enough to keep your interest after the first week of playing. Some question at first glance whether or not Cats Away can retain interest — upgrading beams and unlocking planets can only go so far. But rescuing those cats can get surprisingly difficult and complex, and with the ability to constant upgrade your ship — as well as different features for each ship — the game has surprising depth. To play well, you need a good amount of strategy and knowledge, keeping you hooked.
But if Cats Away doesn’t quite hit the mark for you, there are plenty other cat-centered game apps to pick up the slack. For the ultimate investment, try a virtual pet cat: Touch Pet Cats lets you keep a kitten as a pet, complete with adorable house, as well as decorations and toys to unlock. You tend to it, Tamagotchi-like, replicating the care and investment of a real life cat, but without the litter box cleaning.
And for pooch lovers, Touch Pet Dogs 2 offers the equivalent for those who champion the other side of cuteness. Kiss your productivity goodbye, but the hours of adorable overload could be worth it.