Kicking kitties can be fun, and you needn’t worry about hurting any cats, because by kicking them high in the air, you’re actually saving them from an explosive fate should they land on the ground. Hackycat (out now, $0.99) by Kenneth Wong will give you multiple kitties to play with. How many you get will depend on how long you keep them bouncing.
Once you let one cat drop, it’s game over. Don’t kick any pink birds though. If you do, it’ll explode and kill everyone. Where kitties are concerned, the more you kick them the merrier. By kicking (tapping or flicking) them fast in a row, you’ll score combos. You’ll also get combos for tapping two or more kitties simultaneously. Through all this furious kicking, you’ll charge up your superkick meter. Once it’s ready, a focal point will appear, and you’ve got to flick a cat into the circle and tap it. This will activate your superkick and launch the cat far far and away.
Every now and then, an array of cheeseburgers will materialize. You’ve got to be fast flicking the cats to collect the cheeseburgers, otherwise they’ll disappear. With these cheeseburgers, you can unlock new cats, game locations, and another athlete, a wolf named Ramirez. As you gain experience points, you’ll also unlock power-ups, such as bouncy rainbow “cushions” that keep the kitties from landing on the ground.
Hackycat has cute cartoon graphics, and though it starts off simple, it gets pretty frantic as more cats are tossed onto you. Hackycat may be rated 9+ for its “violence”, but I think this is a great game for younger kids to play due to its straightforward gameplay.
iFanzine Verdict: Hackycat, a universal app, is a simple but challenging casual game that anyone, from kids to adults, can have fun with. It’s not the kind of game I personally like, because I frankly found all the tapping tiresome, but lots of people may find this addictive. Having to juggle multiple cats while picking up cheeseburgers, plus the unlockables and power-ups, will keep many a casual gamer hooked.