Cat Pipes is a straightforward puzzle title for the Nintendo Swap. It entails rotating tiles to line up the pipes inside in order that cats can transfer freely by way of them to get dwelling. Or one thing like that. I’m slightly sketchy on the main points, which is an apt description of this recreation.
I used to be truly excited by the premise. Effectively, excited is a robust phrase, however I really like cats and I really like puzzle video games. Hey, I even love pipes to a sure extent; I grew up enjoying Mario, in any case. In brief, this appeared like a comfy title to entertain me between bouts of Star Wars: Hunters.
Sadly, the issues start on the title display screen. You’re offered with two choices: play or tutorial. I naturally gave the tutorial a go on my first runthrough, but after I pressed the A button, nothing occurred. To be actual, the title display screen remained in place, albeit with a brand new border and a bizarre + icon within the high left. Urgent numerous buttons made sounds flip on and off, indicating I used to be in an choices space relatively than a tutorial. Both manner, one thing is clearly damaged. I’m certain it’s simply mounted through an replace, however on the time of writing, no such replace exists.
So, I jumped into the sport itself. Cat Pipes options 45 ranges to play by way of. Every puzzle presents a sequence of tiles containing strains that characterize pipes. These tiles have to be rotated to match the encircling strains in order that they join. Whereas it’s not exhausting to play—you merely transfer your cursor onto every tile and hit the A button to rotate it—the method isn’t solely clear. For instance, not all pipes have to be related, apparently. That’s wonderful if there are a number of options, however as a result of there’s no tutorial, I’m simply undecided.
When you get the cling of issues, the puzzles are literally enjoyable. There’s a sense of satisfaction in aligning the whole lot and shifting on to the subsequent one. The puzzles range in measurement and problem, although I breezed by way of nearly half of them in a short time. There’s simply nothing else to them although. A problem score might assist differentiate between ranges. Different choices would make issues extra accessible, like touchscreen controls. A leaderboard (even a neighborhood one) or a timer might incentivize replay.
I’m additionally underwhelmed by the graphics. I’m not anticipating something grandiose for $4.99, however I count on the pipes to seem like pipes. And the cats to seem like cats. As an alternative, pipes are white strains that flip purple when related, whereas the cats are black, blob-like shadows in a circle. There’s little or no that resembles the nomenclature of the sport’s title. On the plus facet, the static background is good. It’s a sitting room of some kind with a colour overlay. It nonetheless has nothing to do with cats or pipes, although.
Total, Cat Pipes has a cute premise that isn’t executed nicely. I might forgive the lackluster graphics if there wasn’t a damaged tutorial. Whereas the puzzles are enjoyable, there’s nothing beneath the floor, making this one exhausting to advocate to anybody however probably the most avid of puzzle followers.
