Cat Pipes is a straightforward puzzle title for the Nintendo Change. It entails rotating tiles to line up the pipes inside in order that cats can transfer freely by way of them to get residence. Or one thing like that. I’m a bit sketchy on the main points, which is an apt description of this sport.
I used to be really excited by the premise. Effectively, excited is a robust phrase, however I like cats and I like puzzle video games. Hey, I even love pipes to a sure extent; I grew up enjoying Mario, in spite of everything. Briefly, this seemed 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 positive it’s simply fastened by way of 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 traces that signify pipes. These tiles should be rotated to match the encompassing traces in order that they join. Whereas it’s not laborious 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 should be related, apparently. That’s fantastic if there are a number of options, however as a result of there’s no tutorial, I’m simply unsure.
When you get the grasp of issues, the puzzles are literally enjoyable. There’s a sense of satisfaction in aligning every thing and shifting on to the subsequent one. The puzzles differ in measurement and issue, although I breezed by way of nearly half of them in a short time. There’s simply nothing else to them although. An issue score might assist differentiate between ranges. Different choices would make issues extra accessible, like touchscreen controls. A leaderboard (even an area 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 appear to be pipes. And the cats to appear to be cats. As a substitute, pipes are white traces 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 aspect, the static background is good. It’s a sitting room of some type with a coloration overlay. It nonetheless has nothing to do with cats or pipes, although.
General, Cat Pipes has a cute premise that isn’t executed properly. 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 laborious to advocate to anybody however essentially the most avid of puzzle followers.
