Catball Eats It All Review

Developer: Broken Compass Studios
Price: $0.99
Version Reviewed: 1.61
Device Reviewed On: iPad 2, iPod touch 4

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Catball Eats It All is a game that is exactly what it says on the tin. There is a catball – a ball-shaped cat creature – and it wants to eat it all. The player's goal is to help said catball eat it all, before Dogwall comes and devours Catball. This is a real game. It plays akin to a two-dimensional Katamari Damacy, where absorbing smaller items, then bigger items, is the goal. Tapping on either side of the screen rolls Catball to the left or right, and holding on one side while tapping or holding on the other simultaneously sends Catball airborne. Gameplay has two phase: the first, where Catball rolls around the level trying to eat all the items in it, then the phase where Catball eats the level. Each item or stage piece consumed wards off Dogwall for just a little bit longer.

This is a bizarre little game. The artwork that forms the levels is somewhat dissonant to the characters, yet it all strangely fits. The whole game looks like someone's nightmare. There is little that is quite as terrifying as when Dogwall eclipses the background, looming larger and larger as the clock ticks closer to him going Galactus on poor Catball and the level. If nothing else, it is something to experience. Thankfully, the experience is a universal app, though iPad is recommended if only because Dogwall's true terror shines brightest on the bigger screen.

But to play, well, it can be frustrating because of the controls. The floating jump by holding down on both sides of the screen works sometimes…and then sometimes it doesn't. The directional commands feel more like just suggestions that Catball will follow most of the time rather than actual commands. It's also possible for Catball to get stuck in certain level segments, especially after becoming bigger.

Catball Eats It All is one of those games that’s certainly very interesting, but I don't necessarily think it is all that entertaining as a game. The weirdness will wear off at some point, and unlike Katamari Damacy, the core gameplay mechanics don't lead to anything that's fun to play down the line.