When a super nova threatens a planet full of cats (multiple planets, actually), the self-appointed task of saving them falls on a pair of big-hearted extraterrestrials. The duo will have to hop from world to world, gathering as many kitties as they can before the time limit runs out. Then doing it again, of course. Because CATS, people. Because cats.

The gameplay functions as a sort of weird combination of gravity-based claw machine meets incremental in-game improvements found in titles like Katamari Damacy. The ship’s tractor beam can only pick up the smaller felines at first, but after enough of them are carried off it gains strength and can be used to lift much larger targets. Coins earned through play can be used to buy new ships or upgrade a specific one, while stars acquired through achievement-like progress will unlock new worlds. And there are always special hidden kitties to find and (hopefully) rescue.

The US release of Cats Away should be out sometime around the end of June/beginning of July and $0.99 is all that’s needed to secure this universal iOS cat carrier.

Remember Bumping Bears at the start of the year? It was a cool mix of cute bear-rearing and real life socializing. Players got the chance to adopt bears to play and raise with on their own donut planet. It gets stranger, though, with 70 bear professions to aspire to and over 100,000 unique outfit combinations to discover!

Bumping Bears was only in its open beta stage, however. Now, it’s been fully launched and there’s a cute trailer to check out. There’s also no longer the need to login via Facebook to participate in the game! Players can enter their bears into contests, as well as climb the career ladder and be nurtured. Oh and the outfit combination count has gone up to the quite ridiculous number of 30 billion (yes, billion) variants!

Kids in particular are bound to love this cuddly social game Bumping Bears. It’s out now and it’s free to play.

FREE!

Bumping Bears

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-10-27 :: Category: Games

Some might call it the circle of life, other will call it the food chain, NomNom Combo calls it a game. In this new “king of the jungle” matching game, players match animals together and then match the prey animals with the predators in return for in-game currency. This obviously isn’t a typical matching game. Honestly, how many matching games out there have a problem with blocks eating other blocks? In NomNom Combo, players aren’t just focused on making matches, they are also concerned with making matches in a way that will keep their predator’s bellies full.

Players start each game by placing animals like flies and frogs as tiles on the game board. If a player places a fly next to a frog it will run in the opposite direction until it hits the edge of the board. If the fly is placed in such a way that it can’t run, or runs into another frog, then it is eaten by the frog and the player is awarded a certain number of coins. However, placing three flies close together will turn them into a mouse, making it impossible for a frog to eat. To eat the mouse the player must match three frogs and make a snake. Three mice turn into a rabbit, three snakes turn into an eagle continuing through sheep, manatees, wolves, and so on through various predator and prey combos. Though not quite evolutionarily sound, this progression to larger animals is what makes the game more puzzle-like than other matching games.

Players can’t just place animals on the board randomly making matches. At the start of each game they are awarded a certain number of random animals to place. They’ll need to plan out their placements so they can “evolve” the biggest predators and prey in tandem and in placements where the predator can eventually get at the prey. Coins are awarded for each prey animal that is eaten and these coins are used to buy more animals to place, continuing the game.

NomNom Combo is certainly a unique matching puzzle game. It’s both fun to play and challenging to master. The balance between matching and strategy makes the game a great choice for players looking for a challenge.

Note: NomNom Combo is currently only available in the Canadian App Store and will get a wider release later this quarter.