Guide a feline army on a rampage in character-raising title The Battle Cats

For those of you who are unfamiliar with it, The Battle Cats is an incredibly popular character-raising title that has racked up 10 million downloads in Japan and an impressive two million downloads in the first month of its release in Korea.

Another thing you should know about The Battle Cats: it’s now available to download in the US, the UK, and other English-speaking countries for your iPhone and iPad, as well as those Android-powered smartphones and tablets you have lying around.

The Battle Cats isn’t a lighthearted title about chasing balls of wool. You’ve probably already guessed that from its name. It is, in fact, an action-packed affair in which you’re charged with leading a feline army on a rampage.

Your aim, then, is to traverse the globe, using the game’s simple battle system to defeat weird and interesting enemies and raze opposing bases along the way. After each successful bout, you can upgrade your cat warriors using the XP you’ve just earned, and even evolve them into stronger beasts.

There are other ways to strengthen your army, such as collecting treasures. These scattered trinkets come in three rarities (superior, normal, and inferior) and offer varying degrees of might boosts.

Ask the developer of The Battle Cats why its game is so popular, and it’ll tell you that it’s down to three main factors: the number of ‘loveable’ characters there are, the amount of stages that are on offer, and the ease at which you can play.

The Battle Cats is available to download from the App Store [download] and Google Play [download] for free, so you can test it out for yourself and only your time is at stake.