Windows Phone Review: Cat Lab!

There is a new Windows Phone game on the Marketplace. Cat Lab! is a multi-level game that has you playing the role of a cat who must capture experimental mice that have gotten loose in the lab.

To progress to the next level you have to collect two of the three mice that are scattered about the screen. Cat Lab! starts out a little slow (not necessarily a bad thing) but the challenge grows as the game progresses.

Cat Lab!'s main menu has options to play the game, visit the developer's Facebook page, email the developer, mute the sound and view the about screen. The game has three different labs that are progressively unlocked with each lab containing twenty four levels. The first level in the first lab is a tutorial covering the basics. As additional features become available, pop-up tutorials will appear to explain the new features.

The goal of Cat Lab! is to collect the stray mice that has escaped. The mice will be perched on ledges and you'll have to navigate your cat to each ledge to capture the rodents. You control you cat by touch, first by tapping/holding to lift the cat to the starting point and then by tapping the cat to make it jump to the various ledges. Once started, the cat will works its way to the opposite side of the screen without stopping. So you'll need to plan your routes carefully.

At some point, you'll get an extra cat to cover all the ledges and find yourself dodging puppy dogs, bats, and even boxes that will tangle you up. If you capture two of the three mice, you'll be able to advance to the next level.

Game play is challenge but the first fifteen levels did seem a little too easy. While Cat Lab! does start slow it gives you the opportunity to get acclimated to the controls.

Cat Lab! has nice graphics, challenging enough game play to keep you interested, and it's a fun time waster. Future updates should bring downloadable content to the game in the form of new labs, mice mutations, puzzles, platform elements and more.

Cat Lab! is currently running $.99 with a free trial to let you try things out before buying. You can find Cat Lab! here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.