I must admit, when I first heard about the upcoming release Hackycat, I was a little sceptical. How could you possibly have fun by juggling a bunch of cats in the air? Trust me when I say it didn’t take very long for the game to prove me wrong.

Hackycat follows the concept of the well known sport of Hacky Sack, in which you juggle a small footbag or ball between a number of people in an attempt to keep it off the ground as long as possible. Here the ball is replaced with a collection of various cats, with the aim of keeping them aloft so as to avoid them exploding upon impact with the ground. It’s all about having some harmless fun in the face of a cunning challenge.

Like I said before, it didn’t take very long at all for the game to really grab my attention. Keeping the cats in the air is but a small part of a much more entertaining whole, what with deadly birds who will explode on impact or the cute sound effects and animations as the cats fly here, there and everywhere. It’s also very easy to play, you just tap on the screen to keep the cat(s) in the air or swipe in a particular direction to send them the way of collectable bonus cheeseburgers … sorry, cheezburgers.

So far I’ve put a few hours into my time with Hackycat and I can tell you now, it takes a lot of effort to put it down. At first I was laughing aloud at the reactions by the cats as they flew into the air, until the competitor in me started to sink in to better my high score. Still, I always had a little smirk on my face as a new cat unlocked to play with. So far I’ve found a cat with a mo, a zombie cat, the cheeky unicorn cat and my personal favourite, the taco cat.

Hackycat comes to us from the talented digital artist and illustrator Ken Wong, who’s resume features an Art Director credit for American McGee’s Alice: Madness Returns. This is his first independent title and you can tell a lot of love has been embedded in every colourful frame, inspired by the lo-fi aesthetic of Wes Anderson movies … but hopefully not inspired by actually kicking a cat.

Hackycat bounces its assortment of cuddly felines to the App Store very soon. You can find out more via the official Facebook page and keep an eye out for our full review too.

The Voxel Agents, creators of the award winning Train Conductor series on iOS, are just about set to launch their next big thing. Whilst there are no trains involved this time around, there’s still plenty to keep your brain occupied.

Puzzle Retreat is the name, but don’t expect singing around a campfire or toasting marshmallows. Nope, this is a true puzzle game in every sense of the word with a few tricks all of its own. The instructions are simple enough, guide blocks of ice to fill holes in the play field and make sure you use all the blocks available to do so. Gradually the game starts to add more and more block types and larger puzzle board sizes that will test your skills.

I’ve had some hands on time with the game and so far it’s just what I was hoping for. With every puzzle I completed I felt compelled to see what was around the next corner and so far not once have I been disappointed. There’s a ton of puzzles to complete, and in truth I’ve only scratched the surface of what the Agents have created, but it’s been very enjoyable so far thanks to some colourful visuals and plenty of nice touches.

The different block types of Puzzle Retreat really spice things up even early on. There’s one that will evaporate your ice cubes and another that completely blocks your path. With every new mechanic comes a quick tutorial puzzle of sorts, dialling back the difficulty level just enough to get the gist of what these new blocks can do before gradually turning things back up again. The puzzles using those fire block are my favourite so far, such a smart concept to essentially delete your existing blocks to open the space for others.

One thing of note is the extra levels to unlock. The opening pack of puzzles (of which there are quite a few) come as part of the game at the outset, whilst a number of expansion packs are available to purchase at any time. Now I realise some of you may be scared off by the idea of having to purchase more content, but there’s the promise of plenty more puzzles well after the launch and at very fair prices too. We shall see how that turns out, but from what I’ve played so far, I’d say it would be worth investing in.

I’ve got a lot more to play of Puzzle Retreat so I’ll keep on trucking in order to give you a full review. The game officially launches on the App Store this coming January 31st. Keep an eye out and visit the Puzzle Retreat Facebook page for updates from the team.

Peter Molyneux and 22 Cans first (and last) collaborative mobile project Curiosity landed on the App Store early this morning/last night, a whole day ahead of the scheduled release date. Nevertheless, we drummed up a quick IGM Plays episode to show what Curiosity is like for all those who were wondering or are still waiting for it to land on the Google Play Store.

One big suprise I ran into after I downloaded the free app, was that there are currently no in-app purchases. There was also a few other suprises, but I won’t ruin them for you. Be sure to check out this episode of IGM Plays in the video embedded above. To pick up Curiosity be sure to visit the App Store.

Following in the footsteps of recent augmented reality games such as card-battling The Eye of Judgement and the Pokemon-esque Invizimals, comes JengAR. Created by Marcin Pucalski as part of the Ludum Dare October Challenge, JengAR is currently available for purchase right now on the Google Play store, with plans to release it on the Apple App Store soon as well.

JengAR’s roots are based in a game that everyone can understand: Jenga. After printing and assembling a small rectangular tower out of paper, you simply place it in a well-lit space such as a table and point your camera towards it. The game then overlays a tower of wooden blocks over the paper, and you’re able to finally begin playing. Gameplay progresses exactly as you’d expect; you simply use the touch screen to grab a block, lift it up, and place it on top of the tower. The goal? Simply continue building the tower up as high as  you can without letting it collapse.

The concept is certainly intriguing, but the game unfortunately does suffer from some of the flaws common to Augmented Reality titles. Most notably, the game requires the room to be brightly lit so the camera can detect the paper ‘marker’. As such at night time, even with the lights on the room, the game tends to have trouble picking up the marker. There is an option in the menu to enable the flash on your camera, but this unfortunately did not work at all on my phone. Another small issue is that it’s definitely not a game you can simply play anywhere; you need a flat, stable surface or the camera will  be unable to pick up the marker properly.

Despite these rather understandable limitations, JengAR is an interesting title. It makes fantastic use of Augmented Reality software, and the concept is simple enough that anyone can understand. The mechanics work well, though as you might expect, your enjoyment of the game itself depends entirely on how much you enjoy playing Jenga.

If you’re interested in checking it out, you can either head over to the JengAR website at , or pick it up right now for $0.99 at the Google Play store.

Lady Shotgun Games is gearing up for the launch of their first title, Buddha Finger, which lands on the App Store October 28th, and while I get my review for the game ready I thought I’d give you guys a short little tease on this episode of IGM Plays. If you’re unfamiliar with Buddha Finger and missed the announcement of the title, it’s a beat ‘em-up twitch action game for iOS where you’re on a journey to rescue your long lost brother.

While the gameplay is fun and easily approachable, the art style should be applauded as well. The game takes place in 1980s China and is brought to life beautifully with bright simplistic colors. I’ve had a lot of fun playing Buddha Finger so I recommend you keep an eye out for it when it lands on the App Store October 28th. In the meantime, check out this episode of IGM Plays and be on the look out for our review!

It’s not often I do an episode of IGM Plays after I’ve already written a review for a game, but in the case of Devil’s Attorney, I had to show it off. From the creators of the Dark Nebula series, 1337 Game Design, comes Devil’s Attorney, a turn-based strategy court room game with witty writing. It’s even fully voice acted! I praised Devil’s Attorney in my review and I’m hoping you’ll see why in this episode of IGM Plays.

Dog Agility 3D, developed by Dog Sport Apps, is a new game based on the internationally popular sport of dog agility. If you’re unfamiliar with dog agility, it is a dog sport in which a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy.

In Dog Agility 3D you’ll be able to choose from 10 different dog breeds where you will then use the tilt functionality on your iOS or Android device to guide your dog through four different types of agility fields, and three different levels of difficulty in pursuit of qualifying runs and agility titles. What’s shocking is the fact that there are 340 courses overall, more than I can fathom.

I had the opportunity to go hands on with Agility Dogs and I found that each dog had their own stats based on Speed, Turning Ability, and Control. For instance, the beagle has the highest level of control, which I must say is pretty accurate as my real beagle cuts corners pretty well. The dogs can be upgraded further by completing the standard, jumper, snooker, and gambler courses through each of the three levels. Or if you’d like you can buy points via in-app purchases.

To pick up Dog Agility 3D visit Google Play or the App Store today. There’s lots of content packed in which makes it a good choice for dog lovers. Be sure to check out the embedded trailer and gallery below for a closer look at Dog Agility 3D. To keep up with Dog Sport Apps follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

Welcome back to our second episode of IGM Plays! In last weeks debut episode I showed off Cool Pizza, this week I went a completely different route and played the first 10 minutes of Forever Lost: Episode 1. I recently discovered Forever Lost on our very own IGM forums and was impressed by the creepiness! The developer, Glitch Games, was nice enough to give a code, so I thought I’d return the favor and throw it in a episode of IGM Plays, enjoy!

You can pick up Forever Lost on the App Store for only $0.99!

Some of you may remember Asteroids, the game that allowed you to control a triangle spaceship while shooting giant asteroids and alien spaceships into smithereens. If you do, you probably remember how simplistic the game was despite being a great time waster. M-spacemedia has taken the premise of this old favorite and updated it to create a 3D delight with Asteroids 2012 3D.

Asteroids allows players to “experience the loneliness of deep space – clearing wave after wave of asteroids and aliens, with a primary weapon that can be powered up to do more and more damage and multiple secondary weapons.” You get to do all of this with a full 3D experience using a virtual control interface and beautiful animation. We at IGM were given the chance to play the game and what M-spacemedia has done with this classic concept was both impressive and a unique user experience.

Asteroids 2012 has multiple weapons that can be upgraded, various enemies, online leaderboards and multiple arenas that can be accessed through portals. Asteroids 2012 is currently on sale for $0.99 in the Google PlayStore, and Xperia Play controls are coming soon.  You can find more info on M-spacemedia on their webpage and Twitter.

Developer White Whale Games describes God of Blades as “A love-song to pulp fantasy tales of yore, 70s synth-prog-landscape oddities, and forgotten places”. Sound confusing? Maybe a little bit out there? It definitely is, and I love it so far.

In God of Blades you play as The Nameless King, a hero straight from the dead. He actually looks like a mash-up of a White Walker from Game of Thrones and the Dead Men of Dunharrow from Lord of the Rings. In many ways, you’re thrown into the game without really know what’s going on, yet a battle is taking place. I liked it, it gave that Half-Life sort of vibe where you have to figure everything out on your own.

Technically, you can classify God of Blades in the endless runner genre with the swipe and slash gameplay of Infinity Blade, but it’s much more than that. The gameplay in God of Blades is also rhythmic. When you get it down it just feels good. Kind of like that sense of accomplishment when mastering a music game.

The art style is right out of the 70′s sci-fi/fantasy scene. All the way from the audio down to the cutscenes, it’s something that I’ve never experienced before. During its viral campaign God of Blades also had some ties to fake fantasy novels. Continuing on the trend they then announced the feature of unlocking items for checking into your local public library. It’s these fresh ideas that make me love playing and writing about indie games.

Currently one thing I’ve noticed in God of Blades is how different the characters move when they’re being attacked. When you or an enemy are being attacked, the characters push back like they’re on an ice rink. It’s a really weird looking animation (or lack of animation) in comparison to how the enemies look when they’re defeated and the rag doll physics kick in. The game does look very polished overall though. White Whale Games really put some cool touches on in the visual aspect of combat such as incorporating the blade animations. When slashing up enemies you can see pieces of their armor fly off, their sword get chopped in half, or see their weapon fly all the way into the background as you hit it out of their hands. It all looks really cool, especially with all the action going on in the background.

The backgrounds differ from level to level. In the beginning you’ll start off in a cave looking area and work your way out into a massive battle. You’ll watch troops march out to battle, get bombed, battle giants, and best of all everything is really well animated with bodies flying and weapons soaring through the air. It all looks so good that you may even get distracted from your own battle!

God of Blades should be launching soon as Apple has already accepted their submission. Be sure to keep an eye out for it in the coming week(s) so you can see for yourself the unique presentation and how fun it is to play. Follow White Whale Games on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with their latest news.