REVIEW: Cat Lady for iOS

Based on the board game of the same name, Cat Lady is a Nomad Games LTD creation that’s ideal for cat-lovers everywhere. Nomad Games specializes in adapting tabletop games for the digital world and Cat Lady is a home-run for the independent company. It features a user-friendly interface, simplistic designs, and adorable furbabies, it’s definitely a light and easy game to enjoy in your downtime.

Cat Lady is very simple. With a card deck in front of you, you and another player, AI or you can opt-in for a multiplayer mode if you’re willing to share your screen with a friend, take turns selecting rows or columns that contain three cards each. Each card holds a kitty-cat, a food item, a toy, a costume, or a LOST CAT poster. Each item serves a purpose and is connected to different rewards, namely points for all but the LOST CAT posters, which allows players with two posters to adopt a stray cat who has special benefits. The goal of the game is to collect as many items as possible, as well as housing and feeding as many cats as you can. Each cat has a favorite food, and a good cat lady makes sure to provide it. At the end of the game, points are tallied up or deducted depending on the items in your inventory and cats fed. The player with the most points wins. It sounds a lot more complicated than it is, but with the very helpful How to Play section, you’ll catch on quick!

I’m not a regular gamer. I’m constantly on-the-go usually chasing children or just plain exhausted, none of which makes gaming an easy pastime for me to enjoy. The consoles I have largely go untouched and tabletop gaming is just too much for me most of the time. I dabble with mobile games and have found many take up a large chunk of data, which causes lags and slow gameplay, or worse, require in-app purchases unless you want to wait several hours between tasks and quests.  Cat Lady, in four days, has become one of my favorite go-to games for that moment of downtime that needs to be filled.

This mobile adaptation of the card game from Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) can be played with, literally, just your thumb. Most of the movements are done by swiping, with occasional taps to toggle between different parts of the game and it can be without much accuracy. It’s ideal for busy people. The pastel colors and adorable cartoon-styled art makes Cat Lady easy on the eyes as well, which is great when looking at a small screen for a long periods of time. Between that and the lack of action sequences, it’s a fun game at any point of your day.

I love the short playing time. You can finish a match within minutes, with percentages awarded to various goals that you can access from the home screen. It’s the perfect game for those who want the entertainment of tabletop gaming but don’t have the time to commit.

Cat Lady gets a solid recommendation from me. It’s friendly for all ages, easy to use, and just insanely simple. It’s fairly addictive, and I’ve been playing it whenever I find myself with a spare minute or two during the day. Available on both Android and iOS for $1.99, there’s no reason to miss out on Nomad Games newest pocket-sized addition.